Monday, November 1, 2010

Additional Assignment 3

Sir Ken Robinson: RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms



First of all, I really enjoyed this video. I liked how the animation kept time with what Sir Ken Robinson was saying, or vice versa. I have to say, I was a very active listener while watching this video, probably because it was such an active process that I had to keep up by listening and watching.

I think that the most important thing Ken Robinson says in this presentation is that education is changing/needs to change. I totally agree that the "old way" doesn't work for everyone. We need to praise students for their differences in strengths and abilities, not punish or scold them if the way they do something is different from the practiced way. I also liked the part about aesthetic vs. anaesthetic: "We should be waking them up to what is inside of themselves!"

The only thing I would not necessarily disagree with, but question in this presentation is the part about ADHD. I honestly don't know that much about this disorder, but I am aware that it is alarmingly common in schools. Many children are being medicated, and for what? In my mind, the children aren't paying attention because they aren't interested. Now, I don't think that calls for medication, but maybe it does help some students. I believe this is a case-by-case situation; although, in my opinion, I would rather a child not be medicated in order to focus.

In the college of education, I believe that they really encourage divergent thinking. In one of my classes, we are periodically given "What Would You Do?" scenarios, which allow us to think of many different ways that a certain situation may be handled. I suppose the first thing I can do to address the issues Ken Robinson raises is look at my life, my education, and my motivation and see what's going on in those areas. The first thing I could probably do is evaluate myself as a student and try to figure out what kind of education I'm receiving. So far, I feel pretty awesome about the various opportunities I've had in my life. As I said before, I really enjoyed watching this presentation, and I think the idea of the RSA Animation is really creative and different. If I were to do a team project similar to this, I would want to be the artist.

1 comment:

  1. Hi Amanda,

    Just read your blog post on Sir Robinson. I agree with your comments on education and how it is so changing and we as future teachers will have to continue learning in order to have an up to date classroom. I also enjoyed the animation in this video. It captured the viewers attention. As far as what Sir Robinson said about ADD not being an epidemic I would have to disagree with that. As a mother of two children with ADD I strongly feel that this is an epidemic and that this is neurological disorder and is a very serious problem in children. Having said that I will agree with you that there are some cases that children are being medicated for all the wrong reasons. I did alot of research before making the decision to medicate my children, and what I have seen is amazing. My children have gone from making poor grades and feeling insecure in school to being positive and excited to go to school and much more organized as a student.

    EDM 310 has really encouraged me to think outside the box so to speak. I view technology in the classroom in such a different light now and I can't wait to have my own class and have them start using the technology that we are learning now. Good Luck to you on your journey.

    ReplyDelete