ishbel morag

In Susan’s Teen Culture Summary Susan talks about the fact that most teens are using MP3 and IPODs these days. I wanted to get a Walkman recently, as I still have a few tapes (does anyone remember these things?), and I listen to the radio, AM -band. The store keeper said “There are two left, we won’t be getting them in anymore.”

There is a dramatic influx of new technologies which, as Susan points out, is hard to keep up with. I have never used an IPOD, MP3 player, video games, cable or satellite TV and yet these are fairly common among most teenagers these days.

Sir Ken Robinson makes some very interesting points about creativity in his video. We are educating creativity out of people. He talks about Picasso stating that children are all artists and the trick is to stay an artist as one grows up. Robinson believes creativity is as important as literacy. The point is that children are willing to take a chance, they are prepared to be wrong, and to be creative one has to think like that and not be afraid of making mistakes.

We do not want to kill this creativity in students by over emphasising the information gathering, remixing and cut and pasting from the computer, in ways which do not stimulate creative thought and self expression. How can we use new technologies in more creative ways?

Hi I’m reacting to Kayla’s response to Ming’s post. I worked in a Catholic primary school for After School care, and the school had decided to put Smart Boards in all the classrooms. Some of the teachers were unsure of how to use these, and asked one of the 1st class students to give them a hand. This child was a ‘wizz’ at computers, and he was called on many occasions to give help. What times we live in! Actually, my brother was a ‘wizz’ at spelling and word origins and use to correct his teachers, when he was at school. That was many moons ago!

This is a reaction to Jabiz found through Kayla’s blog. I hear this ‘death by PowerPoint’ slogan a lot (Jabiz) and I wince, because I think PowerPoint and these sorts of technologies are a god-send for the visual artist. Teachers can easily show images without them being too small – holding up a book or actually struggling to find the right images. Previously slides were taken and wow if they were clear they were excellent.

Now students can find images they like for themselves, upload their own pictures of works and remix. PowerPoint is a tool, but a very useful one for teachers and students a like.