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The newest generation, "Generation Z", is a generation that has technology within their blood. They live and breath technology. As the "Did you know" video pointed out, mobile devices will soon be the most prevalent access point to the internet. Kids have access to the entire world through their computers and mobile devices. The students that are coming into our schools are used to having information at the tip of their fingers in a short period of time. Even though the use of televisions is in decline, the changes in the ways of this generation versus previous generations can be seen in the rapidity of scene changes in modern television shows and movies. Most scenes only last a couple of seconds because the average "Gen Z" viewer needs to have that rapid change in order to maintain their focus. Their reliance on the internet and their ability to increase their knowledge through the internet is something that can be used to improve classroom interactions, if it is used correctly. No generation before this generation has been so accustomed to technology, and so averse and uncomfortable with ideas or strategies that do not deal with technology. Using technology in classrooms is the best way to draw students into the conversation and get them involved with the curriculum. When these students are able to access the material through the technology that they are comfortable with, then they will understand and retain the knowledge for a much greater period of time.

media type="custom" key="10076975" Tom Wujec discusses how technology takes away knowledge and skills from our society and humanity. He does so by demonstrating an astrolabe and its ability to tell time. He describes how the astrolabe was the iPhone of the time and how everyone who was educated at the time would be able to use the device. I have often wondered how the modern technological advances that we are making may be affecting how people in our society use or access their knowledge. At this point in time, if any individuals wish to know some type of information, they simply access their phone or computer and look up the information on the internet. Does this quick access to information limit the amount of time and energy that people put into retention of their knowledge? I believe that it can. I think that students now have too much of a reliance on technology and gaining new information. However, I do believe that technology does have a place in the world. I just feel that we should not rely too heavily on the technology that we have access to.

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In this TED Talk, Julian Treasure discusses how sound affects us. The four different aspects that he discusses are physiological, psychological, cognitive, and behavioral. Physiological changes affect our hormones, or our breathing or heart rate. Psychological is how sound affects the way that we feel. For example, sad songs make us sad and vice versa. Cognitive changes occur when sounds begin to interfere with other sounds that we are attempting to attend to. For example, loud sounds can affect how productive a worker is. Finally, behavioral sounds affect the way that people act. Treasure provides the example of a fast song affecting the driving habits of someone listening to that song. He provides “golden rules” for designing sound for commercial uses. He believes that by following these rules, we can design the sound around us to make us relax and live better lives. This is a useful topic for a classroom because there are ways to use sound in classrooms to increase the productivity of students. Most students will listen to some kind of music while doing homework and offering that possibility in the classroom could have a positive affect on your students.

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Ali Carr-Chelman discusses the problems with boys in education in her TED talk. She begins with discussing some statistics from the “100 Girls” program, which shows some disturbing numbers as to how many more boys are at risk in schools than girls. She feels that boys are out of sync with the classroom environment for several reasons. One issue that plagues boys is the zero tolerance rule. Boys are not aloud to work with or write about video games or violence in the classroom. Another issue is the lack of men elementary school teachers. According to her, 7% of elementary school teachers are men. The rest of the teachers are women, who though they may be excellent teachers, cannot be good male role models for boys. A third issue is that the curriculum in elementary school has been crammed together. The teachers must get the students through a certain amount of curriculum. Boys who cannot stay focused when that age are remanded to a special classroom to help them move faster. Carr-Chelman says that schools should change the mindset towards boys. She wants the education world to design better games, talk to parents, teachers and politicians to get the news out, and lastly, provide money for game design.

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In this TED talk, Diana Laufenberg discusses how information has been passed down and accessed throughout history. She discussed how the internet made information much more accessible than it had been every in the past. She discusses her past and how she arrived at the point where she was comfortable with letting students use technology to shape their learning. She explains that learning is the ability to adjust after making mistakes. According to her, technology helps students learn in a way which applies to their lives, while making it possible to recover and improve by learning from their failures.