Blog Assignment #7

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler
watch video here

This was an interesting video put together by Wendy Drexler's class to show connectivism.  This class is based on being text book free and teaches students how to build their network and to take advantage of every learning opportunity.  It is designed to teach the steps and tools for researching and it gives students a way to share their research with others.

"Why does the networked student even need a teacher?"  This question was asked and was responded in the video by saying that the student does the research, but the teacher is their to help them build their network. The teacher is there to give guidance and teach them how to ask for help respectfully.  The teacher is suppose to help them learn the difference between good and bad information.

Some of my favorite classes have been the hardest ones that I have taken, but I learned the most from them. One of them was American History and the professor was amazing!  He would stand in front of the class and    tell the story, it was up to the student to take notes on what they thought was important.  This was great for working on listening and comprehension skills.  We also had a research topic and we were required to write a paper.  My favorite professor of all time would be Dr. Barry Corona and his Chemistry classes.  Dr. Corona was amazing and extremely smart.  His classes were taught by in class lectures, but he taught the material with a personal life experience with each lesson.  Both professors gave the material needed for the class with their in class lectures, but it was their personal  experiences, their stories, and class discussions that made these classes awesome and memorable.  These were both very hard and challenging classes, but they made me want to work harder.  

I feel that teachers need to play a big part in the classroom experience, not just be there for support.  I think it is great to have so many tools available to learn from, but not as the soul teaching source.    As a parent, I would be concerned if my child came home and this is how they were expected to learn everything.  With this style of learning the parent becomes the teacher and not all parents have the time or knowledge to help their child.  We spend our tax dollars to help fund teachers, not supporters.  As a teacher I will encourage my students to learn and use tools to help their learning opportunities, but I will be teaching the material in the classroom.  They will be able to use these tools to further their knowledge outside of the classroom.  

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment

This 7th grade student has done an amazing job with her PLE.  She seems to be very responsible and enjoys having the freedom to choose her assignments to work on.  I think that there are many students that will have a hard time keeping up with all of this and this will challenge many students.  I can not compare my PLN to her PLE because I am just getting started.  She is an amazing student and has done a great job!