The Networked Student
Wendy Drexler did an excellent job with this video. It was very creative how she used artwork to illustrate her video.
I think after this class I will be more prepared for the networked student. To be an effective teacher of the networked student you must be there to teach them about personal learning networks, help them build their own PLNs, encourage them when they find something good, and help them put their information together to use properly. There are also other things a teacher must do to like help the student distinguish between good information and bad, give them guidance and show them how to communicate properly.
A Seventh Grader's Personal Learning Environment
Critiques of Smartboards
In the first post,"Why Smartboards Are A Dumb Initiative", Mr. Staton talks about the reasons why he thinks smartboards are a waste of school money. He explains that it is a way to make administrators look good and make their whiteboards look more attractive. He says it doesn't involve students anymore than normal, it doesn't reduce the workload of the teacher, and it is a waste of time and money. I find it hard to take his opinion seriously when he is not even a teacher. I have not had much experience with the smartboard, only the things we have learned about them in this class and also seeing a few of my other teachers use them. However, they do not seem like such a complete waste to me. I find them to be very interesting and I think there are a lot of interactive activities you can do on the smartboard with students.
The second post "Why I Hate Interactive Smartboards," is written by a teacher who also thinks smartboards are useless. She says she was only able to create two or three "neat" lessons on her smartboard while using it for a year. She basically says the same thing as Mr. Staton does except she seems more passionate about it.
A post I found that is opposite of the two above is a blog from Langwitches called Using Our Smartboard . In her post, Ms. Talisano says how the smartboards have been a success at her school. The teachers and students are impressed with them and seem to really like them. They had a teaching day before school started and they learned things from there but they also use Teachers Love Smartboards, which is a blog site that provides more advanced information to teachers about smartboards. Ms. Talisano explains in her post what she has learned from the site and ends with this "Introducing the SmartBoards have been a great success so far, exceeding expected teacher AND student involvement, engagement and interest." It seems like the people at her school have a different experience with SmartBoards than those teachers mentioned above.
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post. I completely agree with your position on smartboards. I think they are must more interactive than traditional whiteboards. I think that some teachers just don't want to take the time to be bother learning new and innovative ways to teach. Thanks for sharing! You had some really good views!
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteI am happy to hear that you are glad you are able to do things in EDM like creating a PLN. There are so many more resources and tools you will learn about and also find on your own that will greatly benefit you as a teacher so do not be discouraged if your PLN is not as expansive as the 7th graders. You are probably new to this type of education, and the more you work with it, the more you are going to learn and grow. The best thing you can do is have a positive attitude and be willing to accept this new age education. The teacher's role is definitely changing, and we must be ready to adjust to our position. You should just keep exploring cyberspace and connecting with others, and you will definitely be prepared to work with a networked student. In return, you are also becoming one in the process.