Reflection

I would like to take a moment and reflect on the blogging assignment for this class as this is my first ever blog. I very much enjoyed the idea of keeping an online journal in the format of a blog. It was a nice complement to the nature of this class. So often I find myself in class wishing to continue the current discussion on but because of time restraints we move on to other topics equally deserving of our attention. The blog offers a medium in which to carry on such topics in a less formal environment. This affords each of us the opportunity to speak our mind despite certain apprehensions of speaking out. It also allows us to comment and potentially thread a discussion outside of the classroom whenever we want. This is extremely valuable, especially for those controversial topics in which there might be a lot to say. I hope that I keep using this medium to discuss current events which directly effect my future and the future of younger generations.  I would also like to take this chance to express my gratitude to everyone for such an enlightening experience. My thanks go out to all my classmates for their valuable contributions.

Found this funny little picture on theCHIVE. Hope you all enjoy!

source:http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2011/07/internet-true-captions-15.jpg?w=500&h=2232

Class Discussion

I thought today's discussion was very interesting, especially in regards to the changing notion of our industry based economy to one which is service based. After reading the Spring book and from my own personal experience, it seems as if the educational system is reactionary. The education system is always a step behind. For instance, one might say the industrial revolution changed our perspective on how education is to be conducted. Now that our country is moving away from industry the education system is inadequate. At least educational theory by the time it actually becomes practice is antiquated. Will the educational system always be playing catch up?
As the world is moving towards globalization, we can already begin to see a dropping off in our nations performance. That is if you are under the impression that our schools can be compared to the educational systems of other modernized countries. Most Americans have the opinion that Asian schools are leading in the categories of mathematics and science. Rather those countries are more effective at teaching those subjects. It should also be said that those countries education is not available to everyone. The United States is one of the only countries, if not THE only country, to provide a free and public education to all of its citizens. More and more students are continuing there education at the higher levels. However, it is well known that U.S. colleges train many students to develop general skills rather than vocationally specific skills. This results in the fact that many college graduates are poorly prepared for specific jobs or occupations. So where does the change need to take place. Does the whole education system need to be given a face lift, or should we tear it down and build a new one? Ill leave this with one parting question: Assume a world in the future with the continuing trend we see currently that more and more college graduates are obtaining McJobs. Aside from the fact that these jobs do not offer adequate pay for sustainability and financial relief, is there something negative about a population where the entire work-force has a college level degree?

Switzerland's Educational Business

Okay keeping with the global theme, I came across this article about Switzerland and its educational system. Last week in switzerland the economics ministry took over responsibilities for its country's higher education and research. The ministry of the interior was the orignal reign holder. What's interesting about this is that research is one of Switzerland's most valuable export, amongst their raw materials. So why would the ministry of economics be concerned with such matters? This idea is a little unsettling to me. This makes me call Switzerland's motives into question. Are they looking to increase their profits on research? According to google's public data Switzerland, a country of 7.7 million people, has a gross domestic product of $492 billion and is continuing to rise steadily since mid-2009. This puts it in the top ten countries of GDP per capita. With the switching of ministries will this put an unnecessary stress on higher education and research to bring results quicker to market, so the country can increase profit and gain market control? In a larger scope, are we seeing a change in the purpose of higher education? Are more and more countries looking to the economic gain received from bettering the education system?

The fading shade of cursive

As we continue to adopt technology in all facets of our life, certain things fall to the wayside becoming archaic. One such skill continuing to slip down the cracks is cursive writing. With the emerging acceptance of technology such as laptops, tablets,  and cell phones typed text is becoming the normal medium for communication. More and more teachers are incorporating typed assignments into their curriculum, often eliminating a written option all together. I have even heard of some teachers banning the use of cursive because of some students producing illegible assignments or test answers. So it only seems natural that cursive handwriting is a skill now becoming extinct. In an article I just read, Indiana is omitting cursive from their state curriculum. Come fall Indiana schools will have the choice of keeping cursive in the classroom or move to typing instead.
I can recall my own experience learning cursive and it isn't a pleasant one. I learned handwriting in 2nd grade from Sister Louanne, a nun of the Sacred Heart of Jesus order. She was terrifying in her all white habit. They way she walked up and down the aisles was much like a stealth bomber, silently cruising up and down waiting for a student to make a mistake.  If our i's weren't dotted and t's weren't crossed she would unleash fury on us, often cracking our knuckles with her ruler. We were to take extreme pride in our penmanship  because if you couldn't write legibly it reflected poorly on your character. I am interested to hear about other people's experiences. Was penmanship something teachers told you to take pride in? Did your experience change how you used cursive? If you had a bad experience are you apprehensive to  writing in cursive? Furthermore, is teaching kids how to write cursive a waste of time? Will cursive be like calligraphy, with only those who taught themselves able to do it? Should cursive be taught in school or should it be left up to the parents?

June 29 Class Reflection

After working with the group I was able to pick out a lot more information from the text that I otherwise would have missed. Its amazing to me how well a group of students can analyze and interpret an essay or academic article. When one student is working they are limited to one point of view, often their own point of view which can be very limited in scope. After working in the small groups I had a much more clear understanding of the author's intent and purpose of this essay. The advantages of small group work in a classroom setting became apparent, and continue to become apparent as I continue my experience of being a "student" teacher. As I picture myself in front of a classroom of my own, I envision how my students will respond to such strategies as small group work. Hopefully they will benefit from it as much as I have in my career as a student.  Another advantage of the small groups is when they all reconvene to demonstrate what each group has learned. This is an effective way of dividing the material and conquering the content.

Globalizing Education is a business

I found this article on USA Today and found it very interesting. Its a concept that has never occurred to me. The article talks about the process foreign students are challenged with when applying for colleges. Some universities and parents use agents to help with the process. Agents can do a variety of tasks from anything like matching the student with the proper college to helping out with the unfamiliar application process. The agents are often incentivized, receiving bonuses for sending foreign students to a certain college or university. However in the post 9/11 world, US has seen a decline in numbers of foreign students enrolling in its universities and colleges. On the other hand countries like Australia are seeing a large influx in enrollment. The article sites that since the market is relatively new, there are few restrictions on agents with what they can do and how they can recruit students. As the waves of agent-recruited students complete their education, those agents who do poorly will be no longer used by colleges and universities. This is corrected by the fact that foreign students who drop out after one year of college due to lack of overall happiness or poorly matched with a university are connected with the agent who recruited them. Those colleges who lose students like this will then stop using the services of specific agents. So it will be in best interest for agents to make as perfect as a match between foreign students and universities as possible, instead of just sending students to certain colleges because of commissions and perks. This article makes me wonder about the gap between the US primary and secondary educational systems. On the hand, on a global scale US primary education is less than desirable. However, secondary education such as college and universities is extremely desirable and appealing for foreign cultures. Where does it go wrong? Will the US continue to lead the world in post secondary education or will countries like Australia pulled ahead? With the rising costs in education will it hurt our economy and the number of  foreign students looking to come stateside?