Blog Post # 6

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler

I enjoyed watching The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler. I myself am in a learning stage when it comes to using different sources of networking. Networking allows an individual to communicate with different people of similar interest and ideas.  Networking also allows us to work together to come up with new ways of learning and teaching. After watching this video, I learned what Connectivism is. Connectivism is a theory that presume that learning occurs as part of a social network of many diverse connections and ties. This network is made possible through many tools of technology.

"Why does the network student need a teacher?”
 I believe a teacher is needed to show the network student the proper and most effective way to use and understand networks. Teachers have more experience and may know better ways to find certain resources and excellent ways of organizing data. Networks can be very beneficial and I want to learn more about them. This way, I will be able to teach my students the benefits of networking.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Experience

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment (or PLN). The student  in this video has her PLE very organized and has everything she seems to need on it.  She is able to pull up links that associate with her classwork, and links of social interest. She has everything well organized and color coded. In the video she showed us, step by step, how to get to certain cites through her plan. Her class is also paperless just like our EDM310 class. I find that going green is better than keeping up with a stack of papers and finding places to store them all. My PLN is similar to this one. I have all of my links color coded and sectioned off according to importance. I use my PLN for almost every website I visit.

Critiques of Smart boards

Michael Staton's, Why Smartboards Are A Dumb Initiative and
Bill Ferriter's, Why I Hate Interactive Whiteboards and Why Are We STILL Wasting Money on Whiteboards are all opposing views of the use of Smartboards. I personally disagree with Mr. Stanton and Mr. Ferriter's opposed opinion of smart boards. I feel that using smartboards is a great way to get students to interact with the teachers lesson and bring a little excitement into the classroom. I first used a smart board during my first semester of college and found it very interesting to use. I think I was more excited to be able to go to the front of the class and use the smart board than I was excited about actually being in the front of the class. I think children will actually pay attention and learn better with smart boards, because they are amazed of the effects and the things a smart board can do.

In a post by Dr. Mary Ann Bell, she states her views using IWBs. She list 13 reasons why she enjoy using interactive electronic whiteboards. Her reasons are as listed: 1) They great for demonstrations. 2) They are a colorful tool. 3) They accommodate different learning styles. 4)All ages of students respond favorably to board use. 5) Distance learning is an excellent setting for interactive whiteboard use. 6)One-computer classrooms can maximize the use of limited computer access by using the whiteboard. 7) They are excellent tool for the constructivist educator. 8) The boards are clean and attractive tools there is no messy chalk dust or other by-product, which can limit use. 9)Students with limited motor skills can enjoy board use. 10)It is interactive. 11)It can interface well with other peripherals. 12)The board is great for meetings are lessons where the participants need printed copies of the proceedings. 13)It is a kid magnet!