Blog 6

The Networked Student

First and foremost, I love the professional music provided at the beginning! I’m glad I heard the part where he said the actual tools are not the target of importance. However, what the tools provide in communication is the most important thing. The student being portrayed in the presentation seemed to really grasp the point of his course. He made connections needed and used others’ knowledge and findings to help him as a student. Sharing knowledge is the key! No one knows absolutely everything. But with communication, knowledge is empowered!

I am personally not a Skype user. However, I do have a username that I made when I first got this laptop and saw Skype on the desktop. My dad will Skype me sometimes when he’s sitting on the same couch as I am. Other than dad being annoying, I have to really use it. I do have a friend that moved to England in middle school. I know Skype isn't for just people for across the world, but my friend is someone who I obviously don't get to see often with whom I would like to reconnect.

Teaching students how to use these tools at hand is so important! If Dr. Strange was not available everyday by email or our student assistants were not frequently in the lab willing to help, I just may have dropped this course! I would be a lost little duckling with nowhere to go and no one to which I could turn. But because I have people willing to help, I now know many more things than I had August 23, 2010. Thanks to everyone for helping!    

A 7th Grader's PLN

This video is making me feel terrible! Knowing that she is doing this as a twelve-year-old is really making me realize I have got to get serious about technology! I love the home page with all the “apps” available at hand. One interesting thing about her video in particular is that she showed a Pakistan Leopard Gecko. My little brother and big sister both have one; it is funny because no one has ever heard or seen one of those! Her PLN is so neat! I may have to review this video when completing more projects in the future. She mentions freedom in her video. I never thought of it that way. As a student, regardless the age, it is empowering to know an assignment and you are set free to do it on your own while using your own creativity. I am hoping to see more of these PLNs from her class. Like I said, I really enjoyed the page that contained everything she’d need. I too would benefit from such a source.  

The Machine is Changing Us

I particular quote that really got me was "We shape our tools, and thereafter our tools shape us." Regardless of what the "tool" is, this saying is true! It is so interesting that the guy from 1984 says that we will choose to do nothing! I was not alive in 1984 but I was alive in 1995, and I know how much the world has changed since '95! For example, in 1995 I was in kindergarten. My class played a math game. Everyone stood while Mrs. Brunson verbally gave the next individual a math problem. If the student answered it correctly, he/she was still in the game. If not, Mrs. Brunson held her fingers as if it were a gun, pointed it at the wrong student and said, "pow!" The student was dead and had to sit down. Could you imagine if that happened in the world today? My mom had a conference with her and Mrs. Brunson's response was, "Well it's not a real gun!" Trust me, we are not sitting around, at least now. Whether it's a behavioral issue or it's about a technology, everything is changing; the world is changing among us!