Week 1-Blog Post #2-Learning 2.0
With all of the technologies that kids are using outside of school like text messaging, videogames, movies, computers, online activities, is it any wonder why student sometimes seem so disengaged from just reading a textbook and silently answering textbook questions on notebook paper?
When I watched the Learning to Change, Changing to Learn I was not shocked that the educational industries were ranked 55 out of 55 in regards to IT intensiveness. I loved how the video said, “We have a classroom system. We could have a community system” (Floyda007, 2008). Obviously as teachers we need to help this change towards being able to find information, being able to be creative, and being able to work and communicate with other students.
This past weekend, my husband came across a new sarticle online from our local newspaper, The News Herald. This article is called, “Popular Social Networking Tools Untapped By Most Area City Schools,” which just as the title tells it did mention how most schools in our area firewall and block social networking sites at our schools. Yet, it did share how Chardon School District is using Twitter to inform parents and students about events and news going on within the district. Students get twitter updates on the homework that is due. Also, Chardon is building a facebook page. I was very excited to see that there is a district in my area that is using social networking to help their district. Chardon Local School District is actually utilizing social networks to share information.
Despite, that many schools systems are slow to change, there are teachers, administrators, and schools, like Chardon School District (mentioned in the previous paragraph) that are trying to change their ideas on how to work with students. I found evidence of this from watching videos on http://www.mobilelearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation. One of the videos I watched was called “The Takeover of Locke High School” (Brown, 2009). It shows how a whole school is suggesting that we as teachers need to care for all students, despite personalities, appearances, background, etc. Another video that I watched called “Education the Mobile Generation” where schools were using hand held computers like Novas and iphones for researching, creating stories, almost every classroom activities, without a problem of space. A strong message from this video was, “Bottom like these hand held devices need to be used for achievement, not just for technology sake” (Brown, 2009). In the video featuring George McKenna, George suggests that we should know our students, including in a way where we can call our students to check on them. Though McKenna did not seem to have strong feelings about technology, it makes person wonder if using technology (i.e. text message, email, twitter, etc.) can make a similar personal connection like a phone call. I would think these technologies could help with personalizing education.
References
Brown, S. (Producer). (2009). Education in the mobile generation. Mobile Learning Institute: A Nokia Pearson Foundation Alliance. Video retrieved from the Mobile Learning Institute Web site: http://www.mobilelearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation/films/film-elliot- cathie.html
Brown, S. (Producer). (2009). The takeover of Locke High School. Mobile Learning Institute: A Nokia Pearson Foundation Alliance. Video retrieved from the Mobile Learning Institute Web site: http://www.mobilelearninginstitute.org/21stcenturyeducation/films/film-steve-barr.html
Floyda007. (2008, May 15). Learning to change-changing to learn. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tahTKdEUAPk
Klepach, S. (2009, September 6). Popular social networking tools untapped by most area schools. The News-Herald. Retrieved from http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/09/06/news/nh1380365.txt
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