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Sunday, November 11, 2012

521 Blog Post number 4 Speak up!



521 Blog Post number 4 Speak up!
RR1    
 In Projects Tomorrow’s website the report by Speak Up“ Learning in the 21st century mobile devices + social media + personalized learning” had some interesting information regarding how students and teachers and parents access the internet. What I found surprising in this report was that 50 percent of students now have smart phone. More than that, two thirds of their parents also have them. While it comes to no surprise that we are seeing more and more students with personal cellphones, the ability for them to use and have smart phones is game changing idea. Often, we think of Internet access as a student being able to log on to a computer to get on the Internet. Rarely do think about students using their phones to look up websites or read articles. Yet, these actions are done by millions of smartphone users every day. As, a teacher I have to take into account this method of connection to the information super highway. If nothing else I can set up a twitter account to tweet students on their phones about assignments or to bring their books to class. In this Manner, student’s smart phones can become a source of support for student’s achievement and not just a distraction.
RR2     Students are also very well informed when it comes to how technology and their schooling will affect their adult lives.  In the video by speak up entitled “studentsspeak to president Obama on how to improve school students talk about chances they would make if they were the president. What really surprised me was how much these students understood the role technology would play in their future careers.  More than that though how many wanted teachers to make their lessons more relevant to the real world and not just to the test they would be taking. I believe this is the key not just in motivating students, to but also in designing good lesson plans, which are relevant and engaging. After watching this video I began to think about how I can, not only bring technology into my classroom, but also ways of continuously making my lessons have a real world connection. 
RR3     Starting a Teaching to Learn program or club at my school site could be possible. My school site requires a minimum of 22 students to sign up in order to start a club and a teacher to sponsor it. This type of club could benefit not only my students in teaching them how teaching works but also the students they would mentor. Kids learn better from other kids and allowing students to mentor younger generations of students is an exciting way to make all students engaged in their own learning. I believe that some of these teaching sessions could even take place online. Recently, my wife and I have thought about how to do just this type of interactive lesson. She is a middle school teacher across town from my high school and we have thought about using our pads and computers as bridges to connect our students together in a collaborative assignment where the high school students will guide their younger counterparts in a task. This type of club would be perfect for this type learning environment and I believe it is an endeavor that I hope try one day. 

1 comment:

  1. I love your idea of setting up a Twitter account to tweet students about assignments, ideas, etc. I think this could be a great form of interaction for your students outside of school to remind them about how important their education is and to get them motivated to do their homework. This form of support will be great for students who have smartphones; my only worry is for students who do not have smartphones.

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