Blog Post 2

What Will Teaching in the 21st Century be Like?

Mr. Dancealot

A course with teaching methods that are not appropriate for the subject taught can become a complete disaster, as shown in the video "Mr. Dancealot". Learning to dance cannot be taught simply by lecture; instead, a student must actually dance in order to learn. There must effective teaching methods in order for students to be successful and proficient in a course. I agree with his conclusion because I want my own students to learn in best possible way that they can. Teaching methods may to change over time, but what does not change over time?

Teaching in the 21st Century

"Teaching in the 21st Century" by Kevin Roberts
I. Role of the Teacher
A. Teachers are no longer sole sources of information.
1. Today students have access to plenty of information through Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, etc.
B. Instead, teachers must facilitate learning. As Roberts says, "Teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge--we are the filter."
II. Building Skills
A. Teachers must teach students how to use information from sources.
1. Students need to be able to analyze, synthesize, and validate information.
B. Students need to learn and foster skills, not just facts and statements.
1. These skills will help students to solve real-life problems as well as communicate information and ideas in a group setting.
2. Students will able to use their creativity and expand their thinking in learning skills.
III. Using Technology to Become a Professional
A. Students can build technological skills and use their creativity by creating blogs, social media accounts.
1. These tools can connect students and teachers to each other on a global scale.
B. In addition, they must also learn of internet dangers such as plagiarism, pirating, and online bullying.
C. For students to become professionals, we must integrate the prevalent use of technology in today's society into the classroom. They must be given assignments that will help them build their skills with internet, technology, and critical thinking.
IV. The "New" Teacher
A. Computers and tablets are a now essential school supply items just as paper and pencil once were and teachers must use them.
B. Teachers must create engaging lessons. "Entertainment is passive. Engagement is active."
C. It is all up to the teacher to make sure that the classroom is making the most of the learning opportunities in the 21st century.

I agree with Roberts, but I am still a little nervous about teaching in today's world's because even ten years ago when I was in elementary school computers were not so prevalent. Still, I am willing to learn whatever I need to learn because I want to be an effective teacher. Life is always changing, so I am sure that I will encounter many changes in teaching methods throughout my career as an educator.

The Networked Student

In the video "The Networked Student," Wendy Drexler proposes that the most effective way for a student in the 21st century to learn is by a concept called connectivism. A student can learn by being connected to many different technological tools. Examples include searching for sources with Google Scholar, bookmarking sources with Delicious, listening to professor's podcasts on iTunes U, chatting with experts on a subject through Skype, creating a subject wiki, and many more. The teacher instructs and aids the student in how to take advantage of these opportunities and build his connection network. I, for most part, agree with Drexler's position. The student is connected to more sources than ever before and therefore is able to create a better research project. However, I hope that the teacher can also teach on the subject taught in addition to teaching how to build a network. In-class discussions might help students to become interested in the subject and form their own thoughts and opinions about it.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

In "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts," teacher Vicki Davis uses technology to connect her students to other students and cultures around the world. I think that this is great because students can no longer be sheltered into living in a "American world." We now live in a global society and in order to make progress we must learn from each other's ideas, in education and beyond. The students in Davis's class seemed excited about connecting with the culture of Georgia and after seeing this video I understood how the students were teaching Mrs. Davis as well as learning from her.

Who's Ahead in the Learning Race

It is clear from "Who's Ahead in the Learning Race" by Dr. Strange that elementary school students in Baldwin County are far ahead of undergraduate and graduate students in using Macbooks and iPads for learning purposes. When I received a Macbook my senior year of high school I was a little overwhelmed because I knew absolutely nothing about Macs, but with a little time I figured out how to use many of the tools (just like the elementary students) and that is why I bought myself a Macbook when I graduated. I still have a lot to learn and the elementary students are probably still ahead of me, but hopefully I will continue to improve.

Flipping the Classroom

The idea of "Flipping the Classroom" is essentially to reverse the role of class instruction with homework time and vice versa (in other words watching videos of class instruction online and having homework time in class). This idea is actually not completely new to me because brother had a flipped math class last year. He did not have great experience with it because the teacher was not consistent with video postings and it was hard to him to understand the concepts without being able to ask questions about it during the lesson. I know my only background knowledge about the idea is negative, but I still would be hesitant about trying this out in my own classroom. I especially do not think that this could currently work in rural schools because there is a lack of high-speed internet service and therefore it would not be easy for students to watch the videos at home.