PL4.
The video was interesting because I have never heard new technologies really analyzed as a revolution before. But the more he explained, the more I understood. I can still remember going to Epcot as a kid and riding in the big ball where you travel through the timeline of civilization. The things that were put in as future innovations are already obsolete in the present day. It amazes me how fast technology changes and creates new ideas. I am scared that I won't be able to keep up with all of the new applications and I will be forced to be like my parents who are stuck wondering how exactly to upload a video onto the Internet. My questions that I formed from the video were the following:
What exactly was that map of the Internet?
Why was the Internet initially created?
What is flikr?
When did commercial motivation begin? Before or after blogging and social networks?
How do you measure Internet trends?
What other flash mobs made governments take action?
Did anything come about of the smiling flash mob?
Is Really Easy Group Forming the actual label for these media tools?
What do you think is next for the Internet?
How long before the entire world is required to be identified on the Internet somehow?

Technology is something that fascinates me and scares me at the same time. I am so curious to find out what it will be like in 10, 20 30 50 years. I just hope I can keep up with the Jones's.

PL3.
The first reading "Active Learning" by Kathleen McKinney and the third reading "Strategies for Engaging Students" by Kathleen McKinney and Farmer-Dougan were very helpful to me in terms of getting ideas for my lesson plans. The approach on how to conduct new ideas through various activities reflected my personal preference on how to get kids involved in learning. The Think-Pair-Share task really appealed to me because it is very simple yet lets students experience individual thinking as well as group collaboration. I included this activity in my own lesson plan. They also discusses multiple intelligences and how to engage all students in a subject. They describe so many different ways to reach out to students to get them involved in what you are teaching. By giving students a choice and finding the best ways to relate to them makes students feel more comfortable with exploring the material. When my high school teachers did these kinds of activities it made me have more respect for them because I knew they really cared about us and not just getting through the material. I also liked the suggestion of redefining an "A" or a "B" all the way to an "F". I think that would help everyone understand what expectations were held for that class.

The second reading "Collaborative Learning" by Tinzmann discusses all aspects of learning through collaboration. Teachers become the mediator and the facilitator instead of just the instructor. The teacher works to involve everyone including the "parents and community members." There are so many aspects from which a teacher can transform a regular classroom to collaborative. Students are responsible for goal setting, designing and monitoring tasks, and assessing their own work as well as their peers. Scaffolding is an important element in the secondary curriculum as students are beginning to conduct themselves instead of being spoon fed information. The main focus of this article is to relate students to what they are learning so that they better understand the subject matter. I think that this article is spot on and should be read by all teachers. I can remember in high school that most of my classes were still very lecture based and while I can learn through this method I was much more interested when I was able to be hands on and master the subject on my own terms. The problem is, not every student knows the best way they learn yet. They should be asked to explore their strengths and weaknesses to discover the best ways that they learn.

My RSS experience was easy after I watched the How To videos. It takes some time getting assimilated to the features, but I think that it will definitely be a beneficial tool in the long run. Although to me, I think that the delicious application is very similar and uses the same concept. So while these tools are successful in making online surfing and acquiring information through the Internet more organized, it almost confuses me more because the information can be sorted on so many levels. To be honest, I had no idea that google even had these tools. The whole concept is new to me. This class is showing me a bunch of different ways to utilize information I find, it just takes some getting used to. I am the type of person that likes to write on a paper and organize without technology and these programs are showing me better, easier ways to do that using technology.
When seeking out specific information, RSS is extremely useful in providing the best links that answer what you're specifically looking for. From a teaching standpoint, I think that this would help keep the classroom fresh for the students and the teachers. Perhaps teaching this application could turn into a lesson plan, by showing students how to gather research more thoroughly and efficiently.

Having a parent as a teacher has taught me a few things about education. My mother is a first grade teacher and has been so for over 25 years. Growing up I always heard her complaints and frustrations with her class and the education system in general. What Howard Garner is saying in his description of multiple intelligences supports everything my mom has stated in the past and present. She always talks about how people don't seem to understand that everyone is different and therefore, everyone learns in way that is unique to them. Some children need one on one interaction, while others work best in a group. As a student myself, I have come to know what learning environment and method works best for me. I am a visual, hands-on learner who observes and then completes the task. If I would have been more aware of these qualities, I feel my life in high school could have been a lot easier.
My mom also talks about children who are at a disadvantage in school because of their home environment. Richard Davidson has alot of scientific research to back his statements up but my mom has case by case stories of children who are held back academically because of their unfavorable environment.

I can sympathize with danah boyd on twitter on many of her frustrations. Critics most often knock it before they try it; twitter being just another social media that is mostly comprised of "pointless babble". When I first heard about twitter, I admit that I was hesitant to jump into it and didn't really understand the concept because it was different from my beloved facebook. Though after little convincing I made myself a twitter. I was fascinated that I could know what Ashton Kutcher was doing at that exact moment. Almost immediately you feel like you have a relationship with the person and have a better understanding of what they really care about. But besides the celebrity gossip, I found that other applications were great too. I follow CNN's twitter as well as a BreakingNews twitter, both of which keep me updated on current events. My personal favorite though is the ESPN twitter; (I always look extra cool around boys). So, critics can bash twitter all they want but I find that it's useful in multiple areas and I agree with danah that everything doesn't HAVE to be educational and intellectual every minute of the day.

The article on google by Nicholas Carr is one that I still can't decide if I agree or disagree. I see both sides of his argument. My parents always tell me about how lucky we are to have the resources available to us today and how they used to have to spend "days in the library" to finish research for a topic. It reminds me of the infamous walk in the snow for 3 miles to school speech. So with this great appreciation I have learned to have for the Internet and especially google, comes a certain concern as well. While I am still considered to be young, I did not always have access to today's technologies. Despite what my elders think, I can recall a time where I too did research in actual libraries. The research might have been on bubble gum and not peripheral nerve regeneration, but research all the same. I completely understand Carr's diving statement where he "Once was a scuba diver, in a sea of words. Now (he) zips along the surface like a guy with a Jet Ski." Information is so quickly and easily accessed that it never really sinks into the brain and is hardly remembered longer than a couple days. The search for information in a library makes you learn things that might not have been directly relevant to the topic. In this new age, I hope that my generation does not become victim to a Dory (from Finding Nemo) attention span and lack of deep understanding on important current and previous issues.

My expectations for the class are too learn about new media and technology and also learn how to apply them so that they are useful tools for me and for others.
I expect my classmates to be helpful, hardworking, and appropriate so that our environment is always comfortable.
I expect the Mr. Sessoms to help me understand the mystery that technology is to me. I hope by the end of the class that I feel comfortable with these new ways to communicate ideas and information. So I expect him to be specific in instructions and patient with the "technology challenged".