As we wrap up our work for this course, I will have to state that I am really beginning to transform my educational philosophy. I still struggle with the fact that the future in education is uncertain, yet I have bought into the fact that our methodologies must change with the times. At the very least, our students are plugged in. They spend considerable time using technology to communicate and learn online. As educators we can embrace this trend and use it to our advantage, or we can stay with what we have always done and expect kids to embrace outmoded teaching styles. Richardson's final chapter addresses many of the trends in education, and really challenges thinking concerning how to best meet the needs of our students.
One of the ways I can meet these student needs is to educate them on how to communicate online safely and effectively. Whether a teacher agrees with Richardson or not, the ability for students to develop work online that can be stored indefinitely, commented on by a large audience, and allows for ongoing learning seems to make sense. Work that was created solely for a teacher now has a far different audience. Work that was created for a grade and then erased from memory can now evolve well beyond any deadline. I think a Ning is a great starting point for allowing students to change the way they produce work. I love the safety and control that can be placed on a Ning, and the fact that work will be produced for an audience other than me will hopefully increase ownership and quality of work. Allowing students to create work collaboratively is another nice facet of the Ning, again with the focus on a larger audience. I will be curious to see the problems that will occur with students using a Ning, and I am still cautious about trying to do too much too soon.
Since students are communicating online so frequently, what a great opportunity for educators to show students how to do this properly. Since I have joined Facebook, I have been surprised at the number of students that have wanted to be friends. I am even more surprised at the type of content that is found on many student accounts. Although I don't befriend students on Facebook, I do think that time should be spent analyzing the pitfalls involved with social networking. To this point, I suspect that students have adapted their styles to what they have seen by others, and I think some direction would be timely. My students are my children, and I want them to enjoy their online experiences, but I also want them to make educated decisions.
I think Twitter offers the opportunity to take a tool used for social networking, and demonstrate to students how it can be used in the classroom. Keeping students informed about classroom activities, and allowing group discussions on a topic through Twitter can teach students how to use a technology tool effectively. If they then want to use the tool for personal reasons, at least I will have shown them how to use it properly.
And so, my goals with my students will now center around teaching 21st century skills. Students will continue to use the Internet for personal use, so I believe it is paramount for teachers to demonstrate how to interact responsibly in that environment. The added bonus is that I get to learn many new skills along the way, which really enriches my own personal growth as an educator.
I like your comment about educational philosophy because truthfully, when many of us created our philosophies, the internet and Web 2.0 collaboration that we are witnessing right now wasn't even available. As a recent grad, I think that our colleges need to do a better job making students aware of possible collaboration tools offered to our children today.
ReplyDeleteFacebook and Twitter will continue to evolve and will begin to infilitrate their way into our schools even more. Have you thought about create groups for your classes on twitter or Facebook. I could see a benefit of having my students subscribe to my twitter feed and send them updates to remind them of assignments.
Ryan, I really like what you said about not doing too much, too soon. As we go through this program, it can sometimes be difficult to decide exactly what we should implement at the moment, and what we can wait to do another day. If only we had more time!
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement about teaching our students to be citizens in the age of technology. They need to learn these 21st century skills. Now, if you just had ideas as to how I could bring my coworkers on board....
I think not friending students is an appropriate approach to using social networking, too. Did you know you can take advantage of students having Facebook accounts by creating a group? In this case you don't have to friend the students, but you can post things like assignments, links, video, and apps that will either support or enrich the content you are teaching. It's an effective, 'non-invasive' tool.
ReplyDeleteBTW- Wow, you sound like a different person when you compare this blog to some of the ones in the beginning of the program. I think you may win the Most Improved Player award. :)