Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

Have you ever been moved by something you have seen or listened to in a life changing manner? Felt that you were actually there the moment it was taking place. Believed that you had known this person your entire life and concurred with every word. To answer the question personally, no. Until I viewed Randy Pausch's Last Lecture.
His speech was focused on his own life ambitions and dreams, but the way he relayed to the audience he was basically painting a picture for anyone who had questions or doubts about life and everything that comes with it. Acknowledging the fact that life doesn't always go exactly the way we want it to but that is just part of the learning experience.
If one had the privilege of being taught by Randy Pausch they not only found a mentor but a friend as well. The importance of seeing the ability and one's potential was very important but also rewarding and expecting more put him aside from just a professor. To teach someone when they had no idea that they were being tested. To "fake" was how he implied things to perceive as something fun but the individual was actually learning something. Letting his students see that they could use improvement, but to have them pushing the envelope to accomplish more is knowing that you as a teacher have become successful.
The way Randy Pausch was not only in the classroom, but also in life as well is the recipe for a great educator. Always seeing the potential of someone. Always to know the "good" of someone will eventually errupt, and to always allow someone to achieve dreams and ambitions. Life approaches every person in a different manner. No two people are exactly the same. One must approach a student with that in mind. No matter how many "brick walls" they may encounter they are there for a very good reason.

ipod Nation

One of the single most important and priceless inventions of the 21st century is the amazing Apple ipod. Designed simply as a storage device for MP3 music data, the ipod has leaped light years from origin. The technology today has the ability to store video and audio data endlessly.Thus. opening the door for new age information gathering and sharing.
One very useful application for the ipod is offering instruction for...pretty much anything. Searching the web for instructional based usage of the ipod belted out thousands of instances, but one that really captured my imagination was ipods being used to train teachers in Zambia. The project was funded by the EDC. They offered ipods to sixth grade teachers for Math, Science and English lessons for use in the classrooms. They also received a sound board to play the lessons to the entire class. The ability to rewind and stop a lesson was key to the involvement in the classroom.(http://ies.edc.org/news/articles/php?id=262)
I also found that Duke University has implicated use of ipods in the classroom as well. The students use the ipods vicariously for lectures and assignments among other elements as well. The University even took the initiative in 2004 to distribute ipods to all freshman students for class room use.The program known as (DDI) Duke Digital Initiative is formatting a new realm of technology use in classrooms especially in the form of the Apple ipod.