Blog Post #6

The Networked Student: Wendy Drexler

The YouTube video depicting what a networked student is and what he/she does is a very good description for the people who have no concept of what a networked student is.  I never gave it much thought until watching the video.  Learning thru different sources of  information consisting of multiple people, technology, blogs, and sites are some of the things that go into being a networked student.  It is no longer going to and listening to one source about a topic.  With the computer and a keyboard, one can learn about a subject far more deep and thorough than one instructor can lecture.
A student needs to make sure they are using worthy sources and read blogs on others opinions about the facts they have gathered, and be able to make good judgement with the facts in order to learn.  A student can learn far more networking than just learning bullet points. Drexler states this theory of learning is called connectivism.  The learning may not be as important as to what the connections that are made thru the learning.  Drexler said that one can share sources on Google Scholar, a site in which I was not familiar.  I will become familiar with this site during my academic endeavors.
A question was brought up as to why a student needs an instructor.  An instructor is needed to help build a network, and help take advantage of the opportunity to learn, an instructor offers guidance, an instructor can help to differentiate between good information and bad information, an instructor can help to organize information.  And above all, an instructor is needed to be a mentor for students.  I know that in order for me to become a teacher for a networked student I will have to be knowledgeable about many educational sites and guide my students down the right path for success. I want to provide answers to questions they may have and show them until they understand.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment

A 7th grader spent the early part of the school year creating a PLE (personal learning environment) for her Science class.  She organized her school work and created an agenda for class. She also created different sites for blogging, note taking, and education fact gathering.  The student could copy and paste from multiple sites and put in one location for reports. She also liked to Skype other educators to ask them about projects she was doing.  She felt she had more freedom to do work, but had more responsibility to get projects done.  The student said the outcome was neat, and wasn't like bookwork.   

I think one really has to be focused in order to plan a PLE at a young age. Much inner discipline is needed to get projects done this way rather than having an instructor stand over a student.  Not all students could follow this level of education. The goal is to have it happen, for the sake of learning, although not all students can learn this way.  We can only hope.

The comparison of my PLE and the 7th grader's PLE is that I think at the moment she may have the answers to my questions.  She definitely could teach me a few things.  Some of the sites she named for her PLE I will use.  I will refer back to her example when I am creating mine.

 Why Smartboards Are A Dumb Initiative: Michael Staton

 SmartBoards are a dumb idea says Michael Staton.  On his blog he states many reasons why he is against SmartBoards.  SmartBoards are the least cost effective way to improve learning. Administration can spend money on SmartBoards because they can count them, instead of providing remediation for students in subject content area.  He continues his point with that they have a basic "wow" factor in which the presenter can stand at the board without access to a keyboard to interact with the content. Also he says SmartBoards don't change the model that is broken- an overhaul of education reform is really what is needed. 

Some of the comments on Staton's blog are in agreement with him.  There also is a lot of bashing going back in forth. One response was that SmartBoards can save content for students who are absent and they can keep students engaged in lessons.  A technology specialist commented that in house training gave teachers better understanding on how to use the SmartBoard.  There are so many positive approaches for the use of a SmartBoard.  It is up the teacher to make them a positive teaching tool.

The following is a site dedicated to the wonderful benefits of a SmartBoard.

http://www.waukeshaschools.com/WIT/smartBoard/benefits.htm

Switching Off the Interactive WhiteBoard For Good: Kevin McLaughlin

In this blog post, Kevin McLaughlin says that the interactive whiteboard should be eliminated.  His reasoning is that there are many cost factors involved in having interactive whiteboards .  Although there are free tutorials, many teachers want face to face training.  He feels it is a normal white board but with the internet, and few use it as how it was intended-creating content that engages the class. Most schools have the older model which only allows one user at a time. The children also say they never get to use it, and it's boring to wait for a turn.  It is fun when it is just a small group.  Everyone said when asked about spending money on something else they would rather use iPads, iPod touch devices, netbooks, or Nintendo gaming devices. Tools that are mobile and more interactive.
I feel it is all in the user.  You can choose to use it the way it was intended, or not.  I would hope, that if a teacher is given a resource to help educate, then it would be wise to learn how to use the tool and give education a leg up.