Sunday, January 26, 2014

Blog Assignment #2

Mr. Dancealot

The central message of this video must engage with his students about the material he is teaching. Different teaching styles are required for different subjects, thus making student-teacher interaction a vital part in instructing ones' students. For example, students cannot simply learn dance moves without a proper example and practicing the moves themselves. The author makes this point very clear, as shown throughout the video. During the video, the students became confused with dance steps; and as a result, became disinterested and were unsure how to prepare for the final dance. I completely agree with the message the author is sending throughout the video. The teacher must be able to master the craft he or she is teaching and be able to get the students involved through hands on activities and encouraging questions. The teachers goal should be to broaden their students knowledge of the material as much as possible.

Teaching in the 21st Century

After watching the video by Kevin Roberts, Teaching in the 21st Century, I have a better understanding on how different learning styles are now than they were in the 20th century. Due to this fact, Roberts explains that teaching is no longer the same either. In the beginning of the video, Roberts explains how everyday questions such as, "What is the capital of Alabama?" or "Who is the 35th president of the United States?", can simply be answered by going on the internet. With technology making huge strides forward everyday, all information a student will ever is just a click away. However, Roberts explains that teachers are "filters"; meaning that teachers are able to go into more detail when a student asks a question. Teachers are able to engage with students and teach them through experience, which cannot be gained from the internet. Technology is great in the aspect that it helps obtain information faster; but teachers are there to make it easier to understand. Roberts states the he wants schools to revert to online teaching. I do not agree with this. As humans, we are social creatures, we like to learn from one another, engage, make bonds, and share life lessons. Online teaching takes us away from the instinct to be social with other humans. Students will not be able to advance and fully grasp the aspect of what they are learning through visuals; they have to experience it themselves.

The Networked Student

During the video, The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler, I was very intrigued by the learning approach connectivism. Connectivism states that one can use a network of students to help with finding resources. I feel that the video is trying to show that teachers are not there to teach information, but to help build a student's network. Some people ask, "Why do we even need teachers?", my answer is we need teachers to help students be able to filter the information needed. Also, the main focus should not just be a technology aspect; life experiences can help students learn too. Watching a video online does not help a student feel the emotion or understand the content. Even though some students are able to fully understand the content, they don't fully grasp why they are getting the information. In this case, the student needs a teacher to guide them to full understanding.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

Davis' thesis explains that the empowering students provide a better classroom. Davis believes that teachers should give students the chance to explore and broaden their knowledge on their own. It really shows the student that they are smart and important. Davis uses the internet to spark the students' interest and gets them to connect and share their knowledge with other students worldwide. With technology growing fast, I feel that it is a good idea for students to get involved in this manner.

Flipping the Classroom

Flipping in the classroom is somewhat new to me. I have seen this in college, but not in high school nor grade school. I can see this approach being very useful to me as a teacher to an extent. I say that because there will be some families that are not as technologically up to date as others. Some of the kids will have to go to school to get the lesson, but one has to take into account that some students will focus on other things rather than online instructions. In all, there will always be problems with flipping. flipped classroom

3 comments:

  1. Hey Katherine,
    I agree that the style of learning predicts whether the students will be successful or not in the class. If the material is presented in a way that actually engages students, the interaction will become less challenging and help build more knowledge for the students.

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  2. In regards to the last post I made on your Blog Assignment #2. I noticed you made a good point where teachers engaging with their students can provide knowledge based on experience which the Internet can't. I believe in some instances interaction with the teacher has a better impact on individuals than the usage of technology. Great thought! I'd like to suggest some small details I noticed in your writing. Instead of saying, " I have seen this in college, but not in high school nor grade school" maybe you could say, " I have seen this in college, but neither in high school nor grade school." Overall, you provided great details on the materials we had to learn.

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  3. Great job. Remember to include links to the videos.

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