In Morgan Bayda's post, An Open Letter To Educators, she compares her college learning experiences in class lectures vs. her Computer Ed classes. Her experiences of not being allowed to talk except to her professor vs. open communication with others seems to have had a dramatic impact. As teachers, we need to learn from our experiences. Do we let our children interact with each other or do we treat them like robots who only respond when spoken to? Teachers need to realize that children learn so much more through interaction with their peers and others. Now having said that...we have to keep a balance of that interaction inside the classroom focused on the classroom discussion vs. idle chit chat.
My first two years of college classes at USA were similar to Morgan's experiences. A big difference, however, was that the internet wasn't really an option when I started or finished my ECE degree (1984-88). During my last two years (Field work and ECE specific courses)my professors did know my name. I truly felt they were interested in how I felt about my field experiences and what I found to be helpful and maybe not so helpful. Kudos to my professors, Dr. Mary Jo Harris (retired) and Dr. Shaw (who is still at USA). I did use my textbooks. It was all we had for our information. I feel like a dinosaur!
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Eric in Mrs. Kolbert's class had a link on his blog about An Animal That Can Live Forever. The article about this "immortal jellyfish" was really cool. We live along the Gulf of Mexico and we have seen many jellyfish, but I don’t think we have seen the turritopsis nutricula species along our shore of the Gulf. Sounds like this amazing creature may be coming our way.
I also believe that we need to incorporate more interaction with their teachers and peers. I personally learn better that way. But like you said, we have to be able to balance that interaction so that there is not just idle chit chat. I also have had some experiences like this at South. I am currently taking a course that relates to this article. I feel that sometimes it is a waste of my time because I can't ask questions when there is something I don't understand.
ReplyDeleteI agree that we need to have more interaction with teachers and the students. I think it helps the students want to be involved.
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