Thing #5 Post:
I had no idea what a RSS was except that it had the word reading in the title. It is easy to figure why it would be popular and I am anxious to add to mine. A feed posted last Friday by Ben Grey caught my interest. He describes much of why I feel integrating technology into our school curriculum is more important than ever. A video from YouTube features a young man who credits his school program with saving his future. The article focus is mostly on the two sides of the technology coin- one side stresses the difficulty, the stress, the uncertainty, the resistance, the overwhelming task of utilizing technolgy for instruction. The other side relates the excitement, the hope, the clarity, the pride of accomplishments seen with much of the credit owed to technology. The video of Abel Real is a touching testimony of how a school program where students were given a laptop to use and take home, opened a boy's life to hope for his present and future. In this case, Abel represented many of the poor, underprivileged students who changed their life choices to pursue secondary schooling, rather than dropping out. Abel gave full credit to the teachers and administrators who worked so hard to provide this aspect to his education, and for many, the inspiration to work hard and live a productive life.