BLOG POST #2
The 21st Century Student
Collaborated Group Post - Lauren Bradley, Sarah Barnett, Malary Booker:
Mr. Dancelot:
We believed what this video is trying to say, you can’t teach dance class in a lecture hall. You cannot teach a this type of subject matter by standing behind a table with your Power Point remote. Just like you shouldn't teach a traditional class in today’s technologically advancing world.
Also, the students were never even able to act out their dances before the exam. Chances are the students did not pass the test and it is their Professor's fault. This shows us that professors play a significant role in the classroom and help guide their students to build new skills in technology. Changing times call for classroom that are technology friendly to enhance the learning experience of the students.
The world’s technology is accelerating at an amazing rate, and so is the classroom. The 21st century classroom is discovering new ways to manipulate this technology to further improve the education experience. With the classroom, comes the 21st century student. But what does it really mean to be a 21st century student? It means someone who is literate in technology, someone who blends their technological knowledge with their everyday life skills, someone who wants to progress, to evolve. With these changing times comes new opportunities to connect to other teachers, students, educators, fellow educators basically anywhere in the World. It comes with new ways to share information with a click of a button and it comes with making a personal connection to people like you.
Think back to when you were in elementary school, middle school, even high school. I’m not sure how old everyone who reads this will be, but coming from a twenty-one year old, my classroom experiences were nothing like they are now. I hadn't even seen a SMART Board before my senior year of high school. I remember hearing teachers dreaming and discussing the amazing device. My sophomore high school geometry teacher would tell us that one day she would have a projector that didn’t use slides and smudge when she wrote.
I watched a particular YouTube video titled Mr. Dancealot. This is an ironic film that starts out with college students taking a dance class that takes place in a lecture hall, that has little to no space for dancing. Already you are wondering why a dance class would be taken in a lecture hall. After that, the teacher lectures the students on dancing using vague instructions off a power point, and performing the dances behind the desk. When the students stood to also practice dancing they were told to sit down and be quiet. When the time came for the exam, he told the class it was “open book, open notes”, and he left the room while the exam was being recorded.
Now lets focus more on the characteristics of the 21st century student. I watched a particular video on YouTube entitled The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler. This movie is exactly what you think it is about. It describes the 21st century student. A student who has mainly online classes, barley uses textbooks, at whose teacher believes in Connectivism. Through Connectivism, she creates a network that is made possible through technology. Dr. Drexler believes the tools are not as important as the connections made possible through them.
The teacher empowers the student and strengthens the learning process.
The video then proceeds to describe more about the student. He is someone who finds information on networks and posts them for more to see. He has a place to share all his bookmarked sites, and he finds other’s favorite sites. He searches for information within more blogs and connects with people around the world. He builds a knowledge base to create his own blog and share and reflect on what he has learned. He shares his educational information and his organization with anyone in the world.
The last part of the video discusses the various applications a 21st student uses; Blogger, Google scholar - where you can get articles written and revised by scholars like you. iTunes U - which has podcasts of teacher’s lectures from places like UC Berkeley. But now a days, students are never without an iPod, a tablet, a smartphone ...so with all this ease of discovering information, why do you need a teacher? The teacher is the one that guides you to build our networks and take advantage of new opportunities to learn. The teacher is there when you need guidance, shows you how to communicate properly. The teacher is a Learning Architect, a modeler, connected learning incubator, synthesizer, change agent, and network sherpa.