George Siemens states, "Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking."
I rather prefer the words "refine", "adapt", or "grow" our thinking, but I guess that is just semantics. I do, however, agree that technology is altering our brains; it is opening up so many more opportunities to learn and grow, from the technology itself and from others we experience it with. In addition, I believe that as new generations form and old ones are lost, certain skills, abilities, and techniques, thus, wiring connections are lost with them. There are certain things humans are forgetting how to do simply because of technology. For instance, a silly example, a rotary dial phone; many kiddos these days have lost something from the advancement of technology; there are certain things they can't figure out that may seem very simple to us. Stick a rotary dial phone in front of them and see what they do. Is this really the rewiring of human beings' brains or something else? I feel like certain connections are lost as others transpire. Kop and Hill mention in their Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? report, "...the way in which global networks and communities of interest are currently being formed through emerging technologies is encouraging young people, in particular, to develop new, creative, and different forms of communication and knowledge creation outside formal education." Are our brains still benefiting from this rewiring that may be occurring because of the advancement in technology, or is there something to also be sad about losing?
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For the most part, social networking has mostly been a nonstarter for me. When it comes to the use of media in general, I do participate a tiny bit. In my professional life, I find myself using YouTube quite often, whether it is to find a new video to improve my curriculum or to actually create my own novice videos for my students. I also have my students post the videos they create to my YouTube channel for others to view, learn from their stories, and to use as student exemplars. I have also found myself on Pinterest for activity ideas in class for PBL.
My personal life doesn't bring that much more excitement, in fact probably less, as I already mentioned not participating much in the adventure that is social media. My family plans our huge gatherings that way, which is why I sometimes find myself taking at peak at my husbands Facebook account; but other than that, it is just to feel connected from afar since we are so far away from family. Pinterest has also been helpful personally because I was able to get ideas and the plans for a huge play structure I built for my kids over the summer. In addition to the insight into awesome ideas for appetizers and treats, of course. On the complete opposite spectrum, there are my students. As each year passes, I notice that my students get better and better with technology and communicate more and more on social media, definitely more so than me. I have also found their creativity and confidence growing as a result. Since we know that many of them thoroughly enjoy social media, as I watch them constantly checking their phones between passing periods, I would like to find more ways to incorporate that into my curriculum some how. I want them using social media safely, productively, positively, and to their advantage. So far, I am exploring the ideas below: Using social media to... ...raise awareness about social issues that exist in our society and strive for the change they want to see. ...build their professional network through their internships, other jobs, etc. ...gain a more diverse audience for research project survey data ...present their projects/creations/products ...gain feedback and further develop work readiness skills I know this isn't a lot, and I am looking for as many ideas as possible that I can share with my students and help foster their skills in this process. Are there any ideas you may have for how I can incorporate social media into their lives educationally? I haven't been teaching for that long, about six years, but I have come to realize one thing about the field of education: it is always changing as new ideas are always presented.
So how do we know what is best? Personally, I started my teaching career focusing on the blended learning method; but I was always taught according to the "sage on the stage" method. I had no idea what I was doing but did the best to try something new, as I was told this new method is "what's best for kids". About five years later, project-based learning (PBL) became the new method of teaching and "what's best for kids". The good part is that this new method still involves blended learning, in a general sense, allowing me to feel more comfortable with the change. However, as I roam the hallways of different buildings and hear from other teachers about their thoughts on this new idea, there is a bit of skepticism. Some wonder why we need a change and how students will pass the state/national tests using PBL, others are afraid of the change, some are wondering how much PBL is necessary as they see a few schools promoting 100% PBL, and others are asking an even more important question: how long will this method of teaching be in place? Project-based learning can take an extensive amount of forethought, energy, practice, and sometimes more money than expected, all in order to meet the "gold standard." How long will this method last in our classrooms or buildings in general? How much of our heart and effort should we pour into this method, since there will likely be another method presented and adopted in another few years as being "what's best for kids"? We finally figure out one method, feel comfortable with it, and have our courses mastered, only to be told we need to change again. I understand how many feel. On the other hand, I currently believe in the changes being made. I believe that real-world skills are important, and sometimes for certain students, they are even more important than the content we are teaching. Regardless, I feel like all of it is important and that we just need to find an appropriate balance for each student individually. But again, how do we really know that this method is "what's best for kids" when, really, it hasn't even been around long enough to really know? I would love to hear your thoughts, new teachers to master teachers:
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Angelina Valvona-Herndon: a high school teacher, blessed to work with at-risk students striving to succeed in academia and the real world. Archives
October 2019
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