Hi everyone out there in Web2.0 world.
My name is Megan and I am a Grade 5/6 teacher in a Catholic primary school in the North Eastern Zone.
Up until last year I had been on and off maternity leave for about 4 years and felt that I was removed from the online collaborative world my students and fellow peers seemed so ensconsed in.
When I viewed the online videos in Module 1 several phrases stood out to me.
- culture of immediacy: our students don't need to know content or information any more, they need to know the skills to find out the information.e.g. they don't need to know the capital of Germany, they need to know how to google it.
- we need to teach students to be discerning, to question the quality and the credibility of the sites they are viewing. to question what was the motive of the companies who create these 'platforms' for individuals to use.
One of the 'catch phrases' that comes to mind for me is that I am not an 'online native' like most of my students. While I certainly have many skills in place and know that I am a quick learner, I very much feel that I am still an immigrant in this online world.
I am looking forward to completing the Web 2.0 program in the hope that it will refine my own skills, enhance my classroom programs and further engage my students.
Great reflection Megan! I think you quotes really sum up the generation that we are teaching and what is of real importance to them. The culture of immediacy is completely true and I think Will Richardson makes a good point about this too in saying that "the classroom is the only place where these students don't get to access information/content whenever they please." That made me really reflect because it means our classroom is actually, in some aspects, restricting learning, rather than expanding it.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to reading your reflections as we progress through :)
Hi Megan,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great reflection (and also a great comment by Carlie). I had the pleasure of speaking with Will Richardson recently about just this issue and he says that we are in an era where the teacher is no longer the "keeper of the information" and information is now freely available and easy to access. This "shift" has created an unusual situation where the students are now tending to "going home to learn" as Will puts it. You raise many interesting points and I very much look forward to reading more.
Dean