Post #5: Elevating the Education Reform Dialog

First, this post was based on the Webinar I have attended on December 5th, which is ‘’ Elevating the Education Reform Dialog’’. Throughout the presentation, various moderators exposed their points of view of many majors’ issues on the dialog about the educational reform. One interesting point every moderators discuss was the importance to include the teachers in the dialog about the reform since they are the basis of teaching and learning.

According to a majority of moderators, teachers are professionals that need to be more listened to. It is important to bring the teachers on the dialog too. Educators might be part of the solution to the problems brought by the Education Reform. The teachers have the right to say their points of view about the educational reform too. The teachers need to have a voice. Moreover, a problem that arrives nowadays is that the teachers are not asked to share how they think school, teaching and learning can be improved.

Furthermore, the goal of schooling is to help kids to be proficient in their learning. Almost all the moderators have the same vision of teaching and learning, it is to create a variety of pedagogical tools to interest and help the students learn in context. Another important part of the role of teachers is to have their students self-directed. Learning should be done in terms of integrating subject matter and technologies. School is the center of the life of a person for about 20 years; therefore the focus should be more on learning than on teaching.

Finally, the important aspect is to respect the teachers and allow them to share their points of view about the advantages and the consequences of the educational reform. Allowing the teachers to have a voice would result in a better educational system and a better teaching that would upgrade the results of the learning process.

Post # 4 :Vicki Davis: The innovative teacher

First of all, in the video we watched this week, we were introduced to Vicki Davis whom is an innovative teacher that uses all types of media tools to teach and to connect her students to the world. According to her, the uses of digital technologies are important when it comes to connecting the students to the world, to the real life.  Every student can learn, but problems occur when they are asked to work only with paper and pencil. The use of different media tools diminish these problems and motivate students to learn. 

Furthermore, learning how to learn according to Miss Davis is to have the students learn how to use new softwares in order for them to be comfortable with technologies. She doesn’t explain every new term she is using because she thinks that the students should Use the Internet to look it up, therefore, she is not defining everything. Therefore, her students are more autonomous when it comes to their learning.

Moreover, the students feel a great sense of empowerment when they find out the answer or how a software works by themselves. Finally, Miss Davis encouraged her students to communicate with students from all around the world, because she thinks that like this her students experience the trends and learn about the trends with other students from various countries. It gives them new perspectives of possibility.

 

I believe that the approach Miss Davis is using is very relevant for the students. She leads her students toward autonomy in their learning and she uses their strengths and weaknesses when choosing activities. According to me, she is right when she says that students learn a lot when using technologies, nowadays this trend is ubiquitous. She is very open-minded and she sees the potential of ICTs.  I believe that the media tools help students to learn and to develop their sense of autonomy. It leads them to have empowerment and they feel a sense of achievement when they find out by themselves. It is important to create these senses of empowerment and achievement. In school and at home, empowerment can be created like Miss Davis is doing; by having the students find the solution to their problems without giving them the solution or the explanation. The students will feel their success as important and will increase their self-esteem.

Finally, ESL teacher should include the use of media tools in their teaching since it connects the students to the world. It can be done by having the students complete a webquest, work in team on wikis, play powerpoint game, etc. ICTs are an open window to the world surrounding us; therefore we need to include these in our teaching to open our students mind.  

POST #3: Big Thinkers: Henry Jenkins on New Media and Implications for Learning and Teaching .

First of all, in the video we watched, Henry Jenkins mentioned that the school are failing when it comes to technology. The implication of technology in learning is important for the students. The schools are shutting down some softwares, therefore the students don’t have access to the contents of these softwares. Moreover, teachers are shutting down technology; therefore, they are sending a message to the students which mean that what they learn in school has nothing to do with life outside the school. Also, some students don't have access to technology at home, and access to technology is access to learning, it is therefore important for students to have access to ICTs at school. Also, Mr. Jenkins explained that the students cannot get a full access to new society of ICT and this is showing that there is a gap in participation.

Furthermore, a collaborative environment is important for teaching. According to Mr. Jenkins, shared learning opportunities across generations are important. The students need to learn across generation. Moreover, shared learning opportunities are important for students and for teachers as well. The students need a place where they learn from each other. The students need to acquire social skills in order to collaborate among each other. Learning takes place in game and in experience. Also, when it comes to the teacher, it is important to

create online community for teachers. The teachers need to connect with others that are doing the same as them. Finally, the students and the teachers must move towards autonomy.

According to me, the use of ICTs is very important in learning. It has the potential to improve the quality of education. The main goal of ICTs is to improve students’ learning but also to increase teachers’ effectiveness in their teaching. I agree with Mr. Jenkins when he mentioned that ‘’ access to technology is access to learning. Therefore, I believe that restricting access to some content on the Internet is not the right way to go and it is not efficient.  Also, I believe that the teacher has to raise the students’ awareness about using proper content on Internet and on the plagiarism. I believe that teachers should educate their students instead of penalizing them.

POST # 2: How teacher collaborate online and in school

 

First of all, in the video we watched, teachers from the Vail district were discussing the benefits of the use of wikis such as My Touch or the On-textbook. Teachers from different location created an Internet application and passed it on a wiki page and therefore, created a central repository where lesson plans, ideas, etc. are available. This wiki page is a wealth of resources for teachers. Moreover, this collaboration allows teachers to help each other, to discuss and to share their ideas.

This idea is quite interesting and useful. These teachers has created a fantastic way to share information and school materials. The wealth of information available through wikis are enormous. It is not only useful for teachers but it allows students to feel a sense of connectiveness with other students knowing that they are using materials created by other teachers.

Also, I believed that wiki is an appropriate tool to increase’s learner’s motivation and engagement. As it is mentioned by Kovacic (2007), ‘’ it can be concluded that the use of wiki in ESP (and ESL) course is a useful and innovative way of enriching the learning environment of students with adequate ICT skills access to the Internet’’, therefore, wiki should be available for all the teachers. Wikis should be used to promote collaboration among teachers.

POST #1: Big Thinkers: Howard Gardner on Digital Youth

Nowadays, the use of Internet and other technologies is quite popular. People are spending an impressive amount of time online. With the arrival of Internet, it is now easy to have a quick access to almost everything. The use of technologies, especially by kids and teenagers brings ethical challenges.

In the video, Mr. Gardner was talking about his project '' Good Play Project''. This project tries to shed light on the ethical issues related to young people using the Internet. These issues are:

1) Sense of identity
2) Sense of privacy
3) Sense of ownership / authorship
4) Trustworthiness
5) Creability

Also, Mr. Gardner sees teachers as coaches and role model for young people. Teachers are using more and more technologies in their teaching, therefore, their role is evolving gradually.