I stumbled upon http://www.classroom20.com/ while looking for links to add to my blog for the first assignment. It is difficult to give a brief synopsis of the benefits of this site because; even after a solid hour of exploring, I feel that I had only viewed a small portion of what was being offered. Of course, one of the main benefits of this site, and others like it, is the ability to communicate with teachers from all over the world. You can also invite fellow teachers to join. Utilizing a free site, with a fairly simple interface, is a good way to overcome technologic short comings which some of use may unfortunately face in under-funded schools. For example, even if your school lacked a functioning or reliable website, the motivated teacher could use a site like Classroom2.0 to set up a forum through which he and his colleagues could compare notes from a distance.
Another feature of this site that I like is its simple and user friendly search engine. For example I typed in “Spanish verbs” and found a link to a forum asking how best to use technology to teach irregular preterit verbs. From there I was directed to a site entitled “Conjugamos” which offers various resource links and even a timed conjugation quiz. While the latter exercise is not wholly within my philosophy of teaching foreign language it is interesting to see how one simple search can branch out to encompass so many resources.
Another extremely useful aspect of this site is the section for forums. I was especially impressed by the “Success Stories” forum, where teachers share the pros and cons of implementing new techniques and technologies. Of course teaching will always be a game of trail and error; but we can greatly enhance our efficiency by not only learning from our successes and failures, but also by learning from the successes and failures of our colleagues worldwide.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Scholar and the Athlete
The Scholar and the Athlete
Today’s learner is like an athlete. I find many corollaries between the training, and maintenance, of the body and the health and function of the mind. Firstly, growth of muscle and of the mind comes from pushing one’s self beyond the realm of comfort. In order for new muscle to grow tiny tears must be made in the tissue in order to stimulate the growth of new cells. Similarly we as educators are told to bring our students outside their zone of cognitive comfort in order to achieve knowledge acquisition. Secondly we find that often the most effective exercise is often one which shifts the emphasis of the chore from a grinding physical task to a more enjoyable, multi-faceted experience (think hiking through Yellow Stone versus walking on a Stair-master for 2 hours). Similarly both learners and facilitators benefit greatly from new and innovative ways to engage the mind in enjoyable, and meaningful, educational tasks. Finally, in order for success to occur, both processes must become internalized and continuous. Just as you can not lift run a mile for another person’s benefit, nor can you learn something for a second party. This view of teaching as equipping someone to be a successful learner rather than passing on a defined set of factual knowledge is reflected in the principle of connectivisim which states that: “Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known” (Siemens, 2005). We must equip learners with the tools to become the owners of their educational destiny and prepare them for a time when their instructor will no longer be there to facilitate their learning and they must keep an active mind in order to avoid mental atrophy and strive alone toward greater knowledge.
1. “Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age” (2005). In International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. Retrieved September 14 from: http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm
Today’s learner is like an athlete. I find many corollaries between the training, and maintenance, of the body and the health and function of the mind. Firstly, growth of muscle and of the mind comes from pushing one’s self beyond the realm of comfort. In order for new muscle to grow tiny tears must be made in the tissue in order to stimulate the growth of new cells. Similarly we as educators are told to bring our students outside their zone of cognitive comfort in order to achieve knowledge acquisition. Secondly we find that often the most effective exercise is often one which shifts the emphasis of the chore from a grinding physical task to a more enjoyable, multi-faceted experience (think hiking through Yellow Stone versus walking on a Stair-master for 2 hours). Similarly both learners and facilitators benefit greatly from new and innovative ways to engage the mind in enjoyable, and meaningful, educational tasks. Finally, in order for success to occur, both processes must become internalized and continuous. Just as you can not lift run a mile for another person’s benefit, nor can you learn something for a second party. This view of teaching as equipping someone to be a successful learner rather than passing on a defined set of factual knowledge is reflected in the principle of connectivisim which states that: “Capacity to know more is more critical than what is currently known” (Siemens, 2005). We must equip learners with the tools to become the owners of their educational destiny and prepare them for a time when their instructor will no longer be there to facilitate their learning and they must keep an active mind in order to avoid mental atrophy and strive alone toward greater knowledge.
1. “Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age” (2005). In International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. Retrieved September 14 from: http://www.itdl.org/Journal/Jan_05/article01.htm
Sunday, September 7, 2008
While there are several blogs that I read on a regular basis, this is only the second time that I have created my own (the other being for a previous education course). While I am still a novice in this field; I am beginning to see some definite benefits of the blog format.
Blogs are a very good way to promote student interaction. While valuable in any classroom setting, communication between learners is especially important in the modern language learning environment. Students will be able to observe and correct each others work in a format that offers more personal and real world relevance than do old-fashion grammar and translation exercises. It is also a great opportunity for students to activate their language learning abilities through reading and writing outside of the classroom. To this end I would include an assignment similar to the one that we are currently accomplishing. Students could be required to post a blog on pop-culture phenomenon of the target language (e.g. a musical artist, a film, a song). The blog would be written entirely in the target language. The students would have the option of replying to the three blogs which they found most interesting. By limiting the subject matter the instructor prompts the learner to incorporate similar structure and vocabulary into their blog, thereby increasing repetitive exposure and offering the less talented students a chance to benefit from the knowledge of the more advanced ones.
Blogs are a good way to expose students to the real-world applications of the subjects which they are studying. Blogs, and other multi-media based learning tools, are great ways to pique student interest in outside applications and subjects that can help them to learn the material at hand. Outside links will be discovered in the course of both creating and reading a blog. Students could be tasked to find a blog which interests them and prepare a report sharing their discovery with their coevals. Students will be exposed to a great number of resources through their own research, and that of their fellow students. Imparting an awareness of the utility of school subjects in prompting personal and intellectual growth beyond an academic setting is one of the primary objectives of a teacher and the use of blogs is a great way to accomplish this.
A final way to use blogs in the classroom is to incorporate a class blog where students are allowed to leave anonymous critiques and suggestions. Undoubtedly one will receive a good number of sarcastic, and even abusive, entries; however these will be easily discernable from the sincere queries and recommendations. Utilizing the anonymity offered by the age of communication is a great way to offer students, who might otherwise be too shy, an opportunity to steer the course of their education.
Blogs are a very good way to promote student interaction. While valuable in any classroom setting, communication between learners is especially important in the modern language learning environment. Students will be able to observe and correct each others work in a format that offers more personal and real world relevance than do old-fashion grammar and translation exercises. It is also a great opportunity for students to activate their language learning abilities through reading and writing outside of the classroom. To this end I would include an assignment similar to the one that we are currently accomplishing. Students could be required to post a blog on pop-culture phenomenon of the target language (e.g. a musical artist, a film, a song). The blog would be written entirely in the target language. The students would have the option of replying to the three blogs which they found most interesting. By limiting the subject matter the instructor prompts the learner to incorporate similar structure and vocabulary into their blog, thereby increasing repetitive exposure and offering the less talented students a chance to benefit from the knowledge of the more advanced ones.
Blogs are a good way to expose students to the real-world applications of the subjects which they are studying. Blogs, and other multi-media based learning tools, are great ways to pique student interest in outside applications and subjects that can help them to learn the material at hand. Outside links will be discovered in the course of both creating and reading a blog. Students could be tasked to find a blog which interests them and prepare a report sharing their discovery with their coevals. Students will be exposed to a great number of resources through their own research, and that of their fellow students. Imparting an awareness of the utility of school subjects in prompting personal and intellectual growth beyond an academic setting is one of the primary objectives of a teacher and the use of blogs is a great way to accomplish this.
A final way to use blogs in the classroom is to incorporate a class blog where students are allowed to leave anonymous critiques and suggestions. Undoubtedly one will receive a good number of sarcastic, and even abusive, entries; however these will be easily discernable from the sincere queries and recommendations. Utilizing the anonymity offered by the age of communication is a great way to offer students, who might otherwise be too shy, an opportunity to steer the course of their education.
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