I am the most technologically challenged Asian guy I've known. While my peers were building gaming rigs (mind you, back home in Korea, Pro Gamers get paid more than Pro Athletes, and where companies like Samsung sponsor Pro Gamers with alarming amounts of money) and what not by middle school, I was like Michael Bolton and the Printer (seen in the image to the left). Thus, I feel like I am an Analog Clock in a steamrolling Digital World.
Now this is by no means an admission of saying that I'm not internet savvy. The amount of time I spend perusing the internet can be attributed to the fact that I was a huge sports fan living in Korea. The only way for me to keep tabs on my favorite teams was by following them over the internet. That was the moment where it all clicked. To quote Doc Ock from Spiderman 2, "The power of the sun, in the palm of my hands..."
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Maybe not, but still, my passion for following the '02 New Jersey Nets really allowed me to fine tune my internet surfing abilities, and I havent looked back since. Thus, I may be an Analog clock, but I believe I can serve the same purpose as those Digital Clocks too. Perhaps learn a trick or two while we're studying them.
All analogies aside.
I believe that learning should not be limited to classroom settings. Call me naive, but as I am just getting my feet wet in the Education department, I really believe it. Personally, I've always been kind of a geek for utilizing knowledge learned in the Classroom in real life contexts (ex. the moment I realized that the reason we put soda in the fridge is not only for it to be icy cold and refreshing, but because at room temperature, the solubility of Carbon Dioxide is much lower, and thus the soda will go flat quicker). How better to bridge the gap between the classroom and the real world than to utilize computers and clickers?
Seeing as most people cant go a day without utilizing technology, it seems foolish to not use this powerful tool in preparing students for the real world. While the content matter to be taught in classrooms is at the crux of our jobs, if given the opportunity, we should prepare our students to be innovators. And in whatever field they may pursue, the cutting edge will very likely require them to be technologically literate.
Thus, I hope to be given the tools to be able to assist future students, so that my technological handicap may not hinder students. As Prof. Chen was saying, this class can ONLY help us become better educators, by giving us another way to teach, and that is pretty exciting.
Also, even outside of the physical class room, seeing things like Khan Academy or even Code Academy gets me really excited about how students now have access to a seemingly infinite amount of information, and how we as educators can use it to teach in truly innovative fashions.
Here's to learning to taking on a bit more of a multifaceted approach to education guys.
Cheers!
