Hello! This is my 2nd assignment for blogging with my EDM310 class. For this assignment, I had to watch videos that pertained to teaching in the 21st century. The first video was about Mr. Dancealot's dancing class(here is a link to the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k8aeDUC9XQ). The central message (that I took from the video) was students learn from practice and learner-centered instruction. At one point in the video, the teacher was demonstrating footwork behind his desk so the students could not see what he was doing. When a student stood up and walked over to the teacher to see his footwork, the teacher stopped what he was doing and instructed the student to sit down because it was a dance class. By this act, the author makes their point very clear. I agree with the authors conclusion (central message) because throughout the video the students were bored, sleeping in class, and by their final exam, the students still did not understand the material in any form.
The second video was by Kevin Roberts called "Teaching in the 21st Century" (http://www.edm310.com/Teaching21stCenturymed.m4v). From my gathering of the video, I believe Roberts thinks we as teachers should teach our students different ways to use technology and how technology can be effective; while also teaching students the proper ways to use this useful resource not only in the classroom but in our daily lives. I agree with Roberts conclusion to how teaching in the 21st century is changing. I am seeing it now as a student with my professors so I know it will only go further from here. If Roberts is correct by the way teaching is going in the 21st century, I believe teachers will start creating more of a student-centered learning atmosphere along with more problem-based learning. By using technology more, teachers take away the responsibility on themselves and put in on the students to find information and create their own ideas.
The third video I watched was called "The Networked Student" by Wendy Drexler (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XwM4ieFOotA). At one point in the video, the speaker asks the question, "Why do we need teachers anyways?". I had three different thoughts that came to mind after I heard this question. First thought was that I was completely shocked that someone would even ask that question. Teachers are very important and critical to young peoples lives. The second thought that came very quickly after the first thought, was that we are living the 21st century where everyone has technology that surrounds their life daily. If I have a question or problem about something, I know all I have to do is Google the problem or question on my iPhone and I will have the answer in less that a minute. So why do we need teachers when we can just teach ourselves? Then, the third thought came to mind: technology will never compare or take the place of a caring, loving, and guiding person. We as teachers may be competing with technology, but teachers will always have a place in a students role that technology can never fill.
The fourth video I watched was by Vicki Davis called "Harness Your Students Digital Smarts," (http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-teachers-vicki-davis-video). Mrs. Davis's thesis of her video is to use technology and help motivate the students to learn more about technology and how it can be used. Her goal is to show her students how useful technology can be and grasping every experience possible through it. We live in a technology-based world that keeps building. I love her thought process and attitude towards students and using technology because from now on technology is not going to go anywhere. It will only grow from here.
The fifth, and final, video is called "Flipping the Classroom," (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KWqw_7Ib1o). Before watching this video, I had no clue what flipping the classroom could even be about. Now that I have watched the video and have seen what it means, what the attributes are, and how essential it is towards the students, I have to agree that I will definitely try this out as a teacher! As a future Biology teacher, I know (from experience as a student) that there is a lot of information to go over with not very much time to do other things such as ask questions, go over a previous lesson, etc. With using this teaching method, I think it will be an asset to my classroom by saving more time towards my students.
Sheridan,
ReplyDeleteInteresting post to read. Your passion for teaching is definitely shown.
Your links should be a hyperlink rather than just pasting the link. You can Google "How to do a hyperlink" or come to the lab if you need further assistance.
"We as teachers may be competing with technology, but teachers will always have a place in a students role that technology can never fill." Educators should not try to compete with technology, instead we should embrace it and use it to enhance our teaching strategies.
Nice image, it's relevant to the post. You can change the size of the picture to make it fit into the barriers of your post section. Blogging takes some time to get used to, playing around with it will help with the little details.
Great start to the semester! Have fun blogging!
I noticed after I posted my blog that I needed to do something else with the links. I made a note to fix this for my next blog post. Can you take a look at my Blog Post #3 and see if that is the correct way to hyperlink. Thank you for the feedback! It is really appreciated.
DeleteSheridan,
ReplyDeleteI too had previously never heard of a 'flipped' classroom before this blog assignment. I think it is a very interesting new method of teaching. For a biology teacher such as yourself, I can see how it would be very beneficial for the students to already have most of the concepts when they come to class. I remember as a high school student how my biology classes were mostly just lectures in class and very little time was spent actually applying that knowledge. Your class would probably have a lot more time for real experiments if the students were to learn at home first.