Blog Post #6

The Networked Student

My initial thought while viewing The Networked Student was, "This is a really cool way to construct a presentation." I really liked the layout of the video. The hand-drawn pictures that were used to help tell the story really kept me focused on the video. It was a good break from watching power point presentations, and I salute Wendy Dexler's creativity.

Although I found the design very interesting, I'll admit I had to watch the video a couple times to understand what was being presented to me. However, after watching the video again, I realized how the topic of the video (connectivism) is how this EDM 310 course is mainly set up. Connectivism allows students to become self-motivated learners while the teacher aids in helping the students to take the information they've found and decipher the reliability of it. This way of learning encourages students to explore networking sites such as twitter, blogs, ect. to learn things from people outside of the classroom. In turn, if students can also share their knowledge of things with others as well. Another positive effect from connectivism is that it allows students access to some of the most educated professors and speakers of all types of subjects through podcasts. With this style of teaching, students are able to take learning into their own hands and find what was best suit them, yet the instructor is still their to guide them in this process and clear up confusion.

I think connectivism is really beneficial for older students. I actually wish I had been exposed to it prior to college. While I was in high school, I wasn't made to learn things on my own. I was completely dependent on the teacher when it came to my education. I had a really hard time when I started college because I realized that I didn't know how to teach myself material, and I definitely was not aware that I could simply download a podcast from another professor if I did not understand my professor's style of teaching. It is a lesson I wish I had not had to learn the hard way. After being exposed to the blogs and videos assigned in this course, I've learned that the resources to anything I wish to learn about are limitless. I believe teachers should help their students to become self-motivated learners and guide them in how to take steps to learn things for themselves. Why? Because a student isn't going to always have his/her teacher there to hold his and tell him how to do things, and they need to learn that their knowledge of material is their responsibility to obtain.


Welcome To My PLE

I really enjoyed the tour of this 7th grader's PLE in Welcome To My PLE. I learned that a PLN is all about communication with other people throughout the world and using those resources to further one's knowledge about things they do not know that much about. It was very fascinating that by this student's professor giving her the responsibility to find her own resources, she was able to talk with experts of the topics she was researching about. I feel like I would have loved projects in school way more if I had been able to talk with someone who specialized in what I was researching rather than just gathering my information from a textbook.

With that being said, I personally don't feel I have a PLN. I've been trained to rely on textbooks for all my research needs. Up until this class, I had never read others' blogs or watched lectures to get a more diverse view on material. I've found that when I read some blogs, the authors make points I had never even considered prior to reading the blog or watching the video. What I found to like most about PLNs is the community that comes with them. Not only am I exposed to new information, but I'm also able to help others with material that I'm more knowledgeable with.

I also would like to comment on the way this 7th grader organizes her information. I must say I was a little intimidated! I now know that I'm not as organized as I thought!