Reflective Blog #2

Eductional technology is defined as basically using technology in the classroom to advance/enhance a students method of learning. In a sense it is getting the learner off of his/her seat and on their feet to stimulate higher thinking processes. Technology forces the learner to be multi-faceted in how they are able to process the information that is presented to them at a given time. By exposing students to technology it enables them to begin receiving the training that they will need in order to operate and compute systems on a global level.
I feel that the YouTube video was synonomous with what I have been telling my students for the longest. They have to have a different mind set about their own education. We can want it for them and give them the tools that they need, but unless they make up in their mind that they want something different it doesn't really matter what we do. The other thought that came to me after watching the first YouTube video was relating to the whole digital divide debate. This is going to forever be a challenge to schools that are in low income areas. That's why I think that I should show this video to my students so that they can be better informed with what life's going to be like for them. This video needs to be shown to the parents as well. I don't think that non-educated parents sometimes realize the demand that will be placed upon their children in the near future and that if they don't begin to make sure that their children are well equipped with the skills to compete with the rest of the industrialized world, then they will find themselves worse off than the generations that were before them.
The second YouTube video "Pay Attention" presented various ways in which one could
incorporate the use of technology into their classroom. The problem I found with some of these are the mentality that the school board has towards the possession of such devices let alone the use of them on campus. In order for said devices to be used in the implementation of curricula the powers that be must change their perceptions about them first. I am all for using technology in classroom, but I must also comply with the laws of the school districts as well. If some if the manufacturers of this products would demonstrate the educational value that these products could/do have this would speed up the implimentation of the technologies that were mentioned in the video.