I think that for us to be teachers of networked students we are going to be those that answer questions that our students cannot find online or just to point them in the right direction. There will also be the challenge of us having to sit back and be a guiding light for our students instead of being in the front of the classroom giving a lecture to students who are barely paying attention or zoned off in their own little world like we were in school. The most difficult thing that people are going to have to get used to from this change IS the fact that teachers will no longer be in the front of the class giving lectures, instead they will be off to the side on the computers right along with students letting them figure out for themselves how to do an assignment and only stepping in on really difficult portions.
On the other hand, I think that while this type of learning is just now getting off the ground it will still be in the first steps by the time I get in a classroom so I know that I will be getting used to it right along with all the other teachers and that hopefully if it does not work there will be a way for some teachers to stay in a traditional education setting. While I have this hope, I can look around out how fast things have progressed and know that this will not be true and that everyone that is now in school to be in the education field and current teachers will need to get used to teaching from a distance.
The Seventh grader's PLE and my PLN
I learned from the video that the seventh grade student uses Symbaloo to track all of her web searches down and last semester since I had not started bookmarking my sites yet decided that it would be a good place to start. I went to Symbaloo and created an account and now I can get to everything I need to help me with this class at the click of a button, especially since I thought it would be a great idea to go ahead and set my Symbaloo as the homepage on my browser. From last semester I learned that it's important to keep a running PLN and so far I have managed to update mine every 2-3 weeks.
Hey Jenifer, I am assigned to your blog this week for the C4C assignment. I actually had wrote an in-depth comment addressing your post, but Google decided to delete the comment when I tried to publish it. A simple summary of the material I addressed in the deleted comment was basically that the future of education will be technology. Any school system that refuses to incorporate technology has failed at their attempt to prepare students for their career. I find lecture extremely non-beneficial when used as the solo technique for addressing material. I find that the best way to promote learning is for lecture to be supported by research (technology), and strengthened by discussion. All things can at times be permissible but not everything will always be beneficial, and educators should search for techniques which provide for the best learning experience. Students must be given technology courses to prepare them for the future, but I feel that technology should not be incorporated in the classroom for the sole purpose of incorporating technology. I enjoyed reading your blog post, and you presented some very interesting points.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the great work,
Keeley Bryan
Economists are writing about the disruptions that are happening in many of our economic sectors: music, printing, entertainment, technology, etc. One I listened to today talked about education and how it was one area of our economy that had been resistant to change but that would not continue to avoid disruption. You understand that. It is coming. And faster than people believe.
ReplyDeleteInteresting.