Blog Post #2

Professor Dancealot

Professor Dancealot is an entertaining short movie about a professor that teaches but doesn't let the students interact in the classroom. This movie shows how a lot of professors work now days. This very much confused me because when teaching any class you should allow your students to put into action what was explained. We think it is impossible for a student to learn anything without actually attempting it on their own. How can someone learn something if they only hear how to do it? This is the kind of teaching that we as educators need to avoid. This teaching method, as we can see, is completely ineffective. When teaching your class, you should allow them to think for themselves and try things out so they can actually get a good grasp on it. This was a funny but sadly true movie on the downfalls of certain ways of teaching. -Michelle Detar, Mariah Grantham, and Demetrius Hamner

Teaching in the 21st Century by Michelle Detar
In this Prezi turned video, Teaching in the 21st Century, some questions are aroused to make us think about what it means to teach in this day and age. Right now, we have so much technology available to us and very few know how to actually use it. Students have endless amounts of resources at their fingertips. Without us, the teachers, how can they know what is useful or not? Teaching in the 21st century means having to be current with our knowledge on different ways to use technology as a teaching tool. It is up to us to teach them that sites like Wikipedia is unreliable when it comes to research, to show them how to properly utilize Google and all its functions, to teach them that Twitter and Facebook are not only their for entertainment, but can also be used for engaging educational purposes, and so much more. To teach in the 21st century, one must be technologically literate. Because of technology, future educators will have to know how to incorporate all forms of technology into their classroom. As technology changes and time progresses, so will teaching.

The Networked Student by Demetrius Hamner
In the video, The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler, a lot of information is given on this particular “networked” student. This video, going into great detail on just how well connected this student is, amazes me on how well he uses all of his resources. Even though he doesn't have class as often. or a book, he utilizes the internet very well when completing his assignments. Connectivism, a theory that presumes that learning occurs as part of a social of many diverse connections and ties, is what his teacher goes by. Before watching this video I had never heard of this term, but in a way it put me in the mind of EDM310 since we are basically being taught in the same manner.
In my opinion, every student needs a teacher/professor at some point. Guidance is always needed, because, as a student, we are still learning. There is no way that we as students could completely do it ourselves. If we could learn everything on our own then what would be the point of us being in school? Exactly, there would be no point. The networked student’s teacher is there to be many things to her student: a learning architect, modeler, learning concierge, connected learning incubator, network Sherpa, synthesizer, and change agent. All of which are very important.
Without the teacher/professor being there for the student, there would be no way that he could do it alone. Her guidance was the key to all of the success he had as a networked student. Being able to build his own trail with reliable information isn't something he learned to do overnight, it took time. This was a very informative video, and it gave good insight on the many ways this student stayed connected. Over time he would be able to build his successful, making his teacher very proud.

Harness Your Students Digital Smarts by Mariah Grantham
The video, Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts, found on Edutopia, is yet another video that has seemed to amaze me. So many teachers, and just people in general, underestimate how smart these students really are. Vicky Davis is a very inspiring teacher that allows the students to brainstorm and find the answers themselves. She unexpectedly throws out new terms to her class and expects them to find the definition themselves, which they successfully do. Three days into their internet project, her class was teaching her how to do things that she did not not how to do. The students really enjoyed the project, and they felt empowered when they used their own minds to find the answers. This inspired them to get involved with digiteen, which was an internet site where students all over the world would post blogs and videos and share them amongst each other. This is another example of how important technology is in a classroom. Like Mrs. Davis said, not every child can learn with a pencil and paper.