Reflective Media Asset
Under Construction
Sunday, December 13, 2009
Sunday, December 6, 2009
BP6_2009121_SocialBookmarking
Social Bookmarking
My del.icio.us user name is mzmeko. It is liked to my yahoo account, mzmeko@ymail.com.
My del.icio.us url is: http://delicious.com/mzmeko
-t. meko fortney
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
BP5_2009121_AntiTeaching
Anti-Teaching
I would to start this blog off my first commending all the hard working educators everywhere in the world. Especially those teachers who make magic happen everyday. Overall, I think that the educational system does a great job at educating the vast majority of students. Could the educational system stand to be better? Of course.
We as educators have far more resources than those of our fore fathers. Back in the day, a chalk board, some chalk, paper, pencil and a book was all it took to mold the future leaders of America. Nowadays, teachers and students have an abundance of resources literally available at their fingertips. Some of us dive in whole heartedly, others don’t know where to begin.
As a student I think that Course Management Systems are only as good as it’s creator. Having had taken a few online classes in my lifetime, I can attest the evolution of the online learning system. As John Meerts mentioned in the article Course Management Systems (CMS), “CMS are becoming increasingly more sophisticated both in their architecture and in their feature set”. I would have to agree. Over time CMS applications have gotten better looking, user friendly, and easier to use.
Personal Learning Environments or PLEs and Web 2.0 tool offer supplemental support to everyday learning as well as provides for a fresh approach to developing ones mind to it’s fullest potential. Educase Learning describes the term personal learning environment as ”the tools, communities, and services that constitute the individual educational platforms learners use to direct their own learning and pursue educational goals”. By setting up personal and specific, educational environments PLE and Web 2.0 applications can be utilized to maximize a students learning potential.
Currently I am the secretary at an all boys public school in Atlanta, GA. I have been educated in New York, Virginia and Georgia. As education has always been a passion of mine, I have been an educator in both Virginia and Georgia. Through my journeys I have come to notice a few things. In Georgia, the educational system works for those who can afford it, but does a poor job at securing steady progress in underprivileged urban communities.
"How can you say this”, you ask? Let me explain. While technology will keep students in line with the changing trends of the future, technology alone is not enough. I work at a school where everything is brand new; new building, new staff, new desk and books, new computers and Promethean boards in every classroom. At B.E.S.T. Academy, we have a state of the art library, 3 stand-alone computer labs, a separate building for elective classes and a plethora of other amenities. Our teachers have every technological opportunity to offer our young men the best public education Title One Funding can buy. Yet, everyone is stressed. Why? Administrators expect different results, yet they offer the same old politics, just dressed up in a fancy building.
Nothing will change in the south until everything is shaken up a bit, and districts are redrawn. Everyday I sit and wonder why out of 297 male students that attend our school, how come 296 of them are African American? Not one Caucasian child attends our magnificently structured, state of the art facility, and a matter of fact, only one Caucasian person even works at our school.
There is something to be learned from other people, of other cultures who live in other places not surrounded by poverty. There is a lesson to be learned in diversity, communication, tolerance, and respect, that our boys miss out on everyday. There is also an underlying message being sent too. “Nice, new, school. Good for them.” Really?
-t. meko fortney
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