Blog Post#7

The Networked Student

   A Networked Student is a video that begins with a student who attend the 21st Century High School. He is studying American Psychology and has to do a research project. Every week, he attends three classes and spends two days online. His teacher almost never lectures and the class has no need for textbooks. She is a student of connectivism. She believes in the theory that learning occurs as a social network of many diverse connections and ties. She has made it possible through various tools of technology.

     "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" was asked during this video. Well, a teacher has to show her students how to build this network. She encourages them to take advantage of learning opportunities. When a student needs assistance, their teacher is there to help them. The teacher illustrates how to communicate with others properly and lets the class know that it is okay to ask for help from experts online. With all of this information, a teacher is needed to help their students organize all of this information.
     I thought that this video was very useful for many reasons. As a future History teacher, I could use these tools to help my students. I have taken it upon myself to make notes from the video. As another option, I could share the video to my blog so that anyone could be able to access this video. Not only have I learned how to further my education through technology, but that my students will have a chance to learn with me. Just like the teacher at 21st Century High School, I want to teach in hopes that my students will take and use these learning opportunities towards others things. Learning how to network online can be more useful in the future for our jobs, social networks sites, and even research.



Welcome to my PLE!

     A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (PLE), is a video about a seventh grade girl in Science class and how she use's a PLE to help her with her assignments. She practices networking in her class by first looking up information online. Once she has decided what type of websites she wants, she adds them to her personal page. With a PLE, she is able to save sites to her homework, Google Docs, and bookmarking sites like Delicious. She also uses a note taking program that lets her keep track of bits of text and pictures to later give them credibility. With a PLE, she has freedom to be creative with how she does her work and when she does it. Since her Science class is paperless, she is able to keep everything organized without having to worry about the use of a pencil.
     My reaction to this video is that once again, I have learned something new that I will use. I have decided to use Symbaloo because of its convenience. I don't have to worry about clicking back and forth from one tab to the next. A PLE allows me to stay updated with blogs, e-mails, and even social network sites. It is a better way of organizing and storing websites that I visit daily. It is better than the usual bookmark link that is added to my internet browser. With Symbaloo, I never have to worry about saving different sites to my computer for later. The tiles are also more than enough. If I'm not able to find the site that I'm trying to search, I can simply create my own tile by adding in the URL. I also have the option to delete those unwanted or unused tiles. I like that I'm able to save and organize business and pleasure at the same time.