How am I going to use these "ah-has" in my professional life?

My three "ah-has" and how they would fit into my professional life.

Intelligence does not flatten with technology

• How can technology flatten our intelligence when we are continually learning new ideas, concepts, and technologies due to the access we have with technology. I use Google on a daily basis - for work, school or personal. For me it is one huge brain. If I want to look up a recipe I can. If I want to find a great science experiment for my after school group I can. If I want to watch a TED Network clip for class I can. I have everything I need at my finger tips. I am seriously looking at setting up a blog spot for my 4-H Ambassadors to keep in touch with them and remind them of importnat things along with it being a "think tank" for programing ideas. I do it now with emails and text messages but they want more. A prime example of how their generation is driving technology. Carr raised some valid fears but I believe it is just like any other change that has occurred in this world, they feared it in the beginning but now embrace it at evolutionary. That is exactly how I view technology and the flattening of intelligence.

We all work together to make the this world - we must remember that!

• This concept is evident in the "go green" movement that is currently sweeping the nation/world. Everything that we do is intertwined and impacts many more than just us. Technology is the greatest tool to teach that. Just look at how accessible the globe is. We are are just a computer screen away from another country. How I can do my part in getting youth to realize this? Through my after school lessons on agriculture, wildlife and global connections. It is so important to teach the younger generations about being good stewards of the earth and I believe this next generation will be the most globally conscious generation yet.

The critical educator - questioning the question

• In 4-H we are all about exploration and teaching new skills. As a 4-H leader I want the youth to work through a project on their own; to question their processes and accept their conclusions. The hardest part about my job is getting parents and adult volunteers to understand and see that. They want a perfect project completed; they forget the true success is in the learning process, not the end result. I love seeing the creativity and hard work young kids put in to a project and how excited they are about it. I use questioning and answering their questions with questions to foster their thinking process. It is harder than it seems but it takes practice. But with continued use it is my hope that I get closer to being a critical educator.

No, Google has not Made me Stupid!

We come to rely on computers to mediate our understanding of the world; it is our own intelligence that flattens into artificial intelligence (Carr 2008). I disagree; I have the world at my finger tips. Technology has allowed me to continue my education in a format that was not even an option 10 years ago. Last semester I was able to research and read up on news in India; something I could never have experienced without technology. I need the meaning of a word or further research on youth development concept for work – I can Google it and further my knowledge in a matter of minutes. I would agree that it has led to the insensate need for instant answers and need to know. Have we lost crucial critical thinking skills because of technology? No – it is because of education. Teaching to the standardized test or to memorize the facts for the test has pushed us farther away from critical thinking. How can we get others to see the importance of Google and technology in education? Our youth are demanding it and we need to find ways for it foster critical thinking skills.

What is Education For?

Orr points out many interesting myths in this article in addition to some great new principles for individuals to ponder. In Aldo Leopold’s words, know that “they are only cogs in and ecological mechanism such that, if they will work with that mechanism, their mental wealth and material wealth can expand indefinitely (and) if they refuse to work with it, it will ultimately grind them to dust.” (Orr 1991) We are only “cogs” in a large machine working together for the best end result but Orr is challenging us, even back 17 years ago with concepts that are still very relevant today! In his third myth he mentions the loss of vernacular knowledge and the demographic shift from rural to urban settings (Orr 1991). I am living in that world today. It is interesting how the agricultural world that I live in has change in the last 17 years do to the lack of urban individuals understanding agriculture; I trend they were worried about in 1991. 17 years ago at an producer of agricultural products we did not worry about educating the public about how we were raising a wholesome product in an environmentally and human way. As a individual who has grown up and still lives in agriculture, this has always been the case of 95% of all agricultural producers for hundreds of years but it is the 5% that are not responsible that the public (who is so far removed from agriculture) chooses to focus on. For me, as a producer, it is disheartening to see the loss of knowledge and connection to a vital part of everyone’s sustainability on this plant; it is something I work very hard at in educating our younger generation at through my work, my son’s school and through my role as being a responsible dairy producer. So when Orr listed his 11 “basic comprehension list” I was relieved to see an excellent list yet disheartened that 17 year later we still are not accomplishing this list. When are we going to take notice and set the pace for change?

Questioning the Question?

The critical educator doesn’t believe that there are two sides to every question; with both sides needing equals attention. For the critical educator, there a re many sides to a problem, and often these sides are linked to certain class, race, and gender interests (McLaren 2003). As a child who spent most of the elementary years in the late 80’s and early 90’ s in a parochial school one of the things that I found most frustrating was the rigor structure to our education. Do we learn the same? All of us would answer that with a resounding NO! I believe what McLaren is saying here is that as educators with need to look a the entire scope of factors that effect a child’s education – race, gender, life experiences, school experiences, learning tendencies to ensure the success of every child. I didn’t always see or experience that in my elementary years. I believe it was the lack of resources available and it was also the norm at that time in parochial school education; I have seen that improvement now.
McLearn want’s us to be critical pedagogical instructor. He wants to instill the critical thinking and logic in the students that we reach. If this is accomplished are we not giving youth the best opportunity in the future for success? Are we not setting tem up for future success in other classes, careers and life experiences?

What to choose?

When I look back at all the readings we had to choose from this semester it is hard for me to narrow it down to just three that struck me intriguing or exciting. I feel that each of them had something to contribute to me form of thinking and challenge my thought process on education. But I was able to find three that may stick with me just a little more than others.

My First Blog!

Wow! How easy!!!!!!!!! I can see the possibilities with my Ambassador group in 4-H already! Too simple; why be afraid of technology?