Blog Assignment #6

The Networked Student

Before watching Wendy Drexler's video, I had never heard of a networked student before. After I watched the video, I was amazed. I was unaware of all the possibilities and resources that existed for students online. This video was a creative way to demonstrate all the possibilities and resources available to students. The video begins with a man studying American Psychology which meets three days a week and two days online. He does not have a book for his class, and his teacher practically never lectures. His teacher is a student of connectivism which is a theory that proposes learning occurs as part of a social network of diverse connections. This social network is created by various forms of technology. However, it is not the technology that makes these social networks great but the people and connections made through these sites. His teacher encourages her students to strengthen the learning process and take control of their education by making connections through these social networks. This idea would be a great tool to start for my future students. Allowing them to create a social network would prepare my students to become independent learners.

In today's society, social networks are very important. They allow students to make connections with people and access valuable information. I liked that the video provided ways to build a personal learning network. Students know how to find information on the internet. The challenge is teaching these students how to make sure their information is credible. Google Scholar is something that I was unaware of before watching this video. It would be a great tool to allow students to search for and find credible information. I also liked that the video mentioned blogs as a social networking tool. Allowing students to create blogs would allow them to express their opinions on topics and search for other blogs that would be beneficial to their research. These blogs allow students to comment and share knowledge with others. I also was unaware of all the information available through iTunes. Through iTunes, the student in the video was able to access thousands of courses recorded by professors from universities such as Stanford and Yale.

Why does the networked student even need a teacher? The teacher is responsible for teaching her students how to build this network. She provides her students with advice when it is needed, and she shows him how to communicate properly. The teacher also helps her students to ask for help from other professionals. The job of the teacher is to guide her students through the wealth of knowledge and allow them to distinguish between non credible and valuable sources. The teacher's job is to inspire her students to continue to use their learning network throughout their future and help the world solve its problems. Teachers will still be needed in the 21st century. Not everything can be learned through technology, and the teacher needs to be their to guide her students. Students know how to find information. However, they need a teacher to properly navigate them through this wealth of knowledge. Just through EDM310, I will make a lot of connections. I hope that with a little more experience with technology, I will become a networked teacher. However, I would first have to have a greater understanding of all the tools available to my students and me.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment

I really enjoyed watching A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment. This girl is very organized, and it seemed so easy to access all of the tools in her personal learning environment. I would love for my personal learning network to be as organized and as easy to navigate as her's seemed. She has so much more material on her personal learning network than I do. I was very impressed with the way all of her tools were laid out, and after learning that she used Symbaloo, I created my own account with Symbaloo. I am now working to add tools and contacts to expand my own personal learning network. This would be a great tool to use in my future classroom. Students need to build their own personal learning network to allow them to research and find credible information on their own. Teaching my students how to use Symbaloo would be an easy way for my own students to begin creating their own personal learning environment.