Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

The Story of Randy Pausch's last lecture is a sad and yet uplifting tale. The Maryland born Professor attended Brown University where he got his bachelors in computer science and then attended Carnegie Mellon University where he would get his PH.D in computer science. Doctor Pausch would then go off to be a professor at Carnegie Mellon University and be the creator of the Alice software project which is a computer animations software on Java. All these accomplishments are very impressive indeed, but this man's life would be cut short once he was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer.

When I found out that Professor Pausch was giving a speech after being diagnosed with terminal cancer, I thought this would be a very solemn and depressing speech to the students. However I was very surprised to see Professor Pausch cracking jokes and being humorous in the face of his own death. The speech was entitled "Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". The main objective of the speech was to encourage people to achieve their childhood dreams. He goes on to describe his own childhood and how "every picture of me had a smile". After telling the crowd of how he achieved his dreams of becoming a "Disney Imagineer" he goes into the dreams of others.

Doctor Pausch then tells a story of a student he had whose dram was to be part of the new Star Wars movies. This was a moving story because Doctor Pausch helped this young man achieve his goals and made it seem that every one's childhood dreams could be within reach. The last part of his speech was him talking about a project he ran with some students and how he was helping them achieve their utmost potential in life. The speech ends with a standing ovation and it was very clear that everyone in the room was moved and effected highly from Pausch's speech.

This speech to me was very inspirational. Thanks to men like this people everywhere can mentally prepare themselves to achieve their childhood goals. I myself was moved from this speech not only because i was inspired by his story, but because he related to everyone and made everyone seem as equal. He lightened the already tense mood with some jokes and quips and this I thought was in good taste. I encourage everyone to watch this video because it is very inspirational and moving for all people who want to achieve their dreams. To watch his video, click HERE

Fall 2008 Podcast Critique

I must say that the Podcasts from the Fall 2008 were very impressive. they really presented a great argument and grabbed my full attention. The two podcasts that caught my eye were "Can Youtube be used for Educational Purposes" by Adrienne Lynch, Joylyn Reese and Brian Stevens and Possibilities for Using FaceBook for Educational Reasons" by Allison Midgette and Shaundretta Bethel. I chose these two because they were both about using today's two most highly used websites for educational purposes. And not surprisingly, both of these podcasts were very well done.

The first podcast was about Youtube and whether or not it could be used for educational purposes. The students talked about how students relate to sight and visuals better than just reading. And in this day and age I believe this to be true. One student also claimed that current American students react more to "hands on" types of learning. The go into details about how Youtube has a lot of good as well as bad tools. They were saying that it should be used but used sparingly because of some of the "questionable" material. But One of the students said how it could be used not just for academics, but sports and even theatre blocking schemes. Towards the end of the Podcast the students end it by stating that it can be used for professors as well. It sees that these students came to a consensus that it could be useful in "furthering the education" and development of students, but for educational material only. To access the YouTube website click HERE.

The next podcast I listened to was the Using facebook for educational purposes. This was the exact same argument as the Youtube one, only for facebook. Facebook (for those that do not know) is a world wide site with people having their own profiles showing their pictures, networks, and personal information about themselves. In this podcast one the students stated that she used facebook for a teaching tool when she was a teacher. i can relate to this because my football coaches use facebook to keep tabs on their players as she did with her students. She also said that they had multiple choice quizzes on there which sounded really reputable and something I liked. Later on they said that its good for Universities because they can give out community e-mails and statements via Facebook. I think this is a great idea because they use the same things for football: when there is an announcement, they will send messages to anyone on facebook and its quite convenient.

These two podcasts where defiantly worth the 20 minutes I spent listening to them. They were very insightful and well prepared as far as evidence was concerned. they both pretty much had the same thesis: These things (Youtube and Facebook) would be good educational tools, but used sparingly as well as responsibly for the greater good of our education.

The Fischbowl (Technological Ignorance)

It is now the year 2009, and the ability to operate a computer and using the Internet still eludes some of us. In our current "computer age" people can use computers for just about anything. According to some, not being used to computers, or being technologically ignorant, can cost them jobs and even thwart them from being effective teachers for children and students of all ages. These are the views of Mr. Karl Fisch the creator of The Fischbowl. According to his beliefs, one cannot be a teacher in this day and age without knowing a thing or two about computers and the Internet.

The question that seems to be raised up with this video is "Can people be technologically ignorant and still be effective teachers?" I have heard and read blogs on this subject and arguments going both ways. Karl Fisch believes that students and teachers today are to dependant on "paper and ink". In one of his Fischbowl Presentation Videos, he says that students need technology not just to help them out later in life, but because it is cheaper in the long run and much more environmentally sound. All very strong arguments from Mr. Fisch.

I was reading a blog and one thing that really stood out to me was how people and especially teachers need to adjust to the times. If you are not adjusted to computers now, that would be as if you were a teacher and you could not read or write in the 19Th century. It is not a matter of being stupid or dumb, but rather ignorant. I feel that people take the term ignorant to seriously. All it means is that you are unaware of how something operates or works and no one told you how something really works.
I personally agree with the allegations of Mr. Fisch. In this day and age it is absolutely vital to know how a computer works and how to use the Internet to be an effective teacher. there is some truth to the statement that if you are not familiar with how a computer works and the technology behind it, then you are no better than a teacher 60 years ago who could not read or write. I think that all teachers, students and soon to be teachers should take some type of course to make them savvy with all the new technology in our current time period. This is for the better of their education as well as their future students' education.

Podcasts and the teaching Expirence

One tool that seems to be used for the furthering of students and their education is the use of Podcasts. For those who are not familiar with it, Podcasts are audio and/or video files that are distributed over the Internet. Some teachers in the united States are using Podcasts as a tool for children and even adults to communicate and share teaching information with people all over the world. The First podcast I listened to was the SmartBoard Lessons Podcast. The SmartBoard Lessons Podcast was like a radio station for teachers to communicate. Some teachers (such as Elizabeth Christophy) shared her views on the benefits of using a website called teachersconnecting.com and how it has helped her discuss teaching habits with other teachers across the country. Another podcast system that seemed helpful was the KidCast Podcast @ intelligenic.com. In episode #56 (The importance of asking questions),it states that "questions make up the heart of good educational podcasts, whether teacher or student produced" and that "questions set our focus." This was a very interesting episode and i was not the only one who thought so. The next Podcast i listened to was the EdTechtalk podcast. I liked this one the best because you could actually put in questions during the podcast for the teachers and have them answered for you. The main purpose of this podcast was the benefits of educational technology amongst teachers and students. This podcast was actually given an award for best use of audio in education (Edublog Award.) To check out my personally favorite podcast go to EdTechtalk.



The next two podcasts (MacBreak Weekly and This Week in Photography) were different from the others because they were not meant for the furthering of education for children or even high school students. These were more of radio talk shows for teachers. the purpose of these "talk shows" was to share and compare teaching cards and even ask questions on how to be a better teacher. I found all these podcasts to be interesting and helpful for all up and coming teachers.