Special Assignment #2

1. The Khan Academy is a non-profit organization that offers free lectures to anyone with web-access.  Lectures can be seen on materials such as K-12 math, biology, chemistry, physics, finances and history.  It is an easy and convenient way to get help with, or learn certain subjects.  You can watch the videos, practice problems, and the site will even help you keep track of what you have learned and what you need help with.  The web-site is organized and easy to navigate.  There is a tab (watch) that has all of the videos posted underneath it.  This is an easy way to access all of the videos quickly because they are grouped by subject.
2. This web-site can be very helpful to teachers and students.  Students can get extra help in their classes by watching the videos ON THEIR OWN TIME.  If they miss a class or just need extra tutorials they can access lectures to many different subjects.  They can make use of the assessments and practice exercises to get a better understanding of the material they are learning.  With students permission, teachers and parents can keep up with what the students are learning and how they are progressing.  Teachers can have an at-a-glance look at everything you have been learning, down to the specific problems you have worked on.  This would be a good tool to assess your students strengths and weaknesses.  Teachers would be able to plan their lessons accordingly and get extra help to students who are struggling in certain areas.
3. On the Khan Academy web-site I watched the video about Unemployment.  He talks about the difference between U-3 and U-6 definitions of unemployment.  U-3 is defined as the "total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force."  Essentially what this means is the amount of people who have been actively looking for a job in the past 4 weeks.  This is calculated and makes up the percent of U-3 unemployed people.  Then he talks about U-6 which is defined as the "total unemployed, plus marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons."  This means that calculated together would be the amount of people who are unemployed that have been looking for a job in the last 4 weeks, plus the people who are unemployed because of some personal reason of their own, and the people who are employed part time in a job that they would not normally accept under other economically sound conditions.  The calculations for U-6 are higher and this shows that there is lowered labor utilization.  Since there is lower labor utilization there is wage deflation.  This makes service based jobs, which are the majority in western civilizations, not able to higher as many people.
4. When teachers begin teaching they can use this web-site to really get to know their students strengths.  They could also use this if a student misses class and they need to catch up on a lecture.  I think by using this web-site many teachers will be able to focus more on what needs to be covered in class.  They will save time and be more efficient in planning their lessons.
5. This web-site surprised me because I had no idea there was anything like this.  There are so many lectures on so many topics.  I really would have liked to have something like this when I was in high school.  It would have made some of my classes a lot easier because he really breaks things down and puts them in perspective.  I was surprised at how easy he is to listen to, and I thought it was really cool how he writes on the screen shots and draws diagrams.  These things make it easy to follow along and really learn what he is saying.

1. The iTunes U web-site is a simple, easily accessible way for faculty and students to distribute information to each other.  The institution that is using it can make it public for everyone to access or they can keep it private, just for their students and faculty.  Faculty members can easily post lectures, lab demonstrations, historical footage, and many other educational materials to their site for students to access on their computers and even their phones!  Students and faculty can upload brochures, and flyers to help keep everyone involved in campus life.  Teachers can also add slide shows, books, films, and audio-books to their site for their students to view.  If an institution decides to distribute their content publicly, which most do, then everyone with itunes and the internet can benefit from their knowledge.  This site also has an apple store where you can purchase your high-speed technological devices.  It also has tabs for each device that help describe what each one does and how it works.  For example, if you click on the tab for iPods, it has information about every kind of iPod there is.
2. This web-site could really help teachers keep up with advancing technology.  It explains how to use these devices thoroughly and what each one does.  This would be an easy way for a teacher to learn how to use a device that might help them in their classroom.  Teachers could upload information anytime they want and students could access it anytime, anywhere.  Being able to do this could help a teacher engage their students all of the time and not just in the classroom.  Making use of iTunes U could also help expand the teachers and students personal learning network.  They could get ideas from other institutions who have posted material and made it public.
3. I watched a demo for an iPad's educational app on iTunes U.  It was about Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.  On the demo, you could watch the play in animation, click on a button to get a description of all of the characters, and click on a button to get an overview of the play with certain subtopics like plot summary, themes, and quotes.  It was very detailed and easy to understand.  It is simple to use and the program really breaks down the story for people who need more of an understanding of the play.  Watching this demo was a lot better than reading the play, and would definitely keep students attention a lot easier.
4. Using apps like this with your students could make learning a lot more interesting and exciting.  It would be easier for students to grasp usually hard concepts, and in turn would make them more motivated to learn.  There were many other apps like this one for different subjects, and incorporating them into your lessons would be very helpful to the technological students of today.  They would better understand the material and would be able to relate to the style of learning.
5.  I was surprised by this web-site as well.  It was so detailed and filled with information on how to use apple devices.  The web-site had so many cool apps that you could incorporate into your classroom and make learning a lot more interactive.  The web-site mentioned that 800 institutions use this web-site and share it publicly.  I had never even heard about it until now, and I think it is astounding how fast things like this are spreading throughout the educational spectrum.

1. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a non-profit organization that brings together the world's best thinkers and doers to give the speech of their lives in 18 minutes or less.  These speeches are called TEDTALKS and are on topics such as technology, business, science, global issues, and so much more.  It is free to the public and there are over 900 Ted talks on the web-site currently.  You can find the different talks by the speakers name, theme of the talk, and you can listen to them with subtitles if they are not in English.  The web-site is featured around ideas, questions, and debate.  All three are ways for people to interact and learn together.
2. Teachers could take advantage of the materials on this web-site by watching videos and hearing new perspectives on certain topics.  They can learn about how other cultures and countries view different topics and they can implement that into their curriculum.  This could help them become more open-minded and understand the views of others better.
3. On this web-site I watched a talk by Kevin Kelly on how technology evolves.  It was a very interesting video because it gives a very obscure look into why technology is important and why it has come to be what it is.  He talks about the evolution of all living species and the 6 kingdoms.  His theory is that technology is like a 7th kingdom.  It is a way of life, and just like the other 6 kingdoms it focuses on ubiquity, diversity, specialization, complexity, and socialization.  He believes that technology is needed and should be constantly evolving (being invented) so that everyone can embrace it and find their potential for difference.  He says that technology gives us the potential for difference and opportunities.  There are millions of children in the world whose technology for self-expression has not been invented yet.  He thinks that it is our moral obligation to invent these technologies and keep evolving them so that everyone can recognize their own difference.  He thinks that technology is an essential part of finding out who we are.  He looks at it as "the infinite game" because technology can be delayed but never killed.  It will continue to evolve and we must embrace it.
4. I think this video could really help explain why technology is important to everyone.  It could explain to students why technology is what it is today and encourage them to continue to use and embrace it.  It shows them that it is not going away and it is only going to continue to grow.  I think people could really see how using technology could evolve them as a person and help them find who they are.
5. I was surprised at how sucked into this web-site I got.  I loved how there were so many diverse opinions and ideas.  I was also surprised with how many videos there were and on so many different topics.  The videos I watched made me think about things that I never would have thought about.   I was impressed with how easy it was to watch these videos, and how fast time went by.  I think this is a very useful web-site and I really liked it!