Miller, Drexler, and Wesch... Our Future is Now

I know that I'm not as prepared as I need to be with my students, but I will be... and with all the tools available to help me learn, I will be more than happy to share with my students. When I say I'm not prepared, I'm referring to the ever updating world of technology. Although I can type pretty fast with accuracy, and typing papers has grown easier over time, and even though I have my very own blog(!) it's nerve wracking sometimes to think of all of the things I have to "be on the lookout for" and what things I'll be doing such as composing, publishing, writing, researching, and last but not least sharing. (Since, Miller points out, educators ARE in the business of sharing!)

Miller shares his ideas on how media and technology are going to enhance what we already have available to us. His thought that "the certainty of this is that it will happen again" has not only come to pass, but is quickly happening more and more. Adding sound and video, podcasts, and e-networks to the educating scene is more than an enhancement, but a means of keeping up with the expanding world of our minds and technology.

I believe my students will naturally be better than me at these various tasks, for they will have grown up using these tools and many more I can't even anticipate yet.

As far as connectivism goes, I love how Drexler's video is organized and informative. I believe networking is important and useful, and teachers advocating this type of learning should be commended as well as encouraged to maintain and update material as necessary. With the emergence of comments, daily, on countless subjects, networking provides more learning opportunities, and the purpose (for lack of a better word) of the teacher in this experience is simply to organize and pass on the information. [Information Management, if you will]. Connectivism promotes conversation and prompts debate, encourages self responsibility and accountability.

I believe it will be easier for a middle school student to do a project like this more so than a college student, or even a high school student. Already, I feel behind, and I am just beginning on this technological journey.

Michael Wesch's video was next on my to do list, and I enjoyed watching this one as well. I like the point he makes regarding the fact that we don't know who our audience is going to be at any given time, not to mention that watching ourselves in the future may be like watching another person all together. I also love how he compared broadcasting yourself online is somewhat like being in a confessional. His equations were identifiable, and with the ongoing growth, perhaps more people will respond positively to using online networking, and not apprehensive, reserving back to [only] their old pen and paper ways.


Comments4Kids

This week's comment4Kids was an article persuading us to just say no to fast food. It was thoughtful and easy to read. It's nice seeing young people being concerned about what types of food they are eating. The second was an article describing how hockey is better than soccer. He won my vote with such an incredible article.