The Networked Student
The networked student video by Wendy Drexler explains what exactly it means to be a networked student. The term network means to be connected with other people, corporations, teams, friends, etc... When I was advanced to a Chief Petty Officer (CPO) in the US Coast Guard I suddenly had a network of hundreds of other CPO's that I could call upon for help or guidance in the performance of my duties. A networked student will have the ability to connect with fellow students, teachers and many others to help them in their journey of learning. They can also share their ideas with others.
How will they do this? They can do this by using all the tools available to them through the internet. They can use tools like Google scholar to search sources right from their desktop. They can use it to find articles, theses, books and court opinions. They can use tools like Skype Expert. Skype can allow them to have video conferencing in the classroom with experts from leading Universities. They can learn from blogs from other students and teachers. They can use a tube reader to help them manage the blogs. All of these tools will be part of their Personal Learning Network (PLN).
So with all of this available technology does a student even need a teacher. The answer is yes. Teachers will still be needed. A teacher will be needed to help the student learn how to use all of these tools and to guide them in their educational journey. A teacher will always be more then just a teacher. A teacher needs to be a coach, a mentor, a counselor, a technical adviser, and a motivator. Am I ready to be a teacher of a networked student? Not yet, but I am learning more and more everyday about the requirements of being an effective teacher in the 21st century.
A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment(or PLN)
The girl in this video did an amazing job explaining what a PLN was and how she uses it in her class. It is amazing that she is so organized and is only in the seventh grade. She brought up a very good point about doing assignments on the computer. She explains how neat and efficient her work is and rarely even needs a pencil. She uses Symbaloo which is an excellent tool. I am in the process of organizing my PLN and I will also be using Symbaloo.
Hi James! I enjoyed reading your blog post. First of all, I applaud you for being in the U.S. Coast Guard. Thanks for serving our country. You explained very well. I can understand the video before even watching it. I agree with you about teachers always being needed. Of course, we will have to teach them how to become a networking student. We will need to mentors, like you mentioned. If a student get stuck, we need to help them understand, and computer can't really do that. Also, the 7th grader knows more about a PLN than I do. The idea is crazy, but that's reality. Students are using more technology than when I was in elementary school. I think I only saw punctuation error, but other than that your blog was really good.
ReplyDeleteThoughtful. Well done.
ReplyDeleteReminds you of old times!