Assessment of 4 Movies

Assessment of "Mr. Winkle Wakes"

Matthew Needleman's short movie describes the trends of technology in business, medical care, and the lack of technology in the classroom of schools. In short the movie is brief, entertaining and to the point (describing Needleman's disdain for the lack of technology in the classroom).

Needleman makes valid points that the world is now based on the advancement of technology, but for me this short movie poses more questions than answers. The fact that is now accessible to anyone to be able to display their opinionated ideas in a deliberate way to millions of people is shocking to me. All Needleman has done is proved that the Internet is a way to access and distribute propaganda.

The National average of high school graduates is around 60 percent, those who graduate from college is less than 40. The only opinion that Needleman makes is that schools need to introduce more technology in schools. He did not however come to any factual conclusion on how or why it would be imperative to do so. Living in a country whose national debt is now trillions of dollars, he never poses any problems of where the money will come from, or had to introduce more technology in schools. Neddleman also fails to mention what the percentage of schools that already introduce technology into the classroom, what age, and how it can be improved.

This is my issue with technology being force fed to our youth with no one to monitor what is considered fact and what is opinionated dribble it is hard to me to endorse a movie who's only basis of fact is opinion and that can be accessed by millions in a clever cartoon way.

Assessment of "The Importance Of Creativity"

I was not familiar with Sir Ken Robinson before watching this presentation. After viewing this presentation I found him to be engaging, articulate, and witty. He did a brilliant job discussing his feelings on the lack of nurturing a child's interest (what ever it may be) in a way so that they maybe able to have a productive happy life.

Sir Ken Robinson is absolutely correct when he describes the problems with education. Students all through their education career are forced to take class's they don't like or do not understand. The truth of the matter is, if a student is interested in a subject no matter what it may be they will excel.

The education system forces students to take class's on a curriculum that they feel is necessary. If we want to educate more effectively we must change how we educate. Students must be given a chance to excel in fields that they actually enjoy, not subjects they have to pass to get a degree so they eventually can get a job.

The cost of an college education is not inexpensive and most college students have to take loans, receive financial aid and scholarship assistance. The success of a college student is based on interest. So why do freshman in a college only take required classes? And are not immediately given the chance to excel in there field of choice? They must take other classes and prerequisites. Most college students do not receive the opportunity to actually participate in there field to there junior or senior year, while they are already thousands of dollars in debt and frustrated with college. With more and more high school and college dropouts we must evaluate how we educate more closely.

Assessment of "Did You Know 3.0"

I would like to consider myself well informed. Upon watching Did You Know 3.0, I realized how clueless I have been to the technology movement. I was astounded by the information in the movie. I was shocked to learn it took 13 years for the television to reach 50 million consumers, and it only took 2 years for facebook to achieve that same number. I had no idea that in the past 8 years their were new jobs invented that are now in the top ten growing careers. I had no clue that the country of India has more honor students than the United States has students. The thought of a computer that costs a 1000 dollars and will be available in the next 30 years has more capacity then my own brain not only intrigues but frightens me.I also will no longer take google for granted. The ability of google to teach and promote learning is phenomenal.

I now have a higher appreciation for EDM 310 and have been motivated to become more informed. I honestly have learned more and have been more involved with furthering my own education in a week then in years. I look forward to trying to catch up with the movement of technology and web based media.

Assessment of "Harness Your Students digital' Smarts

The influence of technology in the classroom has become exponential. The idea of students being able to connect with the rest of the world to learn, was foreign to me. It never occurred to me that the Internet and computers could be used in grade school and high school as learning tools. I graduated from high school in the year 2000. I did not use computers in the classroom, besides an annual trip to the computer to lab to type a research paper. The idea of having a web based computer in the classroom with access to information based web sites is outstanding. Imagine a classroom with students not having to stop a teacher because they don't understand, they could just look up they fail to grasp. Not only do they not have to stop the teacher it promotes a students ability to want and be able to learn. Giving students easy access to information they don't understand is not only a good idea but a must.

I'm kind of at a lost for words just imagining how different my learning experience in high school could have been with these technological advances. I have been skeptical to the use of computers in the classroom. I guess its true that we fear what we don't understand. This movie has enlightened me on the improvements that technology has made in the classroom and makes me envious of what I may have missed out on in the past. Though I may be behind the tech age, movies like this one are motivation for me to catch up.