Democracy in Education 6/30/09

The first major idea that I took from this chapter was the idea of of transmission of ideas from the older generation to the younger generation. I never took the time to think about what would have been if people before us had not passed down their ideas, habits or ways of thinking. This could have affected how far our society could have been set back. So the idea of transmission is very important in our society because it is passing down ideas, habits, and ways of thinking so that we do not make the same mistake twice.
The second major idea I took away from this chapter is the thought that the author presents that all communication is educative. I think this is an important idea because even though you might totally disagree with someone on the topic that is being discussed, you might find that the other person does bring up a good point, and in some way that point might benefit your life in a positive way.
The third major idea I took away from this chapter is the idea of an education you get from living with others and a formal education. I feel that this is an important idea because at one end of the specturm the education you might recieve from living with those around you might not be an appropriate education because the things that those around are doing could be inappropriate and illegal. But on the other end of the spectrum if you are living with people who are bringing you up in the right manner and showing you how to live a good life there is still a need for formal education. Therefore, no matter what end of the spectrum you are coming from there is always a need for a formal education.

Blooms Taxonomy 6/30/09

I think the level of Bloom's taxonomy that I experiencesd most in my secondary schooling was comprehension and application. I think in the years I went to high school my teachers really tried to make sure that we were comprehending the material that was being presented by them. They would check if we were comprehending the material by having us write summaries; have a small group discussion then report back to the larger class; inferring what might happen next; and comparing and contrasting what was being talked about. We also used application quite a bit. I think after the teachers knew we comprehended the material that was being presented they would then ask us to apply the skills into real life situations that we might encounter in our everyday life.
As far as post secondary education is concerned, Bloom's level of taxonomy shifted into the stages of analysis and evaluation. Once I hit college the professors were asking us to write and think in completly different ways. They wanted us to analyze and evaluate what was being presented instead of comprehending it and applying it. The professors expcted us to analyze the material by breaking it down and finding a meaning in what we were covering in our work. The professors also expected us to evaluate the work in class by criticizing the work of the books we were covering in class, the work of other students in class, and the work that we were doing ourselves.
I think as I moved on through my schooling the thought process became much deeper, and I had to put much more thought into the work I was doing. I was not being asked just to comprehend it and apply the material, I was also being asked to analyze it and evaluate it on a much deeper level.

First Blog Post 6/29/09

We as educators should integrate technology into the curriculum because times are changing in the world around us and students in today's classroom need to learn how to use technology so that when they get out of school they will not be behind. They must be able to use technology since the world we live in is based on using technology in everyday life. By integrating technology into the curriculum it gives the students a different way to learn and understand the information instead of the old boring way of taking notes off of a blackboard or from an overhead projector. By using technology students are more engaged in the lesson, and might retain more of the information if they are interested in the way the information is being presented to them. Also, by using technology in the classroom it gives the students a chances to surf the web and find out so much more about a topic they are researching instead of being limited to the books that are in the school library. Using the internet to do research should allow the students to find out everything they need to know about the topic they are researching, and it also should save them time since using the internet is much quicker then using books. Hopefully as the times continue to change educators will realize how important it is to integrate technology into the curriculum and how much more the students might benefit if they do use technology more often in the classroom setting.