I have to admit this course is difficult for me. It’s not difficult figuring how to do everything, but the reading is overwhelming. I know the assignment was just to scan through stuff, but even still, it takes a while. I also have to admit that some of this stuff, I just don’t care about at all. I really sit here and wonder where all of these people find the time to do all this stuff. Sorry, just had to say it.
I started first with the Infinite Thinking Blog (http://www.infinitethinking.org/). I think it’s cool you can access “some” documents offline. I guess it’s good to know. Usually when I’m out of town, I’m trying to stay as far away from a computer as possible since I use it so much for work during the school year. I guess I’m just being REALLY pesimistic today, but can’t I just use word if I’m out town? I guess I’m just trying to figure out when I would actually use this in my life…maybe in the future? I can’t say that I ever have internet withdrawl. I love the internet for research purposes and some other things, but other than that, I want to be away from the computer. I did like her idea about using a wiki page to organize events. It would probably be a great way to organize a group project for students that go to a commuter school like Woodward. It’s so hard for the Woodward kids to get together because they live all over the city. It could be a great way to help with that problem by having them communicate and work on their project online.
I next looked at “Nothing’s Important” (http://students2oh.org/2008/06/05/nothings-important/). Well, I can’t say I’m Buddhist, and I can’t say I endorse always doing nothing…but I guess it’s important for everyone to “do nothing” every once and a while. I guess it really is important, especially for people who live very stressful lives. People do need to be laid back, rest their brain, and do something that doesn’t require any thought. I think we do need that time so we don’t go insane, or make ourselves sick.
Lastly, I scanned through ”A First Look at Disrupting Class” (http://www.techlearning.com/blog/2008/06/a_first_look_at_disrupting_cla.php). Honestly, I wasn’t following his explanation on the “disruption” thing, but I did find his thoughts on motivation interesting. Several years ago, I had the great opportunity of spending the summer in South Africa. I went on a mission trip and had the pleasure of hanging around students at RAU University in Johannesburg, South Africa. I was amazed at their outlook on their education. To start, everyone I met spoke more than one language…most of them spoke three or four, or more. It was hard to get together with them sometimes, because they were always studying. They were so motivated and they truly valued the educational opportunities they had. I don’t see that kind of enthusiasm and motivation with students here in the U.S. Many just want to do what it takes to get by. Overall, I see an attitude in which they don’t value learning. I think the “entitlement” mentality has run rampant throughout America…in all social classes. People generally have the attitude that the world owes them something. Until students start taking responsibility and valuing their education, we will probably continue to see these problems within the school systems, even among private school students.
