Blog Assignment #7

Dr. Pausch introduces a number of ideas in his lecture that can be applied not only in a classroom but also in life. He introduces the idea that dreams are not goals which should be followed in a sense of chasing after it and letting it take you where it will. Instead dreams, or goals, are something in which should provoke you to not put yourself in a box and to prevent yourself from getting comfortable with what you have where you are doing what you are doing with what you have. As educators, we should be a doorway which opens up to a new world of opportunities and possibilities for our students. He discusses a concept of "head-fake." This is seen when his students learn a distinct set of skills while doing their various projects that they will be able to apply to more significant pieces of work later in life. The idea is that there is more than one way to prepare a student, or person for that matter, for the future. We can prepare or students to perform a wide variety of difficult tasks by having them perform a few simple tasks which require the same skill set. Education does not have to be a means to its own end. It is more like a growing tool in which the student will be called on to use later on in life. He introduced a lot of technology to his students through projects etc. Students were able to connect with a number of the press while in zero gravity. His students were also able to create virtual worlds and various programs. They were able to acquire a number of skills while performing engaging tasks that kept the students both entertained and enlightened. Educators should take from this that students can learn under a variety of conditions other than hitting the books and mindlessly memorizing intellectual tid-bits. Educators can be more like an imaginative encourager than an intellectual enforcer. As educators, we shouldn't push our students to do as always has been done. We should push our students to think outside-of-the-box and to try to create new worlds of ideas and possibilities. We should embody creativity and wonder in our students. From there, our students can reach further intellectual bounds than we could have ever set for them ourselves. We are not here to feed our students what we know for them to take in and be just as we are. We are here to offer what we know for them to take in and add to as they go along. When our students are the future, we should be preparing them for the future not for what is or what has been. We should be opening their eyes and setting them out to find what is out there to build on, extend, make better, and perfect. And in the end, we have to hope that they pass the torch on to the next generation to continue this work in progress.