http://techliterateteacher.blogspot.com/2009/06/networked-student.html
I really enjoyed watching this video. It was very helpful and very organized. I gain a far better understanding of how useful networking and the internet can be. I never thought about all of the ways we as students can learn outside of the textbook. Many believe that the textbook is a boundary for the class and it can only be used for that subject. A part that really seemed helpful to me was the part that mentioned podcasts. I am learning so much about podcasts and all of their uses. I never thought to listen to podcasts from elite professors from other schools. This is an amazing tool.
I also love what blog posts contribute to the learning process. This peer interaction provides students with the opportunity to voice their opinions. This opens the door for reinforced opinions from others and also debate. When students voice their views, others can learn. One student may take an approach on a topic and enlighten another student by pointing out something that the first student may have never processed. I have experienced this first hand through my EDM310 class. While first skeptical about blogs, I have learned a great deal about how useful they can be.
This video emphasizes the need for teachers even with the use of technology. Teachers offer guidance and teach how to build a network. They teach how to communicate properly and how to respectfully ask for help from experts. Teachers also help organize information. I liked this part of the video because unlike other videos, it proved that there is still a need for teachers. Teachers definitely need to stay in touch with current technology in order to reach their full potentials as teachers in the 21st century.
A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEls3tq5wIY
This student's PLE was similar to my PLN. She decides on what to work on next on most of her assignments, especially her science class. This is similar to my PLN because as soon as I get caught up on my EDM work, there is always a new project on which I can begin to work. She is in contact with experts in order to help her research be as thorough and accurate as possible. I am also in contact with educators across the country. This is helpful because it helps me to learn through people who have dealt hands on with all the things I am currently learning. Peer reviews are also a part of her PLE. This is prominent in EDM310. My peers voice their opinions about my ideas. This process allows me to see different points of views from people my own age. This student's PLE is very similar to my PLN. She seems very organized and is using the technology available to her to it's full potential.
Critiques of SMARTboards
http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-smartboards-are-dumb-initiative.html
The argument against SMARTboards is that they don't do anything that another gadget can't do. They are just expensive machines, not necessarily impressive machines. SMARTboards don't make teaching curriculum any easier. With a basic computer and online tools, the same lessons can be created just as easily if a SMARTboard was used.
However, SMARTboards have given some teachers a foot into the technological world that they wouldn't have otherwise been introduced to. Many teachers who didn't use any technology in their classrooms, began using SMARTboards. This cause students to become more engaged and their teaching changed.
In 46 years of teaching (yes, more than twice as long as you have been alive), I have used a textbook only once - in the first semester when I taught Political Science at Duke. Never again!
ReplyDeleteI am enthusiastic about blogs also. Glad to have you as a member of the club!
Your link is not a button. Instructions are on p.11 of the Activities Instruction Manual. Make your links work as buttons. That is a requirement of EDM310.
Well written. Interesting. Thorough. Keep up the good work!
Hello Mary
ReplyDeleteGood story about The Networked Student. Kids are naturally wired, to pretty much understand any high tech inventions from the get go. No need for us(adults), to re-teach them. As a matter of fact, they probably could show us a thing or two. The job for us as adults and teachers, is to assist them, in guidance and using what they've learn to build their networks. The rest will take care of itself.
The PLN is a great idea, and some lucky rich kid is setting back in amazement, thinking about how much money his simple idea is making him. I, for one, will use this technology to keep me from the back and fort thing. It will be the main hub of my activity, as i will be able to work much more efficiently, on the internet.
The Smart board is a good idea, no matter what the critics say. At some point we must move forward with technology in the classroom. Sure, its only The SMARTboard now, but one day, who knows, maybe the iPhone. The SMARTboard will do for now because anything is batter than standing at the chalkboard lecturing. You have to start somewhere, and i think the SMARTboard is a good beginning.