What is your Moral Imperative to prepare students for the next 50 years rather than the last 50 years?

   Dr. Scott McLeod's presentation "Dangerously Irrelevant" regarding the desperate need to reinvent public education as we know it for the future.  In his presentation he states that the three essential functions of education should be to prepare our graduates to be socially functional, to become masters of the dominant technological landscape, and to become economically productive.  
   He also states that there has been dramatic decreases in the level of American students critical thinking skills, problem solving skills, innovation, and the ability to synthesize information a variety of situations. McLeod contends that our schools are using methods that were in place over fifty years ago, and that administrators and legislatures are burying their heads in the proverbial sand rather than structure learning environments that are aligned with our global intellectual economy.
   As pre-service teachers where do we see ourselves in the information revolution and what stand do we see ourselves taking in regards to curriculum and assessment reform? In what ways will you become advocates for what you believe to be the right thing to do? And why?
Stellalunalorax~

Classroom 2.0

I've never heard of this website! You have to be a member to really get into some of the links and post on the forum, but it's actually a very useful website. I was looking through the forum and saw many ideas where people can bounce off each other, and help to give new ideas for topics that are unfamiliar. For instance, I noticed a "Prezi" post, which was what Brian and Bree used for their morning meeting in Judith's class. I was only recently introduced to this website when Brian told me about it. On this forum, it gives uses and other webpages to check out to help you incorporate it into the classroom.

What are some interesting things you have found when looking through the webpage? Anything you might use for your classroom?

Great tool!

Edutopia

While I was watching the video, Digital Media Empower Youth, several thoughts and questions were going through my head. First, I think it is fabulous that this middle school in Chicago is privileged enough to have access to these wonderful technologies. With that said, do you feel that there is an issue with equal access/opportunity to technologies in schools across the nation/state/county/district? If so, do you have any suggestions for solving this problem?

Secondly, how do you envision technology playing a role in your classroom? In an ideal world, how would you like your classroom to look in regards to technologies?

Lastly, this video makes the point that technology is not a phase or a fad. It is here to stay and it is a great tool to enhance learning, especially considering the diversity in learning styles. Considering these statements, how do you foresee education changing at the primary levels in say 5 years, 10 years, or even 20 years because of technological advances?

I know this is a lot to post about, so feel free to just choose one set of questions to elaborate on rather than addressing all of them if you want! :)