Sunday, October 14, 2012

Blog Post #7

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The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler
 
This video is based on a true story about a student, who attends a 21st century high school, studying American Psychology.  He meets with his class in person three days a week, while the other two days are spent online.  He does not have a textbook for class, nor does his instructor lecture in class. Wendy Drexler, who is his instructor, is a proponent of connectivism.

 • Social Connectivism: A theory that presumes that learning occurs as part of a social network of many diverse connections and ties.

This network is made possible through various tools of technology.

Why does the networked student even need a teacher? As stated in the video, a network teacher is the one who teaches students how to build their network and take advantage of electronic learning opportunities. A network teacher offers guidance when students get stuck and shows them how to communicate properly, especially when asking for assistance from experts. A network teacher also shows students how to differentiate good information from propaganda.

A network teacher wants their students to be well organized with all the amount of information students learn over the course period. They want their students to maintain their learning network and use it to help better their future, once students leave their class. The answer as to why do networked students need a teacher; students need a teacher to help guide them for the skills that they need in the 21st century.

I thought this was a very interesting video. It actually gave me a better understanding of the course that I am currently in, which is EDM310. As a college student, I am accustomed to having professors lecture in class and then state what page numbers to read and so on. EDM310 is not a lecture class or ‘read this page and take this test’ kind of course. EDM310 is somewhat similar to the video above.

I believe students still need teachers because students need guidance and need to be reassured at times. If we eliminate teachers, then who will be there to assist students? Even though students have access to multiple technology resources today, we do not know what technology resources will be out in the future. One quote from the video that I appreciated was: “It never hurts to ask!” Students should still ask questions when they are uncertain of something, even if they are in a network based course. Teachers should still be present as a resource for students, so that students can ask for help and have their questions answered.

Be sure to check out this video!


A 7th Grader Personal Learning Environment(or PLN)
 
This video is about a student who uses Symbaloo, which is a website that organizes your favorite websites or social networks. She uses Symbaloo as a learning tool in her 7th grade science class. She spends time finding information online, gathers this information, and places it on her page.

I found this video to be very informational. I was unaware of Symbaloo until now. I liked how this student was able to organize important information for her class, as well as, keeping up with other network sites. On my laptop, I have certain websites that are listed as my favorite but theses websites are in no particular order. However, with Symbaloo I can now organize my favorite websites and social networks. Symbaloo will defiantly be helpful for me and my future students.

Check out this video! You can also check out Symbaloo website here: Symbaloo Website

2 comments:

  1. Stephanie, I thought you had a very good understanding of what you read and I found the information very interesting. I thought that I might mention only one or two problems, but because it is so obvious that you are very intelligent and just need some advice on professional writing, I am going to give you some. Many years ago, I actually graduated from college and my writing was much worse than yours. Thanks to a good friend marking many papers with red marks, I improved.
    Your first paragraph had the most problems so I just rewrote it:
    This video is based on a true story about a student who attends a 21st Century High School and studies American Psychology. He meets in a traditional classroom three days a week and two days are spent online. He does not have a textbook for class nor does his instructor, Wendy Drexler, lecture in class. He is a proponent of Connectivism, a theory that presumes that learning occurs as part of a social network of many diverse connections and ties. This network is made possible through various tools of technology.
    The next few paragraphs flowed well, but you overused “the networked teacher”. You could have rearranged the sentences or said, “He or she”….

    In this sentence, “The answer as to why do networked students need a teacher; students need a teacher to help guide them for the skills that they need in the 21st century.” It would have been more powerful if you had just said, “Students need a teacher….” and left off the first part.

    “EDM310 is somewhat similar to the video above.” You should either link us to the video above or give a verbal description of it.

    I really loved your paragraph that started out, “I believe students still need teachers because students need guidance and need to be reassured at times. If teachers are eliminated, who will be there to assist students?” This is a powerful ending.
    I know it is a lot, but you do have sooo much potential. I usually try to write my rough draft on one day and come back and read it the next day. Another strategy is to read it aloud.

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  2. Stephanie,

    Good post. Ann already left you a rather extensive comment, so I won't go into much detail. You covered the objectives and met all of the requirements. I didn't see anything that was overly concerning. Keep up the good work!

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