FROM THE GLEF SITE

Mark Feuring - January 12, 2010 Technology has become our third hand in the past decade with the quality of tool that is present. The start of the new millennium, brought allot of fear that the digits needed to register, because of the amount of information that was being superseded with databases. The internet is a savvy way of communication. There are a few ideas of saving information, sending data, and retrieving correspondence that are important tools to the information age. We as humans in the twenty-first century need to build motives for an easier and safer interface with technology. After watching a Eutopia Care video on the (GLEF) George Lucas Educational Foundation website I realized the advancement of schools since I attended grade school prior to 1989. Last semester I was in a field experience class where I logged around 40 hours, that semester observing classrooms. In the video I just viewed on GLEF there were similar classroom setups. The carpet on the floor was where grade-school children sit and is a popular classroom setup. Computers with desks in auditorium style fashions are lined against the wall. Basically, school has modernized and become part of the flow of learning style. The video was about positive learning environments where kids feel the presence of school. http://www.edutopia.org/louisville-sel-video The students sat in a circle of chairs in which conversation was open-ended group discussion. There is a scene where young students are passing by a teacher giving handshakes. The words of the young principal were also promising. "Were learning and not stopping," she commented. The hall monitor talking about safety with thumbs up was also intriguing. "Stay alive don’t run, don’t run" he said. I also read some blogs on the GLEF site about education. There is quite some reading about President Obama and the standardized testing in schools. One particular story is about a school in Oakland CA. with focus topic. "President Obama, please consider the long-term, irreparable consequences of continuing to develop an education system that revolves around standardized testing." http://www.edutopia.org/education-policies-letters-obama The ideas in the presentation cross the determination of teachers with the unique qualities of students. Furthermore, when students show signs of promise from educators there has to be levels, not integration.