Week 7

Comments on the Alan Kay Article

This was a fresh breeze. I really enjoyed this article. If you look at my teaching philosophy on my website, you will see that it is a direct consequence of this type of thinking. I am happy that someone agrees with me!

According to me some of the highlights of this article were when Mr Kay mentions how the emphasis of technology has been to make it more TV like, so taht people are engrossed in entertainment and they lose touch with the beneficial side of technology. This point is very well made, and is very obvious with the advent of youtube and myspace.

As teachers we do have a responsibility -- one of directing our students towards critical thinking, so that they can chose for themselves what is good and leave what is bad. It is also very important to get enough people involved in idea based learning. This should create a sub culture of like minded people, which can affect a change. An example is a reading group focused on the great books of western civiliztion for example, and then seeking meaningful ways to use technology as a means of learning.

Overall I think this is a very well written article. It is idealistic and should be a little bit more focused on the pragmatism.

***********************
I did the website reviews with travis hall. Please read his blog for this part.
************************
The course pack reading for week 7 dealt with spreadsheets. I think that the use of spread sheets is of great importance in the practical world. The reading gives practical tips about how to teach this technology. (i.e. by simulating a real world situation).I think that this is in concordance with what we are being taught in this course i.e. linking theory with reality.