Blog Post #7

TheNetworked Student

Wendy Drexler's video shows how connectivism is used in the classroom. In connectivism the focus is not on the tools the students use, but the connections they make.  The students attend class three days a week while working online the other two.  No textbooks are used for this class. The purpose of this class is to empower the students to develop connections for their own PLN (personal learning network).  First, they search for different blogs and websites that has important information they can benefit from. Once they find these blogs and websites, they have to determine whether it is a good or bad source of information. When the source is determined valid, the students can now add it to their own PLN.  Later the students share what they have learned with others. This allows students to connect with a network of people all over the world. These connections allow them to share their opinions and ideas with each other.

The questioned was asked "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" The video suggests that the teacher is there to show the student how to build their own PLN. They can do this by helping the students to concern good information from bad information; being present if the students are having trouble and needs assistance; helping students to search for and organize information; and teaching the students how to communicate properly.

Although I understand the purpose of connectivism, I still have mixed feelings about all of it. I believe that it is important to empower the students to learn and find information for themselves. This is important for them to learn for many different reasons other than just education. In some ways I think that making these connections are useless, but then I think of the different connections that have been used in this class and what I have learned from them. Through this class and it's connections, I have learned many useful things that I can apply to my classroom. Although I may not use them all, I am now better able to discern what information I want to incorporate and what I don't. The point is, I now have the information in the event that I need or want it.

A 7th Grade's Personal Learning Environment

This video is about how a student created her own PLE (personal learning environment) for her science class. She started by locating information online that she thought would be beneficial in her science class. She was able to take all the information she found and pull it together all on one page. She had her class items listed at the bottom of her page.Each day she would begin the class by finding out what the day's assignments were. There were many different ways she used her PLE.  One example was the different classroom pets that she learned about so she could handle the pets in class. She could easily pull up the reports of the  different animals she learned about. If she wanted to use them later, she had the websites where she got the information so that she could give the proper credit. The student expressed that she really liked the freedom of choosing how and when she completed the assignments.

I like the idea of students using a PLE in their classes. It would be a great way to organize information easily and neatly. Students wouldn't have to worry about losing papers or leaving work at school. Something I deal with all the time with my children. This can be very beneficial with teachers also. I would have to say that my PLN is a work in progress. The 7th grader's PLE seemed much more organized than mine. Hopefully that will change by the end of the semester.