I really enjoyed this video and thought its creation was interesting. I like the idea of connectivisim. According to this video, connectivism is a theory that learning occurs as part of social networking of many diverse connections and ties. It allows you to use all tools of technology , such as internet, blogging, search engines and many more. I also liked how you can connect with other s which strengthens the learning progress. I personally learn more when I work with others and have different people’s opinions. An example of this is our blogs. I always learn from what people comment on my post because people can interpret things differently than what I took it as. So, it is great to have other people’s opinions because it can make you think out of the box and open your mind up to different outlooks.
Another point that I liked about connectivism is the students take charge of their education. The students don’t have books and the teacher hardly lectures. I am going to be completely honest, when a teacher is lecturing, unless it is a topic I am interested in, I tune them out. I tend to learn more when I am on the internet navigating to find information. For example, I have learned more information in EDM 310 than any other class this semester because you have to do the work on your own. Of course, there is help when you need it. Reason I say this is because you don’t have a teacher standing in front of you telling you a bunch of facts. Instead, we have to use technology and learn the most from it. I know what I learn from this class will always follow me through my education
So, you ask why the Networked Students need a teacher? Well, for one, we don’t know everything. So, we are going to need some guidance from the teacher. The instructor teaches the students how to properly communicate with each other and I think that is very important, especially this day in time. I am sure that most of us text on our cells phones. How many of you shorten your words for example, letter “u” meaning you? I know that I do and when we properly communicate with others we need to make sure that we don’t use that type of communication. The teacher can also teach you how to maintain your personal network and skills that will be needed for the 21st century.
A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN)
I thought this 7th grader did a great job on her PLN. She had it well organized and you can tell that she had spent a lot of time on it. She gave me some great ideas for my own PLN. I liked how she had a note taking program on her PLN. I think that would be great to add to mine because there are many times that I just write down notes and a lot of it is unorganized. And sometimes I don’t remember what the note was for. So, the note taking program could be helpful and a great tool to have. Critiques on Smartboards
In both, Why Smartboards are a Dumb Initiative and Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards; I can see their point of view. Yes, they are expensive, but I think they are great tools to have in a classroom. When doing observation hours for a class last semester, I saw firsthand that students like working with smartboards. I noticed the students were eager to come to the board and participate in class. I think participation is a main key to effective teaching because we want our students to be engage and eager to learn.
A blog that I found was, Smartboard Survey-teachers like’m. I thought this was interesting because the results came from 237 teachers who did a survey on the use of smartboards. A question that was asked “was how many teachers find that their students are more engaging with the use of the smartboard?” 214 teachers agreed and 23 disagreed with the question. This just shows that smartboards are great tools to have in a classroom and are beneficial to our students. So, as future educators if we have a smartboard, we need to make sure we use it!
Here is the link:
Hey Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading you post on The Networked Student, I also love the idea of students being independent learners. No boring lectures needed! Empower students to learn on their own and prepare them for the real world. In most classes were the teacher simply lectures I find myself taking notes and then not remembering a single thing after class. I'm so worried that I'll miss something I'll be tested on that I never really understand the material. Another reason teachers are so important, even in connectivism is because students need someone to teach them how best to sort the piles of information they find. Help them realize what sources they can trust.
I agree with you here. I have a bad habit of taking notes and then losing them or forgetting what they mean, with a PLN you never have to worry about losing it; it's always at the click of a mouse! Her PLE was impressive; I have some work to do as well.
I see your point on using smartboards, but I do agree with a lot that the bloggers had to say. If we're not careful smartboards will just be another way to reinforce the same old way of teaching and I think they can be easily used so educators can say, "look here were technologically literate" without actually changing anything.
Jennifer,
ReplyDeleteExcellent post! I'm glad to see you're seeing past what many consider to just be "busy work" and making an effort to understand the purpose of EDM310 - to open your eyes to a new method of learning that you'll hopefully carry into your future classroom!
Keep up the good work!
- Allie