The central message of the video Mr. Dancealot was that students cannot learn the material with out applying it themselves. When students are simply lectured on the material and not able to practice they will not retain anything that was lectured on. It would be like sitting in math class listening to the teacher explain how to do a problem but not being able to practice on your own. It would be nearly impossible to retain the information that the math teacher was giving you. The author in the film makes his case by portraying the students as bored and falling asleep because of lack of hands on learning. At the end of the film the students are asked to demonstrate the dances that they have been
taught
during that semester. It was clear that none of the students quite knew what to do because of the lack of hands on learning. I agree with the conclusion of this video. A hands on learning environment would help students better understand material and retain information.
In Teaching in The 21st Century by Kevin Roberts, Roberts lays out what he believes teaching in this day and age will be like. Roberts key point in his message is that teaching should now incorporate technology in all aspects in order to keep the students engaged in the class room. Roberts states that teaching with technology will help students develop key skills that will enable them to effectively use technology for things other than entertainment. Roberts sees teachers in the future acting more as enablers than teachers. I feel that Roberts is correct about teaching incorporating more technology to keep the kids engaged, but i do not think students can have that technology in their hands without it offering more of a distraction than an engagement tool. The students in today classroom rely easily on social media, which is easily accessible through the technology that the schools want the students to use. In a perfect world yes this would work great to help students learn to use technology to help them learn but right now all students want to do is use technology to help the gossip. If Roberts is correct and teaching will put more technology in the hands of students than teachers will be more like IT personnel rather than Scholars. If Roberts in correct than me, as an educator, has to learn how to effectively maneuver technology to make the classroom fun and engaging.
In the short Film "The Networked Student" by Wendy Dexler they show you how technology and the web will enable students to find an endless amount of information and resources and use it effectively. Dexler shows that every device the students have can help them further their education outside of the classroom. Dexler also demonstrates how through an mp3 player students can gain access to the best professors in the world. towards the end of the video Dexler poses the question, why do we need teachers in this day and age? Dexler states that we need teachers to help teach the students learn how to gather credible information and organize it, how to reach out to others for help on the web, and how to share what they have learned with others around globe. what Dexler explains in the video would work great if this was a perfect world where every student had the amazing drive to learn new things instead of watch pointless videos on you tube. All of these ideas about incorporating tech into classrooms are great ideas but would be extremely hard to control. how do you control the web and the technology that access it? you can't. I feel that Dexler wants more enablers than teachers. using the web for research and for projects is great but i do not think it will be beneficial to use the technology everyday. It will only add more distraction to an already chaotic environment. My views of how technology could or could not help in the classroom are heavily influenced by what I saw while I was in school. every school is different so it would be hard to say that this would never work, but i do believe it will be a long hard road.
In the video "Harness your Students Digital Smarts" by Vickie Davis, she explains how She has used technology to help her students learn new things on their own and connect with people from all over the world. Her main argument is that when students have only paper and pencil than other certain types of students can learn in that situation, but with what she is doing in her classroom will allow every student the opportunity to learn and grow. I think what Davis is doing in her classroom is great and is inspiring to those who want to connect their students to others to enhance their learning experience. I do not agree with Davis When she states that she doesn't have to define everything and she shouldn't. No you do not have to define everything but it is apart of a teachers duty to teach his or her students new terms or concepts that is why they are called teachers because the teach. If they want to teach the students how to learn on their own Then why have teachers passed the 9th grade? Like I said before, incorporating technology and empowering students is great but it is not a one size fits all solution for preparing students better for life after high school. Here is the link to the video. http://www.edutopia.org/digital-generation-teachers-vicki-davis-video
Flipping the classroom is a new term for me. I have done similar things in classes I have taken at South but none before that. Having the students watch the lectures, take notes, and prepare discussion questions for class all at home so that they can come to class better prepared to discuss and learn in the classroom. I believe this technique is a great way to use computers and technology in the classroom. It empowers students with technology without taking the teacher out of the picture. It also has a back up plan for those who do not have computers at home. Flipping the classroom will also help students slowly build up the skills needed to be self reliant. Flipping the classroom can also provide a richer experience in the classroom instead. instead of lecturing all day in class the teacher can have discussions and debates about material that they watched the night before. Unlike other technology movements in schools Flipping the classroom does not take the Teach out of the Teacher. Here is the link to the video Flipping the classroom if you want to learn more.
