TED Community » Tami Wells



More About Me

I'm passionate about

promoting science education to the general public.

An idea worth spreading

is to run TED blogs on Inter-continental air flights.

Talk to me about

terrestrial and marine ecology, agriculture, science and technology, informal education, and Louisiana heritage.

People don't know that I'm good at

restoring orchards and farms.

Comments

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  • A comment on Conversation: Are Educational Institutions responding to the challenges of teaching and learning in the 21st Century?

    Mar 2 2011: I want to share this information that alarmed me a few years ago when I was sharing information with K-12 educators. I was presenting some of my research in hyperspectral remote sensing, explaining things such as physics of light and how we utilize reflective properties and albedo to create classification maps. The educators were very interested and I had brought with me to the workshop some templates that they could take back to their classrooms. I did not print the copies because I thought it was best to give them a DVD for easy storage. One teacher told me that my presentation was great but that she would need a color printer to show the graphics and that her school did not supply color copiers or printers. Another educator laughed and said I do not have a computer to get the information from the DVD. I knew the school system where she taught had been given computers for every teacher classroom a few years back. She said let me rephrase that I do have a computer in my classroom. It is still in the new box. I use it as a podium. I asked if she needed some help learning how to use the computer. She said know I can use a computer but we do not have electrical outlets in our classrooms! I was a bit taken by her comments. Do we really buy teachers computers that have no electrical resources for operating them. I guess we do! I am a scientist not a formal educator. I began working side by side with educators about 10 years ago. I volunteer for workshops and share scientific information. I have learned so much from our educators. Perhaps, if the decision makers providing the "feel good" purchases for the educators classroom would ask them what they need first, we may not have to use computers as podiums!

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