C4T Comments

Learning with E's By: Steve Wheeler


The first comment I left was on a post he wrote called " Cut price education?" It was about a discussion on the TES pages about making colleges go only to online-distance learning classes where students teach themselves. The reason they are proposing this is because they think that it will cut the cost for schools. Professor Wheeler thought this was a horrible idea, and said that it will increase the work loads of teachers, and cause many students to not seek after college educations. I agreed with him, because I know that many students do not do well with online distance learning classes! I said that it would be far too hard to attempt classes like "statistics, calculus, chemistry, etc." and also I agreed that the teachers' work loads would increase. Students would have far more questions about how to do things, and many complaints and problems. Also I feel that many students would choose not to go to college because they feel that they are not technologically smart enough to attempt this!


The second post I commented on was called " From atoms to Bits". In this post he summarized a lecture from Professor John Naughton at ALT-C 2011. Professor Naughton's key theme was "the elusive technological future", and it was about technology taking over music, advertising and publishing worlds, and education. I commented back and told him that I think Professor Naughton is right, because technology is taking over basically everything. I told him that I definitely thought it would eventually take over education, and that I feel students learn better with the use of technology. I told him about the video we watched with Vicki Davis, and how the students seemed to learn more.


Concrete Classroom By: Michael Kaechele


In my first comment to Mr. Michael, I commented on his blog post "9/11 as a PLN Theme." This post was following his post on Teach Paperless where he wrote about why he was not teaching what happened on 9-11 and why. I commented back and told him that his reasoning for not teaching it is good, and that I agreed with what he was saying.


In my second comment to Mr. Micheal, I commented on his blog post "Do you care?" He told about getting to hear E.B. Lewis speak at a Diversity PD day. He told a story that Lewis told about a time when he spoke to a group of 400 middle school students. He motivated them and tried to tell them that they have a purpose in life and that they are important. I commented back and told him that I thought what E.B. Lewis said was awesome, and that middle school students need to hear stuff like that because of the hard transitions and adjustments they are going through.



Creating Lifelong Learner's By: Matthew Needleman

For my first comment, I commented on his blog post "Technology in Schools is a Waste, or is it?". In this post, he talked about an article he read that was in the New York Times, "In Classroom of Future, Stagnant Scores". He talks about how some schools waste money on technology because they never use any of it. I commented and told him that I thought the main reason teachers aren't using their technology placed in their schools is because they don't know how to use it properly. Then, I went on to tell him that I feel if schools are going to spend that kind of money, they should have people go in and teach the teachers how to use the technology.


For my second comment, I commented on his blog post "TreasuresResources.com, New Web Site for Treasures Reading Program". He talked about a website he created to be a resource for teachers (http://www.opencourtresources.com). He also mentioned that his school district adopted the Treasures Reading Program, so out of popular demand, he made a new website (http://www.treasuresresources.com). He tells a little bit about each site, and about some of the resources that is on them. I commented and told him that I thought his websites were a great idea, and that many teachers would and probably already are benefiting from them.



Angela Maiers By: Angela Maiers

For my first comment, I commented on her post 10 Ways to Assess College. Looking back, I just realized that this was actually a "Guest post", and that someone named Joe Baker wrote it. At the time I thought she actually wrote it. This post is basically to aid parents in helping their children figure out which college is best for them. It goes over many points that are great for the parents, and their children to know. I responded and said that I thought it was a great idea, because I had a hard time picking which school to start at after I graduated high school. I told her that I thought every parent (with children seeking to go to college) should have to read it.

For my second comment, I commented on her post The Sandbox Manifesto: Life, Learning and Success on the Local Web. In this post, she tells that she recently visited some children in a sandbox. While she was there, she realized how much the web relates to a sandbox. She tells about her "Sandbox Analogy", and included a slide show of the main points. I replied and told her that I had never thought about the web like that, and that I thought her analogy was great. I also told her that from now on, whenever I think of the web, I will always think of her Sandbox analogy.