Tuesday, March 31, 2009

March 31 - Blog Assignment

Watch the following video by Wendy Drexler:



Knowing you are one of many teachers a student like this will have in their educational career:

How connected are you? Are you a 21st Century learner, teacher or both? What role do you play in supporting the 21st Century student?

1 comment:

  1. How connected are you?

    I think that this video is exciting. The amount of knowledge that is available instantaneously is astounding. The idea of learning through building a network on the internet, like demonstrated in the video, is the direction that education is headed. I feel that I am somewhat knowledgeable on “building a network” for the sake of learning, but admit to having a ways to go in some of the areas. I am very comfortable navigating through search engines, websites, data-base systems, video-clips, etc.. I am using resources through the internet more and more now in my teaching. However, blogging, video-conferencing, and other means of communication are somewhat new to me. Emailing is the primary way that I prefer to communicate with others through the internet.

    Are you a 21st Century learner, teacher or both?

    I have had experience learning through 21st century tools. The past couple summers, I have taken on-line courses through Hamline for my masters degree. The video some-what reminded me of those courses I took. A major requirement of all the courses was to frequently communicate with the other students in the class through an on-line system called Blackboard. We would reflect with each other on articles, websites, video-clips, assignments, and questions posed by the instructor. I never met any of the other students in the class or the instructor, but I learned a great deal from them! Many of the assignments required a lot of time put into researching, which I did primarily on-line. The instructor’s often reminded us to be critical thinkers as we performed our research, which I think is absolutely important to teach to students! The instructor’s role was definitely the “learning architect” and helped us with information management.

    What role do you play in supporting the 21st century student?

    I think my role as a second grade teacher is to expose students to the learning possibilities that technology offers and to utilize technology to increase student learning. The more comfortable they can get with technology at a young age, the more successful they will be in future grades. At this grade level, well probably any grade level, technology brings motivation for students., which is what I am learning this year. I am trying to use more technology in my teaching. I currently use the Smart Board, lab-tops, and the computer lab with students. However, I know that it is possible to do much more. I want to learn how to do more with my smart board, I feel that I have a ways to go before I am using it to its fullest potential. I would also like to try and get students going on another research activity using the computer lab and through implementing a technology center during guided reading time.

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