A New Culture of Learning

chapters 7-9

12/7/2014

Chapter: 7: Quote “Context informs content.”

Question: How can we ensure that our use of technology doesn’t take away from our intended purpose and distract our students?

Connection: After reading this section, I started thinking about the interview for EDL 600. The concern came up that reminds us that we need to be careful that with technology, our purpose isn’t lost. We want to integrate technology, but we don’t want it to change our lesson, just enhance it. This chapter explains how technology can change things whether we intend them to or not.

Epiphany: With the proper selection of applications, the content can be enhanced. We should not simply force a tool into the lesson, but have knowledge of them so that when the need arises, we can take advantage of what it can offer.

Chapter: 8

Quote: “Geeking out provides an experiential embodied sense of learning within a rich social context of peer interaction, feedback, and knowledge construction enabled by a technological infrastructure that promotes intense autonomous interest driven learning.”

Question: “What am I able to explore?”

Connection: This also connects to our interview assignment because it allows me to reflect on our conversation of collaboration in the schools technological infrastructure. This is something that takes place between all peers, teacher to teacher, student to student, or admin to admin.

Epiphany: I know that I am not comfortable yet with many things, but when I think about “Geeking Out”, I know that I am closer than ever. This makes me feel good because I know that I am making progress.

Chapter: 9

Quote: Imagine an environment where participants are constantly measuring and evaluating their own performances, even if that requires them to build new tools to do it.

Question: How do we help the experienced teachers, that are not used to using this language and using such devices, to feel confident in integration of technology in their classrooms if they are not offered assistance from their schools?

Connection: I can connect this to Tony Wagner’s book when he discusses the idea of teachers not utilizing what the students already have. Many teachers struggle to keep phones out of the students’ hands during class as opposed to finding a way to take that motivation and integrate it into the lesson.

Epiphany: Learning could happen continuously for our students if we can motivate them internally. This environment is there, but I do not utilize it due to my own comfort or lack of. I know that this is something that I am going to work on.

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Chapters 4-6

12/6/2014

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Chapter: 4

Quote: The old ways of learning are unable to keep up with our rapidly changing world. New media forms are making Peer to Peer learning more easier and more natural. Peer to Peer learning is amplified by emerging technologies that shape the collective nature of participation with those new media.

Question: How can we enforce intrinsic motivation within our students?

Connection: I can connect this to a recent presentation that I had the opportunity to attend. In Dr. Ernie Mendez workshop on emotional intelligence, he mentioned that no student is lazy. All students are motivated but we just need to find what they are motivated by.

Epiphany: I think about how we can link their motivation and interest in technology to further their understanding in the classroom and build their confidence in that subject matter. I feel that if they feel confident, maybe the intrinsic motivation would follow.

Chapter: 5

Quote: One of the greatest concerns about digital media today is that we may be rendering our lives too transparent. Almost every new media application provides some way to share personal information with friends, coworkers, or an audience.

Question: How do we help to teach our students to understand what information is appropriate and for what audience do we share this information? In addition, when is the appropriate age to teach this?

Connection: I am having trouble in these courses because I have always been a very private person and therefore have never wanted to become a part of the online communities.

Epiphany: As my teachers have reminded me. Through this process, some things will work better than others for me and at different times in my profession. It is important to not limit my learning or the learning

of others, but to collaborate in common educational conversations.

Chapter: 6

Quote: “We know more than we can tell.”

Question: How do we deliver the whole message without having to put our students in a situation to get “burned” How can we offer our students the connections needed to gain the maximum amount of knowledge.

Connection: We can’t ask for someone’s experience. I cannot simply watch someone go through the apps provided in this course.

Epiphany: I cannot simply go by the instructions and videos and fully grasp the concept. I have to go through the process of learning the technology, struggles, mistakes, and all in order to get the maximum knowledge.

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Chapters 1-3

12/6/2014

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Chapter: 1

Quote:

“The game does not just teach programing. It cultivates citizenship” I chose this quote because the idea of citizenship caught my attention. I am continuously focusing on building character and allowing the students to reflect on their character and citizenship after the day or week. Now that I am moving toward incorporating more technology in the classroom, I need to teach online citizenship.

Question: How do you promote and teach online citizenship?

Connection:

When I hear them talk about Sam and the concept of remixing, I think about how we, in our profession, do this on a daily basis. Making our delivery the best it can possibly be, and then improving it again.

Epiphany:

The idea of “how to learn from others” stuck with me, as this is something that I need to embrace. I am in a cohort surrounded by educators who feel far more comfortable with technology than I do and I need to take advantage of having these resources and not be shy about turning to them for help.

Complete the assignment as a series of three blog posts (Ch 1-3, 4-6, and 7-9). Tweet your posts and share on the Google+ Community. Respond to the writing of at least 5 peers.

Chapter: 2

Quote:

“if we change the vocabulary, and consider schools as learning environments… when viewed from this perspective, the learning that goes on in the school environment becomes more of an organic process, and the focus of the discussion changes from fixing a problem to growing a solution.”

Question: What are the basic processes that must take place when looking for the buy in from teachers who do not see the importance of an online culture?

Connection:

When thinking about entering a new culture, we have had new students enter our school with a certain outlook on learning that can be summed up as negative. It is amazing to me to see them as the book says, “thrives on change” and have their parents come up to us explaining, “My son used to hate school. I would have to drag him everyday. Now he wakes up before I do and drags me out of bed because he wants to get to school early.” This was said to me last month when we had a family picnic.

Epiphany:

When it is mentioned that no individual can create a culture, it reminded me of my school. We do have expectations, but it isn’t the teacher that just puts the expectations on the wall. As a class, we decide in the beginning, what will create a positive learning environment and what could hinder the learning in a classroom. Together, we create a culture. I think that in a way, I may have just answered my first question regarding online citizenship.

Complete the assignment as a series of three blog posts (Ch 1-3, 4-6, and 7-9). Tweet your posts and share on the Google+ Community. Respond to the writing of at least 5 peers.

Chapter: 3

Quote: “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.“ This quote gave me two different ideas. One, I agree with this statement, thinking about this cohort and our many discussions regarding not having them memorize information, but teaching them how to learn. On the other hand, I am able to understand the irony of this as mentioned in the book when they discuss the idea regarding technology and the continuous change in where they will be learning or “fishing”.

Question: How can we teach our students to learn and not only embrace the changes in their learning environment but also understand how to change their approach to handle them?

Connection: I can connect to this as I am not just trying to learn new apps and programs, but in these courses working on using these programs to allow me to change and grow with technology. I don’t just want to use what is available now, but build my comfort so that I can progress as new opportunities arise.

Epiphany: “When change comes slowly, adaptation is easy.”

They discussed retraining and catching everyone up to speed. I can relate to this because with technology, these changes do not seem to come slowly. Adaptation for me will be difficult at first, but the changes seem faster for me right now as I am catching up.

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