Thursday, September 30, 2010

Blog Post #6

Wendy Drexler: The Networked Student

Connectivism is an excellent idea but only for technologically literate individuals. If the individual is not willing to learn new things daily then connectivism wouldn't work. I think EDM 310 is preparing The University of South Alabama students for this major change but what about people who hasn't been exposed to these different methods of learning? These people would be at a disadvantage and would put their students at a disadvantage also. In order to get everyone on board we must first have an open mind about technology. Technology is constantly changing and we must keep up in order to help our children benefit from connnectivism.
I think workshops and people working together would help present the idea of connectivism in schools. This is not a one person movement, everyone, including parents, must be involved to make it a success. I think EDM 310 is preparing me for this type of teaching. We are introduced to a lot of material dealing with technology. However, by the time I graduate new technology will exist. My role is to keep up with current technology post EDM 310 in order to be a networked teacher.
I think students would learn more from this experience than the traditional method. They would be able to voice their opinion and show their creativity instead of learning what the teacher knows. I've discovered that most teachers teach within their comfort zone. If they are uncomfortable with a subject they tend not to exposed the students to the information. Connectivism is a teaching method where everyone is learning.
a picture of children feet connected

Responsibility is the characteristic that stood out in this video. The PLE teaches students how to be independent and responsible. It also gives the students their creativity back and shy away from learning out of an out dated book. I think this is an excellent way for students to learn how to think and problem solve.


by Michael Wesch
It's 2010 and we haven't banned books, however books are rarely used. We are still required to buy books for our college courses but rarely open them. I love the way he used old quotes to refer to today's life. He covered a lot of information but it really didn't catch my eye. The motive of the video was unclear to me.

4 comments:

  1. Hey LaChandra!

    I like the way you looked at "The Networked Student". When I wrote mine, I struggled to find any positives. It just really upset me because I think if we made this change, we would be losing more than we were gaining. I am a big advocate of social development and I think a lot of that is lost when school is done mainly online. What about sports, field trips and meeting people face-to-face? Also, we are all working very hard to get our teaching degree. Don't you think if something like this became mainstream, we wouldn't need near as many teachers. There goes a lot of jobs..You would also have the issue of money. Computers are not exactly cheap. There are a lot of families who can't afford computers. What will they do? Thanks for helping me to see a positive in this. I also agree with you that a PLN requires a lot of personal responsibility and accountability for students. I think there is a lot of room for copy and pasting and cutting corners. I liked for positive perspective, good post!

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  2. Jenny, I see your point of view also. This would limited their face to face experience and teachers would be at a high risk of being laid off. Every school participating in these type of programs are highly unlikely. Like you mentioned funding and socioeconomic status has a lot to do with who will benefit from this program. Thanks for sharing your opinion because I didn't really think about the negatives until you commented.

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  3. Parts 1 and 2. Very thoughtful, well written, and well done.

    Part 3. This is a difficult video. I will offer my thoughts on it in a class blog very soon.

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  4. A note to Jenny Black:

    Schools are not the only way to achieve social development! But you do have a point to make that is important. Social development should be a goal society addresses.

    You write "There are a lot of families who can't afford computers. What will they do?" Take a look at these figures from a survey done by the Kaiser Family Foundation in 2009 and published in January 2010 in a report called Generation M2 (that M squared).

    Ownership by 8-18 year olds
    MP3 player/iPod 76%
    Cell phone 66%
    Laptop 29%

    Internet Access 8-18 year olds:
    At Home 84%
    High Speed Wireless at home 59%
    In 8-18 year old kid's bedroom 33%
    pp 3 and 4 of the report.

    Assuming the population in Alabama is considerably behind the rest of the United States (a fair assumption), isn't it essential that the schools make up the deficit. But they are not doing so. So what are the economic prospects for the children in our schools?

    The thesis of EDM3109 is that the role of the teacher WILL change and we want you to be ready for that change. If you are not, then you won't have a job!

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