Blog Post #2

Mr. Dancealot

In the YouTube video "Professor Dancealot" the central message of the clip was that teaching is not about memorizing, it is about teaching your students to be learners. Professor Dancealot shows an example of how important it is for students to be involved in their work for them to be able to learn. In the end of the video, Professor Dancealot expects for his students to know how to dance without having involvement in his class. I do not agree with professor Dancealot's method of teaching. I believe that you must have your students participate in lessons and practice their learnings. You must give your students an opportunity to learn for themselves or they will not fully understand.

Teaching in the 21st century

1: Teachers are no longer the main source of knowledge
A: Facebook, Twitter
B: YouTube
C: Google
2: Students can ask any question on the internet
A: Teachers should teach them to do it properly
3: There are more opportunities for students to do work online
A: Blogging
B: Podcasting
C: Programming
4: Teachers must engage their students in learning
A: Challenge your students
B: Make them want to learn

In the video "teaching in the 21st century" Kevin Roberts shares what he believes to be teaching in the 21st century. Roberts believes that teaching in the 21st century is all about technology. Teachers must be prepared to engage their students in active learning on the internet and teach their students how to properly use websites. I mostly agree with Roberts idea. Technology is becoming very important in schools and all teachers should educate themselves on the new technology. The slight disagreement that I have with Roberts's idea is that he believes teaching in the 21st century is all about technology and technology alone. I do not think that classrooms should be entirely internet based. Pencil and paper are still very useful in schools. If Roberts is correct about his idea, it will affect me as an educator. I will need to better prepare myself for my future students.

The Networked Student

During the YouTube video "Networked Student" I began to better understand how important it is to be involved, depend on yourself, and learn how to use your resources. The video opened my eyes to all the possibilities you have when you're involved with your school work online. Being dependent on yourself and not your teacher was also a point I observed in the film. My reaction to this video was realization. I realized how important EDM310 will be for me in my future in school and my future as an educator.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

In the video "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts" teacher Vicki Davis expresses her thesis that is with paper and pencil, only certain students will succeed. My reaction to her argument is slight disagreement. Davis likes for the classroom to be entirely computer based. From personal experience, not everyone learns better with computers. Davis also stated that, "So many teachers think that 'I need to know everything before I teach it' and that is absolutely the wrong thing to think." I agree that teachers should be learners, but I also believe that as a teacher you must educate yourself to better help your students.

Who's ahead of the learning Race?

In the iMovie "Who's ahead in the learning race" by DR. Strange, undergraduate and graduate students are both pressed to answer the question in the title. In my opinion, elementary students are ahead in the race. Teachers are beginning to use more advanced learning tools to teach children that students who are now undergrad and grad students did not get to experience. I believe that as an undergraduate student I am next in line. Everyday new skills and tools for education are being found and as an undergraduate student I will most likely be taught them in my classes or introduced to them before graduate students.

Flipping the classroom

In the YouTube video "Flipping the classroom" I learned for the first time about what exactly it means to flip a classroom. When you flip your classroom you assign your students to learn the lesson of the day the night before class. I believe that this approach will be very useful to me as a teacher. If I allow my students to begin to think about the lesson the night before it will give me more time with my students to do activities for the lesson and discuss the lesson to make sure that everyone understands.