Blog Post #2

This week's theme in EDM 310 was Teaching In the 21st Century, I was super stoked to find out more about the new innovations and methods that will and have already been introduced into the classroom during this current century.

1. Professor Dancealot is a short video where a professor lectures a group of college-aged students on how to learn various dance styles, the professor uses lecture slides and a book as his primary teaching tools. It is very obvious to see that the professors teaching methods are not working and every student in the class is clueless,bored and upset.  The central message that the video conveys is that some activities can not be taught through listening and watching but must be learnt by actually doing. 

The author's message is practically shouted out to the viewer throughout the video. He makes his case   for his message by creating emphasis on the student's frustration week after week during this ongoing class period as they continue to come to class not actually knowing how to perform any of the skills being taught to them. The author's point is finalize with the college class's final exam where the students were expected to grab a partner and smoothly perform a number of different dancing styles which were "taught" in class. The problem with the final exam was very clear, this was each students first time even standing up and touching another partner, and as foreshadowed, the dance steps felt foreign and uncomfortable which concluded in a mess of a dance class. I would most definitely agree with the author that this kind of teaching method is useless and honestly complete torture for students, it holds students back from participating in active learning and an example was shown in the video where a student got out of his seat to closer see the feet positions the teacher was displaying and the teacher saw this as a disturbance, he quickly called out the student and told him to take a seat. This type of disobedience is what leads to students becoming bored in classes and unfortuntaly it discourages them from seeking knowledge from their teachers. 

Performing the Cha Cha at a Ballroom Competition in New York with my partner Elijah Whitmore 2012

2. This second video presentation What Does It Mean To Teach In the 21st Century is a video of a prezi presentation about the realities of teaching in this current century with all the media and available resources most students have familiarized themselves with.  Kevin Roberts, the creator of this presentation believes that the 21st century teacher's position is to be a filter for students to be able to use technology to their advantage and use it to become engaged learners.

Outline

 I. What Does it Mean to Teach in the 21st Century

II. Teachers Provide

     a. Content

     b. Facts

     c. Dates

     d. Formulas

III. Role of Students Becomes Obsolete

     a. Through Media

          - facebook

          - google

          - twitter

          - cell phones 

          - you tube

IIII. Teacher's are Filters

       A. New Role in Teaching

            - Validate Info.

            - Communicate Info.

            - Synthesize Info.

            - Problem Solve

IV. Creation Today

     a. Blogging

     b. Podcasting

     c. Designing

     d. Programming

V. How Will Students Learn

     a. Pirating

     b. Plagarism

     c. Slander

     d. Copyright

VI. What Does This Mean For The Classroom

      a. Rethink Tools

      b. Problems

      c. Technology

      d. Cell Phones

      e. Google

      f. Podcasts

VII. New Resources

       a. Get together through social media

       b. create e-portfolio

VIII. Tools No Longer Only For Entertainment

        a. Entertainment

            - Passive

            - short-term

       b. Engaging

           - active

           - long- term

           - exciting

           - fun

IX. Starts With YOU!

      a. Explore Sites

      b. Collaborate

      c. Take Risks

I see validity in Roberts idea of how teaching is changing, for example his point that teachers are now filters of sources students use, I believe this is true. However, I feel that Roberts is leaving out a key point and that is media misuse I feel and know through my own experience that media can be distracting, therefore I think Roberts should have included the teaching of knowing when using media is appropriate and when it can be rude. If Roberts theory of a 21st century teacher is valid that means as an educator my curriculum will change drastically then the lessons I was taught during my primary and secondary education. 

3. The next video was a fun cartoon drawing clip, Networked Student, by Wendy Drexler in the clip a student takes an American Psyche course in college where his professor believes in connectivism learning, learning through social connections, the clip shows the students process of collecting information through multiple sources including Google scholar and iTunes U. In the conclusion of the video the question, " Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" is asked and the answer is given; the student needs her to teach the student how to build that network and communicate respectfully among many other reasons. I thought this video was eye-opening, it reminded me that I have access to so many outlets of learning that I'm not using to my advantage. It's honestly amazing that a student could live in extreme poverty but if they have access to iTunes U they can fill themselves with the knowledge of professors from such privileged schools such as Berkeley and Stanford. They could then take their knowledge and rise from their unfortunate situation and erase the cycle of poverty for their future family. That to me is seriously awesome!

4. Harness Your Sudents' Digital Smarts is a video about a very active and enthusiastic educator, Vicki Davis; she is a teacher who focuses on using technology to connect her students to the world. Davis' philosophy is that children feel limited and cant learn when their only tool available is paper. I love what Mrs. Davis' has created for these students, I feel that it is so vital for young adults to get a sense of the bigger picture in this world, and through Mrs. Davis' use of outsourcing that is exactly what is happening.

5. I'm blown away after watching these elementary students displays their new skills as seen in Dr. Strange's video Who's Ahead In The Learning Race ; in the video Strange narrates the progress of varies grade levels in a elementary school after receiving macbooks only two days previous to his visit. It makes me excited that these 1st and 2nd graders know more about how to use different programs on a mac book to enhance their learning. I's quite apparent that in the race to learning, these young elementary kids are beating myself and fellow peers with their incredible knowledge! As an undergrad myself I used to think I was pretty technology savvy but after watching this and not knowing over half of the skills these students were performing I think I need to re-evaluate my definition of tech savvy.

6. My final video this week is Flipping The Classroom, a brief video by a current school teacher explaining about a new process of learning called Flipping the Classroom; meaning bringing the educational process home and having students watch a video on their computers of their teachers and then practicing probelms that go with the material before coming into class the next day. The hopes for the oucome of this method is that students will come into class with questions and will become more interactive students. In some ways I do think his process could be useless but for me, my first thought was I know I find it so much harder focusing on a lecture being recieved through a video rather than a personable lecture in a small classroom. I assume it would be the same way with other especially racing minds, I predict it will be hard for the individual students to focus and digest material being taught through a recorded video rather thn a face-to-face interaction.