What people often learn about me is that in person and online, I tend to be a very shy person, despite the fact that a lot of my interests kind of put me "out there" such as blog writing and teaching. For some reason I feel comfortable addressing a large audience, but when it comes to one on one interaction I sometimes have problems making connections because I want to shrink into myself and just hide.
The chat was not much different, except that I was probably a little more active than I usually am in these things. I actually talked with one woman from Poland about the country (my mom is originally from there -- she immigrated in the 1960s), and another woman I made a comment to when asked if anyone was near Burlington, VT (I live in NH, but not near the border).
Maybe it's because I'm so tech-oriented already, but I don't have problems navigating through this landscape, probably because I've been doing it for so long. And I've learned how to cancel out the noise of so many distractions when it comes to going online. But I also can't resist the new gadgets, either, so I have accounts all over the place, but a lot of them I've abandoned just because I've found someplace better or it just wasn't worth my time to go there everyday.
My main goal with this class is being able to implement the use of digital cultures in the classroom, especially when school districts are against it. I have two Facebook pages that I maintain -- one is my personal page, and one is my "teaching" page for my students to go on. The "teaching" one I don't go on too often because it was set up initially to just put the students on there so they wouldn't see my personal page. This I did because the students I had on my page initially were friends of my stepdaughter, and when I went to a workshop on this they advised teachers to take students off our Facebook. Instead of doing that, I just moved them, and started adding more students.
So I am looking forward to the official start of this course. Now if only I didn't have so many places to navigate to!
#edcmooc
Education is a mix of culture and nature; culture in the sense of conventions that evolved in earlier times when the spatial (class)room was the ultimate ocasion for learning. Nature as both our brains and the complete body obeys laws like the need for food and sleep. Memory and imagination have been studied in order to improve learning conditions. However, many more faculties need to be taken into account. "Culture" is one of them. This course assumes that the digital "format" of communication and cooperation is decisive for the way we learn. To me the dominant factor is how learners are evaluated (assessed); the test dictates the learning effect: analogue or digital: Students learn in order to pass the test. Is it a pity, or hope?
ReplyDeleteI think traditional educators to educate their students pass the test, they instill that and that is very serious
DeleteI have worked on a non profit with a teacher who also is on facebook with his students. I think his perspective was really great. In a time where cyber-bullying is at a high and the internet is still young enough that parents don't know how to support their kids and the communities that the kids are a part of don't know how to support them either, it can be very good for adults who understand the tech to be available as an online resource. I think this is great
ReplyDeleteMy interest is to find a balance for my students that are in e-learning blended courses. When they come to our classroom they face a computer monitor for 52 minutes. How can I succeed in increasing their learning, not in order to pass the test, but to develop young critical thinkers.
ReplyDeleteAnother interest is to find ways to encourage the students to become engaged readers of all materials, regardless of its form (online, books, magazines, articles) that will build on their background knowledge and promote their skills in literacy.
Lastly, the skills to have the students apply math concepts in ways that encourage them, and remove fears of math that so many carry.
At one time I had used social media for education with my college students, however the social media sites, primarily Facebook, became a place to rant.
I no longer use any social media sites for education with my current students, however, I am developing a site for intranet use that will give the students a platform for discussion on course related materials.
I agree that as faculty we need to model appropriate online behavior. If we keep within our frame work as teachers, then the student will know their role as learners. It is my hope that we can facilitate the interest of the student to learn, reach for challenges in many fields, developing into responsible citizens and community members.
It is important for the future generation of youth to be thinkers. Clear minds and strong hearts.
So much testing goes on here. To really evaluate what? Memorization? Analyzation? Understanding? Factual comprehension? Application? Or Wisdom? What are we striving for as educators for our students no matter what the medium?
ReplyDeleteDevelop the whole person...at least for the student to begin that life long journey to wholeness. It does require there being critical thinkers. And school is one place where we can introduce to them the components of critical thinking. Adolescents tend to respond from emotions, that are rapid and changing, like a wave breaking on the rocks of rugged coastline. There learning to observe themselves and contrast what they do from emotion, and what occurs with mindfulness would lead to a better prepared young person. In my humble opinion. The digital world does not contribute to developing that mindfulness, since it moves so quickly, and many students feel compelled to just respond--before reflection.
ReplyDeleteIn my own opinion, the greatest enemy of education and learning is the educated and the learned. We are unable to comprehend a person going through a somewhat different strand of learning outside what we were ourselves subjected to. We have all-over the years tested cognition when we want competences in practice. We overemphasize theory when in actual fact we need practice in the market. this in turn brings us to the question of relevance of education.
ReplyDeleteIn view of digital cultures we should review our thinking about education and learning. We should embrace change and be continuous learners.History should inform our current day theory and practice and not an impediment to embrace technological changes.