Blog Post #6

The Networked Student

This is a short movie that was created by a group of high school students in Ms. Wendy Drexler's class. Ms. Drexler is currently a professor at the University of Florida. She specializes in education technology and seems very passionate about coming up with solutions to incorporate technology into K-12 classrooms. Ms. Drexler does this using the theory of connectivism, which is a belief that learning is facilitated through technology by tying together many social networks and databases. In this video, her students summarize how to achieve just that.
The speaker uses a very basic cartoon approach to show how students can be linked through various networks and then use those networks to reach out to people they would have previously had no way to communicate with. The video also lists several helpful websites that students can use to enhance their PNL, such as Delicious and Google Scholar. This is an excellent illustration on how students' learning can be enhanced by correctly using technology. As a current online student, I can most certainly appreciate the information provided in this video. It is an excellent demonstration on just how connected and involved we can be with other teachers and classmates.
As a future educator, I think the most important part of the video was our purpose as teachers. It shows that teachers are no longer responsible for simply imputing information into our students and hope they can output it in the same form. When I graduate, I plan to teach first or second grade. That being said I do not think that this amount of online time will be spent in my classroom because of the age of my students. However, I do believe that it will be my job to prepare my students for this type of learning. The internet is an ever-increasing part of our lives. Students as young as first grade need to know how to properly use it, and what simple tools like Google can be used for. I think teachers today underestimate the ability of very young children to understand connectivism. I believe if we properly show children of this age how technology is helpful, and start them on their paths of a creating a learning network, it will excite them for what tomorrow holds.

A 7th Grader's PLE

Wow! I think this is one of my favorite assigned videos so far! This student has really got it down, and it's so refreshing to hear a student's point of view. It seems like most the videos we watch in EDM310 are about exceptional teachers and the ways the make technology useful. It was very encouraging to watch this video because it shows what students at this age are capable of! She's made a great PLN, and shows that she is capable of linking everything she's learned into a variety of projects. When I saw that this was going to be a demonstration of 7th grader's PLN, before I watched the video, I thought it would be much more basic, I was wrong! Although, I use almost all of the same websites and applications in my PLN, I really appreciated how she organized it and think I can take some tips from her! She did a great job!

The Use of Smartboards in the Classroom
The two articles we were assigned Why Smartboards Are a Dumb Initiative and Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards point out the disadvantages of Smartboards in a classroom setting. I can't help but start off by saying that I totally disagree. I currently observe a few times a week in a fourth grade classroom. Although, I don't agree with all the ways that the teacher instructs her students, she's got her Smartboard lesson plans down pat. Her students are excited the minute the board is turned on, and let's keep in mind, it's February, they've had this board since August, so it's not a "new gadget" anymore. Just last week I watched her teach a lesson on long division on the board. A couple of students were assigned different color markers to use. The lesson would automatically generate a problem based on the specs that the teacher chose. The first student would then come up to solve it. If his/her partners thought the solver made an error, they would help their classmate in a different color while teaching them where they went wrong (aren't we always told the best way to learn is to teach?). Once everyone in the group agreed the problem was done correctly, they would write their answer in the answer spot on the Smartboard and it would automatically tell them if it was wrong or right. I'm telling you, these kids jump out of their seats at the hopes of "playing" with the Smartboard! I'm positive my generation never got that excited about writing on a transparency. Some of the points in these articles made me laugh out loud. For example, when Michael Staton said, "Or, you could take a picture of the whiteboard with a camera.". Are you kidding me?! Not to be rude, but this is a self-professed "Innovative Teacher" giving us the solution of taking a picture of white board instead of using the up to date technology available on a Smartboard. That is better HOW? The only point I could possibly see viable in their arguments are the issue on cost. I read all the way through their articles and thought, I bet these are the same arguments teachers had 10+ years ago at the thought of bringing computers in the classroom. The same arguments could be used: "Can't we put to the money to better use?" "They're too expensive and need too much training!" "The library can do the same thing!". The fact of the matter is (in my opinion), Smartboards help excite students and they create new ways of learning through technology. Can you really put a price on that? The video I've posted below is an example of a teacher using a Smartboard in a elementary setting...try doing that with a white board or transparency...