Blog Assignment #2

In this blog post, I will respond to several videos in order to depict what teaching in the 21st Century will be like.

Mr. Dancealot

I believe the central message of this video is that not every lesson can be taught by lecturing and having students take notes. Students need to be engaged in order to truly comprehend the skills they are trying to learn. The author of this video makes the case for this conclusion by creating a scenario in which students are learning how to dance in a dance class that requires them to stay seated and listen to lecture. This resulted in the students being confused and not being able to follow through with the skills that were learned. I agree with the author's conclusion because not every lesson can be taught by lecture. Sometimes students need to be hands-on with a lesson in order to truly learn.

Teaching in the 21st Century

Kevin Roberts, the author of this presentation, makes the case that teaching in the 21st Century means that students should be engaged in learning by using technology to assist them in problem-solving and other useful skills. He suggests that teachers should be there to guide the students in how to effectively use technology and filter the knowledge they gain from it. He argues this by showing us that students can find information anywhere at anytime through social media sites, websites, and search engines. Therefore, there is no need for a teacher to stand in front of them and hand them the information when it will not be handed to them in the real world. He also argues that teachers should be instructing students by posing questions about skills that are very much needed in the adult world. How will a student learn how to change a tire? I feel that Roberts is making an accurate assumption of how teaching will be changing as technology becomes more advanced. Every day education is changing to include technology more and more. This will affect me as a future educator in that I need to keep up with how technology is changing in order to suit my students' learning needs.

The Networked Student

This video describes a learning situation in which the student learns on his/her own by using technology to research the subject. The student uses a variety of websites, videos, and blogs to further his/her knowledge of the subject and then shares it with others from all over the world. I see this as a beneficial teaching technique to create individuals rather than spoon-feeding the information. It also gives students a chance to be creative and learn by pulling from several learning techniques. The video also poses the question "Why does the networked student even need a teacher? To which they respond by describing how teachers are still involved in the learning process as mediators and guides for the students. The teacher is still necessary in order to make sure the student gets help when needed. I believe networking is needed in order to create more active students and it is realistic for how the real world works.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

The thesis of this video is that students can not always learn from a piece of paper and a pencil. Sometimes it is necessary to implement technology in order to empower the students to be engaged in the lesson. The benefits to them using this technology is that it allows for a customized learning experience, it makes them be active learners, and it helps prepare them for an ever-changing job market. My reaction to this argument is that it can be very beneficial and technology is always changing so the earlier students can harness these skills, the better. My only issue with this is the fact that not all school systems have the materials to enforce these new teaching styles.

Who's Ahead in the Learning Race?

From the results depicted in this video, I have come to the conclusion that those in the elementary school systems are ahead in the learning race. They have the opportunity to use new technologies to assist in learning that those in undergraduate and graduate school did not have when they were young. It is clearly a benefit to start the young off with technology to assist them in their learning so that they can shape technology in the future. I know I am pretty behind in the learning race when it comes to technology because I never got the chance to learn all the functions of technology. If I had gotten the chance to start at a young age, I believe I would do better in all my endeavors. 

Flipping the Classroom

The concept in this video is very new to me. I've never heard of "flipping the classroom" until now. I think this approach could be useful to me as a teacher because the students get the chance to experience the material before they get in the classroom. That way the time spent in class will be focused on questions they have and intellectual discussion on the subject. It also gives them a chance to research the information further at home.