Blog Post #7

The Networked Classroom Experience

As a new era dawns in the realm of education I do realize that my role in a classroom is perpetually changing.   The tools that we will use are not as important as the connections that will be created by them.  In the video below the narrator provides us with an example of an actual classroom using this networked agenda.

Our role as a teacher is changing, along with our name.  We will become learning architects, modelers, synthesizers, change agents, network sherpas, or even connected learning incubators.  The creation of a network of learning infinitely larger than a classroom and easier to connect than independent students.  Our role will be to facilitate an environment that shapes connectivism or a guide into scavenger hunts of mountains of information.  The guide will show the student how to use the correct information in the appropriate way so that organization and connectivity flow into their everyday life.  So, when our students discover this "pearl of information" they will know exactly how to treasure it.  The future of the classroom is not one of individual learning but the development of collaborative instinct as our students not only impact the learning they completed that day but have affected students everywhere will complete tomorrow.  Then, as the student leaves our classroom we do not hand the torch to another educator, but instead teach the student to utilize the tools they have learned in our classroom to synthesize and research information more accurately in the years to come.

The PLE of a 7th Grader vs. My PLN

Mrs. Drexler's second video I watched was of a 7th graders description of her own PLE.  Utilizing Symbaloo to create her own tool for accessing anything on the internet.  She created a social bookmarking account, posting of reports,  reflections of class, collect information onto special note taking tools, and utilized this PLE in several other ways in just one day!  She collaborated with scientists from in and out of this country and she did all of this on her own time.  Responsibility was instilled in her through the freedom of agenda.  I am very similar to this student in this particular way.  Given a deadline and tools my work is of a much higher caliber because I have noted that a certain part of the assignment is responsibility itself.  My PLN includes mastering social media along with the ability to collaborate with peers and leaders in the researched fields.