By: Kari Johnson Mr. Dancealot
The central message of Professor Dancealot is that some subjects require physical involvement and lots of hands on practice. The teacher in this video presses this point by trying to teach dancing by lecturing the students with absolutely no opportunity for the student to physically get involved and practice the methods they are being taught. In the end, the students are totally lost and have learned almost nothing in the time they have spent in their class. This subject, (dancing), was one that required physical involvement from the students, yet they, (the students) were given no opportunity for this. I do agree with the conclusion of the message in the video that there are certain subjects that require not only lectures, but student involvement and interaction with methods. It is important that teachers give opportunities for their students to actually practice the skills being taught.
Title: What Does it Mean to Teach in the 21st Century
By: Kevin Roberts Teaching in the 21st Century
1. Introduction: In this video the argument is made that although some may believe that teaching is becoming more and more obsolete because of the huge amount of information now accessible, “whatever, whenever, wherever”, to anyone via the internet, teaching is in fact every bit as important as ever. The role as “teacher”, however, is changing.
A. Web information is limitless to even the greenest of internet users. Facebook, Twitter, Blogger; these are just a few of the most basic tools available for users. Learning to navigate these tools is essential to the success of the student.
B. “Teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge, we are the filter”. The point is made that a student may be able to use google to get the answers they need but “has anyone shown them how-to”? This is a skill that is taught by teachers, not necessarily acquired through repeated, random use.
2. With using something as powerful as the web, there is an equally large amount of responsibility that goes along with it.
A. “Validate information? synthesize information? Leverage information? Communicate information? Collaborate information? Problem solve with information?” How do we do these things and who will make sure that we are taught the proper methods for each of these if not through a teacher?
B. Plagiarism and the like—How do we cite our internet sources and information? These are answers that we look to a teacher to find. “Where do we expect them to learn about pirating, plagiarism, slander, copyright”.
3. Although the information is limitless, we still need a “guide” to help us determine what information is relevant and how reliable the source or sources is.
1. What is a relevant source? This is an important question and one that should not be overlooked. In our age of information overload, it is especially important that we know the correct way to obtain this information so that our information is up-to-date and accurate.
A. Who is a relevant author? This is an important question that cannot be overlooked. This also required a teacher’s guidance.
B. It is equally important that teacher stay relevant by staying up-to-date with information and technology in the 21st century.
Conclusion:
A. The point in this video is well made. We are of a different age. One that might lead us to believe that teachers play less of a role in the learning process of the students based on the crazy amount of information available to us. However, Kevin Roberts goes on to make a strong point that it is the many changes that constitute even more of a need to have the guidance of a teacher.
B. There is also a message to teachers in this video and that we need to stay relevant to the modern student by staying in touch with progress and taking the risk when called for to dive into new technology. “ So what does this mean for the classroom? It means we need to rethink the tools we use and the types of problems we ask our students to solve”. “How could you talk about gathering reliable sources using google, delicious, wikipedia, blogs, podcast?” This is just one example given in the video as to ways teacher need to be rethinking what is being taught in the classroom and how it is being taught.
Title: The Networked Student
Author: Wendy Drexler The Networked Student"
The main argument of this video is that with the growth of technology and the accessibility of unlimited information to High school students, the role of textbooks, and of a traditional full-time teacher in the classroom is almost obsolete. The role of the teacher is now, "learning architect, modeler, learning concierge, connected learning incubator, network Sherpa, synthesizer, change agent”.
This video brings in some good thoughts. The 21st century high school has an impressive data base to offer their students and this together with the initiative of the student make for an impressive learning environment. Learning is done on an individual basis and with every technological tool available to them. It is through these seemingly endless technologies that the student is able to build portfolios and databases to ensure only the best of sources and information filter in. In the beginning of the video the role of the teacher in understated. At the end of the video, a very clear point is made that the teacher is not only useful, but needed.
I was not too impressed with the learning style presented here. My experience as a mother and in life in general, has shown me that some, but certainly not all students possess the drive that would be required for this type of environment. Is it an ideal environment in theory? Yes. Is it realistic and applicable to the real world, I think not. Ideally, this type of school would be amazing. The information and connections that would be available to the students would seem limitless. Who wouldn’t be impressed by this? I do think to bring this type of learning environment to the real world would reveal quite a few warts that would surprise even the most optimist if thinkers.
Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts
By: Vicki Davis Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
The thesis of this video is that Vicki, (the teacher), teaches the students how to access information on the web and through various social networks along with how to connect with other students through blogs and/or other technical means to generate the most information available to her students. Vicki teaches technology in a hands-on style and encourages her students to do research on their own in order to get information they need or answers to questions they may have. She believes that this is essential to functioning in our society. I agree with Vicki on all of these issues. I liked that the students were able to learn these skills under the watchful eye of Vicki, (their teacher), so that they stayed on task and were able to get the guidance they needed when they needed it.
Flipping the Classroom
Christine Munafo Flipping the Classroom
“Flipping the classroom” is definitely a new approach from anything that I have heard in the past. To be perfectly honest, when I first began listening to Ms. Munafo describe what “flipping the classroom” meant, I immediately became skeptical. I thought that this was something that would only add more work to an already busy evening with family. I have since understood it to mean that the teacher’s lecture that would be watched over the computer would actually take the place of homework time as we know it, and what we generally consider to be homework assignments would be done in the classroom but with the help of the teacher first hand. I think I could be sold on this concept. It makes me wonder if we are doing it backwards any other way than what she proposed. I do think this concept could be helpful if we could get the support of key personal to help make the transition happen.
