Blog Post #6

The Network Student

In the movie The Networked Student we see a 21st century student. He goes to class three days a week and two days online. His teacher almost never lectures, She teaches connectivism. She in powers her students to go out and learn and connect through social networking cites. The student spends time setting up his own social networking cite and finding valid websites. He spends time doing his own research and posting it to sharing cites. The question is raised at the end of the move, "why does the student even need the teacher"? The narrator says that she offers guidance when he gets stuck, shows him how to properly communicate, how to determine if the information is accurate, and how to get excited when he finds good information.

I believe there are positives and negatives in this movie. First the positive. I think it is a great teaching tool to have students connect with other people through social networking cites. It is a creative way to get the student involved in learning and making them take some of the initiative in their education. I believe it makes the students feel empowered. Almost like "hey I found that information myself, I didn't need the teachers help"! It gives them a sense of independence.

The negative side to the film is the teacher. Yes I understand that the teacher is trying to show her students how to learn on their own, but I feel the teacher in the film isn't having to put much effort into teaching. In the video it says that "He goes to class three days a week and two days online. His teacher almost never lectures". So what does he do in class those three days out of the week? If he is doing the same thing in class as he is doing out of class online what is the point in even going to class. I think there should be a balance. I think the three days in class and the two days online are great, But on the days when the students are in class that's when lectures or discussions should be going on.

PLN

In the video A 7th Graders Personal Learning Environment, a 7th grade science student is sharing how her (PLE) is set up and what she uses it for. She seemed very excited to share how she finds her information and how she shares it with other people. She talks about how it benefits her in having all these different learning outlets. She also states that even though some social networking cites can be distracting it gives her the freedom to learn what she wants when she wants. Our (PLN) isn't much different. We are open to many cites in order to collect the best information. We are able to connect with other students and people who are interested in the same things. It gives us the opportunity to hear other ideas about a certain subject, that we might not hear other wise.