Blog Post #7

The Networked Student

This video/presentation was very interesting. I honestly have never heard of terms such as 'connectivism' or "a networked student". Since this is a true story, it is hard to believe that students now, in high school, are having hybrid classes. When I was in high school I could not imagine having to learn online at my house. It is very interesting to see how far advance some schools have become in just a few short years.

The teacher in this demonstration is teaching her students to get out on the web and make other connections with students, different websites, etc, on the particular subject they chose to study. The students have to build their own personal learning network. The teacher instructs them on how to find valid websites for their particular subject of study. These websites might include: Google Scholar or their school library database. Once they find peer reviewed articles, they will post to their personal URL where others share their different URL's also. This way the door is opened for them to go onto other websites others have found on the particular study. Then, they will share the sites they have found from others onto their own page. They then will search other blogs that others have written about the topic. The students must know that blogs are usually opinions not facts. Since they have done some research up to this point, they may even feel free to leave comments on the blogs of others stating their opinions. Whichever blogs the students choose to comment on, they can subscribe to them so that way when the person posts again, an e mail or notification will be sent to them. The next step is for them to create their own blog posting the information they have gathered so far. Not only do the students have access to the internet, they have ways to access information through their iPods/MP3 players. They can download podcasts from actual professors from Stanford, Cambridge, and Yale. Through processes such as these students may even stumble upon ways to contact the professors at the Universities and ask questions. Video conferences via Skype may even be an option. Through this long process, students will be able to show the world and other students their hard work. This is important because students that might be studying the same subject somewhere else will be able to access their page and view valid information.

With all of the technology students have access to in the 21st Century and learning processes such as the one mentioned above, why should the networked students have teachers? Well, who will teach them how to become networked students? The teacher of course! She plays a very important role in the lives/learning of the students. Teachers are there to steer them in the right direction, answer questions, model, ect. The teacher can only hope that the students will leave their classroom fully aware of how to navigate all that she/he has taught them so that way they can apply it to their students, maybe, one day.

Watch this informational video here!

Comparing a Student's PLE to my PLN

It is somewhat sad, honestly, that this 7th grader has knowledge of websites that I just recently learned about the past few years in college. Therefore, her learning environment is very much similar to my learning network. She seems so enthusiastic about learning. This goes to show that technology is very engaging for students, so hats off the to the teacher who encouraged this method in her classroom!

7th grader's PLE