Feb 28 Posts

Dr. Richard E Miller's Videos
Dr. Miller's videos were interesting to watch. Even after being in this class for months I am always pleasantly surprised to hear of new ideas and things that I haven't thought about myself. I love that Dr. Miller put together these videos to speak about the way our times are changing and how we are no longer a reading/writing world. He has many legitimate points about how we are turning into a listening/watching world.
After watching the three videos, on this page, I sat back for a few minutes and thought about personally, what I am using these days. I couldn't remember the last book that I sat down and read completely through, but I could remember the last time I spent 4 hours browsing peoples blogs, youtube, and facebook accounts. We live in a world were things have to be fun and exciting and pop out at you for you to be interested. This is the world and the change that Dr. Miller is talking about.
I love how he spent so much time discussing the importance of this technology and how much collaboration goes on through using these tools.
In the 2nd part of the video he talks about how we can share info globally and freely and how we compose things digitally in this upcoming time. We have the opportunity to make beautiful, compelling compositions and share them with the world, so let's do it. The students that will be in my classroom will be able to do these things. They will know how to create and put their thinking onto a website and collaborate with others to improve it and mold it. I want to be fully prepared for these students. I am so thankful that I have the opportunity to learn about using these tools so that I will be better able to help my students learn and use their creativity.

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler
Wow..I really like this video! The Networked Student is such an awesome but simple video. It so clearly displays what all we can do with our PLN and how the things that we are doing in EDM 310 now can impact our futures and our students. I love that Ms. Drexler has this vision for her students. The fact that she is willing to try this approach with middle school kids is awesome to me.
I viewed Ms. Drexler's blog and on it she has possible obstacles that she may face while attempting trying this with her students. I love that she can see things that may be obstacles and she is still willing to experiment and explore this process with her students. I would love to keep up with Ms. Drexler's progress with her students.
Being a "Networked Student" opens up a new world for students. It opens up a world of learning, exploring, creating, and collaborating. The student is completely in control of how much they put into this learning experience. While some may think that this networking student may be completely self sufficient, this is not the case. There is a huge need for teachers for the networking students.
The video explains that the teacher is there to help the student find reliable sources and information, build networks, there for guidance, help the searching be like a scavenger hunt and exciting, organize the information, and help him maintain the learning network so that he can use in his future. Having this type of networking ability at our fingertips is amazing and is almost vital in this day and time.
I am thankful that Dr. Strange has made us start our own personal PLN.

Michael Wesch Video
The video was really good and left me with some really challenging thoughts. Just thoughts about the changes through generations and what things will look like years down the road. Dr. Wesch left great room for deep thoughts. I have never thought of these social networking and media opportunities as a way for people to even learn about themselves more.
In my own life I use many of these media tools as a way to connect to the unknown world and learn about what is out there.
I look forward to seeing and even helping form this new future of whatever! I want to join in with my future students and help them learn about the world and themselves. I want to care for them and help them do whatever they dream up...by whatever mean necessary!