C4T #3

For my C4T #3 assignment I was assigned to a man by the name of Bill Genereux. Bill is an Associate Professor of Computer Systems Technology at Kansas State University at Salina. His blog page is filled with very important and intriguing topics for all educators to read.
In my first comment I chose a blog post by Bill that was titled My work in school and society and was all about Bill's work in the school systems as well as society. He talks about being in somewhat of a state of confusion in many situations concerning the school system due to what he feels is required of him to fully express powerful learning, not particularly lining up with what seems to be expected of him as a professional educator. Bill stated that he feels pressured as being the main source for information not only from his students, but also with colleagues, because society has made it known that the teacher is understood to be the one and only source for correct information and no one else knows the right answer! In this one post of Bill's, he makes it known that he is not just a source for information as a teacher and that teachers should have many more roles than that alone. When I commented on his post I stressed how much I strongly agreed with him on teachers being such an inspiration for many children. I stated that all educators should really sit back and realize their importance to all the young lives that are put into their hands and not take it for granted. There are many situations where the teacher may be the one and only individual present to encourage a child to succeed. The way Bill has explained his role as an educator is so inspiring to future leaders as myself.

The second blog post of Bill Genereux's that I chose to comment on was entitled Media Literacy of College Students. This post I truly could connect with and found very interesting to read. The post was about Bill's research he did on “MEDIA CREATION AND THE NET GENERATION: COMPARING FACULTY AND STUDENT BELIEFS AND COMPETENCIES REGARDING MEDIA LITERACY WITHIN HIGHER EDUCATION” by Hans Schmidt. In this post Bill talks on how it is a huge mistake to assume that all students are competent communicators in digital media because there are so many like myself that have not been given the chance to become technologically savvy. Bill states how so many individuals stress the importance of digital media skills to people living immersed in a digital environment; yet educators are continuing to leave all the technology learning to specialist. In my comment to this post I revealed to Bill that I too was one of those individuals that was not given the chance to learn all I needed to know about technology until entering EDM 310! I, myself, can relate to those students that have not been given the chance to become technologically savvy. Before enrolling in this course I had no clue how to navigate YouTube, Google, Movie Maker, and certainly did not know how to create my very own blog! Even though I sometimes struggle to complete all my assignments in EDM 310 adequately, I am so thankful that I was required to take this course. I know that without this requirement I would have never been successful at conquering technology and I truly feel I have half way made friends with the digital world now!