Blog Post #10

As I sat and pondered the picture of the papermate and ticonderoga by John T. Spencer, I had to really think hard about the cartoon illustration. I, personally could not make out a metaphor with the picture alone; however, the text underneath the illustration said all to explain the picture. Spencer makes a valid point that papermate may be the lesser of the two price wise, but ticonderogo is more efficient. To me, this was Spencer's way of saying the cheaper method may not always be the best route to go. I believe he could be referring to the 21st century way of learning through his illustration of papermate being compared to the old way of learning with pencil and paper, and the ticonderoga could be equivalent to learning through technology such as computers and i pads. I thought Spencer's cartoon illustration was very unique.

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games? is an important part of Spencer's blog where he illustrates examples of how not everyone agrees on teaching with technology over pencil and paper. I found all of Spencer's example conversations quite entertaining in that he made a great point on teaching with new methods. His illustrations could not have been more valid in stating the fact that there are so many people that do not see the importance or the reason behind teaching with technology. There are many just like the principle in the illustration that view technology as a teaching method as nothing but allowing your students to play games.
I felt that through the illustrations in this blog post, Spencer was able to relay the message of technology being more than efficient to teach with and also that most of the old teaching methods are not proficient at all. He states that by using new methods of teaching that the students are engaged in will allow the students to actually absorb the information they are learning instead of just memorizing material then forgetting it all after tests.

Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please?
Mr. McLeod demonstrates a great point in his blog post of don't teach your kids this stuff. please. As I read the entire post, I thought McLeod was actually being serious about not teaching your kids to use technology and then as I read his last line or two it hit me that he was being sarcastic! He states that everyone should not teach their kids this stuff; however, he is teaching his kids all about the technology which in fact will give his child the upper hand in the end. After reading the complete post and sitting back to really think about what McLeod is conveying to his audience, I concluded that he is in fact making a valid point that if we do choose to not teach our children this "stuff" then they unfortunately will be the ones to suffer in the digital world we live in.
Mr. Scott McLeod has his PH.D and is currently serving as a Director of Innovation at a facility in Iowa. Dr. McLeod also is the Founding Director of the nation’s only academic center dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators, and was a co-creator of a wildly popular video series. McLeod is a profound individual of bringing about technology in school systems and is well known for his school technology leadership issues.