8+Reflective+Journal+January+24th

This week was a very busy week for the team. We spent a great deal of time preparing for and discussing our team video. The best part about creating the video is that I feel our whole team shares the same vision and set of beliefs about the ideas that we've been learning about during this experience. Creating the video (though we're not quite done) has been a collaborative effort. We all have taken ownership of the video. This one may not end up being the best, but as we have played with the tools more and more, I feel like we will a stronger understanding of them by the end of the assignment.

As far as the videos assigned this week, I could get through them. On every computer that I tried to use, the audio was poppy and at times incoherent. At time as all I could hear is laughter, so I found them very confusing.

The TPCK Wikipedia entry was interesting article. However, I would like to have had a way to further the idea into application or a connection to the other information we've learned about. The videos may have explained this idea further, so maybe my complaint is without merit. I feel like technology will eventually just become second nature in the classroom. It will evolve naturally from the new generations of teachers and students. However, what lacks is the funds in school. Eventually utilities like Smart Boards and individual laptops will be as common as chalkboards and textbooks. What I think truly matters though is creating an army of teachers who are accepting of change and evolution. Though teaching is an old profession, that doesn't mean it has been perfected. The tools to build houses have changed, the tools to farm food has changed, so why do we think we can continue to teach children with the same old tools? Luckily, the tools that we will be using the the 21st Century classroom are tools that have become a part of our everyday lives. All teachers have to do is be willing to accept that students will be using them in the classroom.