Blog Post # 7

The Networked Student 

 

The video, The Networked Student, it talks about using the internet as a learning tool. No books are needed, and a teacher is available for guidance. Connectivism  is a theory that presumes that learning  occurs as a part of social networking and many diverse connections and ties, which makes learning possible through various tools of technology. The students attend class three days a week, and the other two days are done online. The teacher empowers the students to take control of their learning by making new connections with other students and teachers who will strengthen their own learning process. The students search the internet to find creditable website. This concept of learning can be done with almost any grade level. This is something that I did not do in high school, but I have done as a college student. Leaning is becoming more and more less traditional. By using this concept to teach students, it allows them to be more independent in the way that they learn, and it empowers the student to be more confident that they are retaining what they are learning.

 The students use social bookmark sites, which is a place where people share URL's  on a specific topic to gain knowledge about the topic that they are currently studying.  The students also search for blogs to gain knowledge on a specific topic. The students use a reader to manage the blogs that they use by subscribing to the blog. Once the students have a base knowledge of the topic that they are studying, they will create a blog to share, and reflect on what they have learned.  I tunes is another tool that the students; it is a tool where thousands of courses and lectures are recorded by professors. The networked student concept gives the students a different view of how a specific topic can be taught. With different sources available to the students, they can get a better idea of what they are learning.

The question that has be asked regarding the networked student is,  why does the networked student even need a teacher? The teacher is the one who teaches the students how to build the network, and take advantage of the learning opportunity they are given. The teacher also offers guidance, and shows the students how to communicate properly. The teacher also encourages the students to ask for help from experts in respectful way. The teacher also shows the students how to determine the difference from good information and propaganda.  The networked student will be better prepared for a college setting. The student will have been taught all that they need to study, and learn independently. I wish this was something that I could have taken advantage of when I was in high school. 

PLN

In the video, A Seventh Grader's Personal Learning Environment, a student is demonstrating her own personal leaning environment. She created her own page that consist of information that she looked up online that relates to her coursed she is taking in school. She visits her page every morning at the beginning of class to find out if she has any videos or assignments due. She is in control of what she works on.  She uses Pocket Assignments to learn to wright a scientific report. She also searches the web for sites that are related to what she is learning in class, and post them to her page. The students also participate in peer review. Peer review is a good way for the students to interact with other students and a professional opinion from other professors. I like the idea of the personal learning environment. It's a good tool that can be used to teach the students to be independent and learn from others. The only thing that I don't like is that this particular course and use of the personal learning environment is that it is paperless. I think that some of the traditional aspects of learning need to be combined with modern day technology.

Blog Post #6

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

 
In the video, Randy Paush's Last Lecture, Randy discusses three topics: his childhood dreams, enabling the dream of others, and the lessons that are learned when achieving your dreams or enabling others to achieve their dreams. Randy Paush was a very inspirational speaker. He was told that he only had a few months left to live due to the numerous amounts of tumors that he had in his liver, Randy said, "we can not change the cards that we are dealt just how we play the hand". He lived by this quote in his final days. He chose to live life to the fullest, and cherish each moment that he had left. As a child he had big dreams, have something to bring to the table, that will make you more welcome". I think that as a future teacher that statement is very true. Not only as faculty to faculty, but in teaching to your students. If you have something to offer students, they will be more intrigued to learn. One of his dreams was to play in the NFL, although he did not play for the NFL he did play football as a child. In one of his practices his couch talked about focusing on the other twenty one players that were on the team, not just the player who had the ball. This practice taught him how important fundamentals are. Randy said "If you don't have the fundamentals down, because other wise the fancy stuff isn't going to work". I find this statement very true. As an educator fundamentals are very important for a child's learning. If a child doesn't have the basic knowledge of something, they will never grasp the entire concept.

 

Brick walls are something that we all as individuals are faced with. The lessons that can be learned from these brick walls are that they are there for a reason, they let us prove how bad we want it. Randy demonstrated how we could use brick walls in a positive way  to enable the childhood dreams of others. As a professor, Randy was able to work with students who had dreams, and he pushed them to do their very best. Even when his students did their very best, he pushed them to be better. Randy said the best way to teach someone something is to make them think that they are learning something else.
I was very moved by his last lecture. No matter what he put others first. He is truly and inspiration, even in his last days. He had such a strong passion for life and teaching others to do what he loved best