Blog Post #6

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler
I really liked the information in this video and how is creates a different style of learning. There is so much more for students to learn when people from all over the world are commenting on a blog. This collaboration between students makes them want to get on their blog and see what others have said. This communication is not something that you can receive from a book and simply "burping back answers", as Dr. Strange says.

I like how in the end of the video it shows what all skills the teacher has covered. With her method of teaching, even skills outside of the ones required for her class are taught to students. This is an encouragement to no just be a history teacher teaching history or an english teacher teaching english. Instead, provide your student with skills that will stick with them along with knowledge that impacts their lives and a potential to change the world.

A 7th Grader's Personal Learning Environment
This video was surprisingly shocking to me in the fact that a 7th grader could put a project together that well. I like her teachers idea of making them become "certified" before they can hold an animal during class. In my high school and middle school children could take laptop classes if they wanted to but they were mainly presentation projects every day. I like that this teacher has a variety of things going on in the class and gives the students responsibility to do their work and not be on facebook.


Why to use or not use an IWB
I like all four of the critiques on IWB's. I can see both sides to this argument but would most definitely use one in my classroom. I can absolutely see how that it is a great deal of money and if they are not used to their full potential are no better than a regular old whiteboard. However, when these things are used to their full potential it creates many more possibilities for your class and a much better learning environment. I looked at Dr. Mary Ann Bell's page at http://teachers.net/gazette/JAN02/mabell.html. She shows a total of 13 different reason for use of an interactive whiteboard in class and how much it engages students. She speaks about the reasons students respond better to these boards as opposed to traditional ones by it having more colors, creating interactive opportunities, and being an attractive piece of equipment for kids.