April--Online+Discussion

I followed “Jane’s Pick of the Day.” Each day, she posted comments about 21st century learning and teaching. She gave two sites for free ebooks, which I’m interested in looking at. The second site I followed was “The Principal’s Page.” This blog was light-hearted, but did post videos that raise questions about school lunch. The best part was that I found the authors “commercial” site which is very helpful for school administrators. 2. Discuss with your group Chapter 5 "The Net Generation as Learners: Rethinking Education"; a.  On p. 122 it lists four things that need to be implemented in the classroom to dump the Industrial Age model of teaching and replace it with Net Gen-friendly schools:  //** **// - //** **//Instead of focusing on the teacher, the education system should focus on the student; //** **// -instead of lecturing, teachers should interact with students and help them discover for themselves; -instead of delivering a one-size-fits-all form of education, schools should customize the education to fit each child's individual way of learning; and -instead of isolating students, the schools should encourage them to collaborate. **Do you and the teachers in your school building do these things? Are you encouraged by your principal to do these things? If you are not implementing these changes, what is the reason? //**  I think that teachers in my building are moving in the right direction, and we are encouraged by our administration to do so. I still see many teachers using the old models of education—especially when classroom are set-up in straight rows. We are strongly encouraged to provide opportunities to collaborate, especially through the use of Kagan Cooperative Learning strategies. I’m trying to change how I teach. We are working as a district, with the support and encouragement of our district administrator, to rethink and redesign music instruction. The old model of music instruction is probably older then the Industrial Age model of education. **//b.//**  **//"Computers can't live up to their potential as an educational tool if they are deployed in the old-fashioned educational system that relies on teachers to deliver content." (p. 143)//** **// - Is this happening in your school? //** I think we are moving away from this, but I still see SmartBoards only used for visual aids to teacher instruction. With more laptops available to our students, I do see students using computers up to their potential. I believe it is so important for students to learn how to work with each other. I think this skill prepares them to be productive members of society as well as learning appropriate social skills. I think in large group ensemble music making, students are collaborating—working together to create. With my younger students, I like to have them work together to experiment to create music. “Use technology to get to know each student.” I need to work on using technology to track student progress and mastery of standards—not just for assigning a grade. I hope to continue working on this when we implement standards-based grading and use technology to track it.
 * // 1 //** **// . Discuss with your group the blogs you followed on the Internet and what you learned. //**
 * // c. Why is collaboration so important in our classrooms today? How do your students collaborate in your classroom? //**
 * // d. Which strategy on p. 148 do you need to work on? //**

**// 3. Discuss with your group //** **// Chapter 9 "The Net Generation and Democracy: Obama, Social Networks, and Citizen Engagement" //** 1. I was surprised to learn that Obama signed up to follow the Twitter updates of those who choose to follow his updates. He was following the “grammar of social media.” Having a staffer click “follow” (which requires no further action) has a large impact. 2. I assumed that the net generation’s lack in the political process was out of apathy. However, according to Tapscott, it is because they do not want to support an old model of politics, one which doesn’t match the 8 norms that he has previously outlined. **// b. Have you taken part in any of the political collaboration sites online? If yes, how? //** I have not participated in any political collaboration sites.
 * // a.  What two things surprised you in this chapter? //**