This interesting video by Wendy and Alex Drexler uses humorous little paper cutouts drawn by Alex Drexler to illustrate the uses of a Personal Learning Network. It uses the example of a high school student taking American Psychology whose class doesn't use a textbook and whose teacher doesn't give lectures. Instead, she helps him to build a Personal Learning Network (PLN), which he uses to acquire all of the information himself through various resources on and off the internet. Then the question is posed: why does he even need a teacher? Of course it's because she helps him to build this network, take advantage of it properly, guide him when he needs it, shows him proper communication with experts, and shows him how to recognize a legitimate resource.
I think a PLN is a great idea--it allows freedom for the students to pursue channels of information that really interest them, and will get them excited about learning. That's one of the great things about the internet--just about every single opinion about something is represented here. If you don't agree with something, you can always find someone you do agree with. It's kind of what's going on in EDM310, now that I think about it. Dr. Strange isn't just giving us the information--he's not saying, "Here, this is how we should teach with computers." He's showing us how to access this information, these differing opinions and ideas for the use of technology in the classroom.
I just can't see most high school students being interested in doing this. They'll just want their grade; they won't care about the quality of the work as long as it's "satisfactory," and it's hard to make someone like something when they're just not interested. Perhaps if it could be turned into a competition, or if there was a reward for completing a PLN to the teacher's satisfaction, of if they did a practice PLN on whatever they wanted first before doing one on the topic of the course, the students could be persuaded. It's a cool idea, though, and I'd like to be able to do this with my own students one day.
This 7th grader shows us, in her video, the PLE she had set up for her science class, which she organized using Symbaloo. She had links to her class's blog, her own blog, learning games, sites about animals which she used in her research, a note taking program, and the email addresses of scientists who she consulted with about her "Glog" on the Box Jellyfish. My favorite thing was the note taking program, Evernote, which allows you to save anything from the internet and links back to it so you can give credit. Her PLE is similar to my PLN, in that we both have our class blog and our own blogs in it, and I am now definitely using Evernote. But mine is still growing the more I'm in this class.
Hello Emily, you have done a great job summarizing the video. It is detailed enough for those who may not have watched the video.
ReplyDelete"I just can't see most high school students being interested in doing this." --- I agree with you. I live in Baldwin County and all the high school students have MAC laptops that they are able to take home. In subbing in the classroom, the students are really less interested in what they are "supposed" to be doing with it. I think that it takes a particular type of student to be able to handle and use technology in the classroom as it is intended and especially to understand why it is important to have a PLN.
"... the students could be persuaded." - It would be a stretch. In my opinion, high school students are difficult to persuade, as opposed to an elementary student.
"I just can't see most high school students being interested in doing this. They'll just want their grade; they won't care about the quality of the work as long as it's "satisfactory," and it's hard to make someone like something when they're just not interested." Applies to college students also. Maybe not most. But far too many!
ReplyDeleteBut I would ask: Is it the fault of the student? The way our schools have operated all their lives? The teachers? The testers? The families? That is a very complex question.
Jami is not hopeful that we can change high school students. Maybe that is not the issue. Maybe we should try and change the schools. And the teachers.
I wouldn't say it's a student's "fault" that they aren't interested, but if I had blamed anyone for my lack of motivation to do better in high school, I would have blamed myself. "Would have" being the key phrase, because normally nothing in the world can motivate me to pay attention and do well in math. But last semester I had an amazing teacher for Finite Math, Can Akkoc, who went over all the "baby steps" of the processes, which made all the difference in my grade (an A in math for the first time in my life).
DeleteSo I don't know whose fault it is. My high grade might not necessarily correlate with his teaching method, but with my motivation to get a better grade (though I'm convinced it's his methods that got me that A). I thought I could reason it out, but I haven't come up with an answer except, "maybe it's a combination of everyone."
"Jami is not hopeful that we can change high school students. Maybe that is not the issue. Maybe we should try and change the schools. And the teachers." - I agree! Maybe it's not the students to blame. When teachers and schools change there will be a better possibility that the students will use the computers in the classroom as intended(speaking of the school I mentioned in Baldwin County)
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