February 28 (Week 7)

Richard Miller: This Is How We Dream Parts 1 and 2 sees the use Internet as a way of "instant communication" and way a to communicate globally. This is true! Gone are the days of having to wait days for documents to arrive for your signature or waiting for a written response from someone. The response is now received within minutes if not seconds. The world (whether is the business world or everyday life) is moving at a rapid pace. The use of the Internet enables us to stay up to date.

Even though some books may be out of print, these books may be kept and "shared infinitely" thanks to the technology and the Internet. Having works in print is very one dimensional. When you are able to add visual images and sound to the print, the work comes "to life". The example of Dr. King's, "I Have a Dream Speech" is perfect. Dr. King's speech in print is profound, but adding the visual of him and the sound of his voice as he gave the speech makes his words more personal and memorable. It is real! Educators need to remember that children learn more when they have a real-life connection or experience with what is being taught.

The digital environment allows instant updates and instant publication. Educators can share ideas freely and without the delay of waiting for a publication of a work in print. Am I prepared to write with multimedia? I can honestly say, "NO". Do I think I should be preparing to write with multimedia? "Yes, I should be preparing." Our students will be using the laptop more and more as their form of communication with teachers. Oh sure, I can use a laptop and I could write all of my lesson plans on the web. Would it be as powerful and moving as if it were done in person? It could be with the use of added visual images and sound.

The Networked Student,by Wendy Drexler asked "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?". Ms. Drexler lists several reasons as to why students still need teachers: guidance, teaching proper communication skills, organizational skills and the excitement of learning. These are examples of great teaching skills. These are traits that cannot be taught/learned through communication with technology alone.
I agree that global communication does provide new opportunities, but it cannot replace human interaction.

The using tools of technology like podcasts can help students connect with others globally and provide new opportunities. I agree with Ms. Drexler that our MP3 players are not just for music. I like the term connectivism....allowing one to connect with other to gather and research (Itunes U for example). However, let's not forget that human interaction is very effective, as well.

The use of animation as the visual of Ms. Drexler's movie was genious. It maintained interest and moved so quickly that I was anticipating what example would be displayed next. As teachers we are challenged to keep our students' interest and attention. Ms. Drexler displayed all of these components in her movie. Am I prepared to teach the networked student? I cannot say, "yes, definitely", but I can say that I am able to working toward providing guidance, teaching proper communication skills/etiquette, organizational skills, and striving to make learning exciting for my students.

Michael Wesch, Toward a New Future of Whatever, examines the catch phrase of "whatever" and how it has evolved from the past to the present. His class study of YouTube was interesting in that his own students were "opening up" to millions of people on . Because of the sense of anonymity, people were more willing to expose feelings of embarrassment, self-conscientiousness, fears, and other emotions. I appreciated Mr. Wesch's last comment about how people, young and old, have evolved from a community of a sarcastic "whatever" with little hope to an attitude of "whatever" it takes to make things better. As a teacher, I hope my students will have the attitude of let's make the world and our life better by doing whatever it takes. I hope that as a teacher I can teach them to use technology to do whatever it takes to communicate their message of "good" to others around the globe.

Comments for Kids
This week I got to visit the work completed by the students from Mrs. Quam's 2/3 and 7/8 English blocks. "I Will Always Know To Shine Bright!"by Shriver C. and "Life" by Mallory P. were the two poems that I read. It is wonderful to be able to read the
creative talents of students.


Project 6 Developing A Personal Learning Network
My PLN is centered on learning ideas that will provide me with new ideas for teaching my Kindergartners. Please click on the right side of my blog for links. My PLN begins here:

http://www.theeducationcenter.com/tec/
http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html
http://edhelper.com/
http://www.abcteach.com/
http://teacher.scholastic.com
http://www.kinderteacher.com/
http://atozteacherstuff.com/Lesson_Plans/lessonplans-kindergarten.shtml
http://www.eduhound.com/
http://www.kidzone.ws/kindergarten.htm
http://www.readwritethink.org