Blog Post Assignment #8

Richard Miller's presentations about the ways that we can us technology today were both very interesting. It is still a little bit shocking to me to see all of the things that can now be done simply by using your computer. I know that our world continues to advance everyday, but I sometimes have to watch videos like these to be reminded just how much technology is changing our lives. I enjoyed seeing the different things that Mr. Miller has been able to do with technology.

I know that a career in writing, such as Richard Miller's, is more prone to be affected by the advancement of technology than a lot of other careers are. I was shocked to see that Mr. Miller was able to write an entire paper without ever stepping foot into a library. Even with our newly created technology, I still find myself using other resources as well as the new ones. I guess that this is probably just a habit that I will eventually grow out of. I have yet to write an entire paper using only my computer and its sources, but I will not say that this might not happen in the near future.

At this point, I would have to say that I am not completely prepared to write with multimedia, but I fell that I am on my way to being able to say that i am. I hope that my students will be able to learn from me all that I know about topics such as this one, but I almost feel like some of them might know more about it than I do. I guess that we will just have to share our knowledge with each other so that we can all end up knowing as much as possible about our ever changing world of technology.

The Chipper Series and EDM 310 for Dummies were both fun to watch because I felt like I knew exactly what the students in these videos were talking about. I especially liked Chipper and Dr. Strange's discussion about procrastination because this is something that I unfortunately have had a few problems with in the past. The main thing that I took away from watching these videos concerning the ones that I will be creating in the future was the mood seen in them. I would typically try to be serious when making a movie for EDM, but now I know that I can be just as effective by simply having fun and being creative. This will also increase my chances of my fellow students watching and enjoying the videos that I create.

The critiques about the Smartboards were so neat to see because I have never looked at them from that point of view. All of the teachers that I know have always enjoyed using their Smartboards, but I now see that not everyone shares the same opinion about them. In my opinion, the advantages of such devices far outweigh the negative effects that they might bring into the classroom. Our students are being exposed to all sorts of new technology outside of the classroom, so why not bring it into the classroom as well? If a teacher feels as though they can teach a certain lesson better using a regular chalkboard, then I feel that they have the right to do so, but they probably should not shut out the Smartboards completely. I feel that one of the greatest benefits of Smartboards is that they increase the chances of the students interaction and also their desire to pay attention to what is being taught.