Blog Post 2

Teaching in the 21st century

 

Mr. Dancealot

By Orlando Nieto, Javious Williams, and Samantha West

Teaching in the 21st century should be a fun and exciting way for students to learn. Teachers that teach in the 21st century are expected to follow certain state standards for  the different grade levels that are taught. The standards clearly state what is expected of students at each grade level. Teachers who teach in the 21st century should use several teaching methods to make sure each student fully understand what is being taught. Common teaching methods that are taught in the 21st century are critical thinking skills, which allows students to think out of the box and be creative, and problem solving skill, which allows student to become more interactive and use those skills in everyday life situation. Teachers in the 21 century dialogue with their students and have their students participate in group activities to build up their communication and social skills. In the movie “Mr. Dancealot”, we agree that Professor Dancealot skills for teaching in the 21st  century was good because he explain to his students what the objectives were and what they were expected to learn by the end of the course. Professor Dancealot taught his students the history of dance and he demonstrated the fundamental steps of the dance in the visual and verbal teaching methods. We also like that Professor Dancealot use technology to analyze and evaluate his student on their final exam, technology is highly recommended when teaching in the 21st.The professor could have improved his teaching skills to the students by allowing them to be more interactive with the dances that he wanted them to learn. The classroom choice would also have been more appropriate had it been placed into a more open are room with no desks to block the students vision of footwork.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

By Orlando Nieto

This video was a little different than what I had expected. This class was very unique in the sense that the students had a teacher to help and guide them when learning something new, but the students would also teach each other and the teacher as well. The students could communicate and learn something new from connecting to people all around the world just by a computer in their classroom. They were able to make and watch videos of themselves and others and share in a classroom environment while teaching and learning at the same time.

Teaching In the 21st Century

By Samantha West

The Video “ Teaching in the 21st Century” had many good points in it. How will teaching in the 21st century be? That is a good question to ask. We can see how far we have come today from when teachers first started teaching, and we think that we are doing good where we are. The video pointed out many websites that students can use to get information or help with their lessons. Such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, and Bing just to name a few. When I first heard this I thought that it would never work, but now I have noticed that if you do not have any other information you can always check Facebook or Twitter to possibly get an answer.

    The video also points out everything we can do with the internet. I do not know  a child twelve years of age and older who does not have a cell phone, laptop, or a type of tablet. With any of these devices they can browse the internet , and make better grades while doing it. They can do extra- curricular activities for class, such as experiments, twittering, and blogs just to name a few. The down side to all this freedom is the students taking advantage of the internet and there will be that one student that will plagiarize, copyright, and slander, but should we take it away from all the students then, no. The use of the internet in school in this way could be missed used, but it is our responsibility to teach our students right from wrong.

    The last thing in the video that really spoke to me was the difference from entertainment and engagement. “Entertainment is passive, engagement is active”. This is very true. When I think of the word entertain I think of a get together or a party. We always want to entertain our guest. The video states that entertainment is short-term like the party I mentioned. Our guest would stay for a little while and then they would go home. Engagement is long-term. We want our students to leave the class and go home still talking about the topic discussed. The video was not what I was expecting at all, but it was interesting. It really opened up my eyes and helped me see what I should be teaching in the classroom.

The Networked Student

By Javious Williams

My reaction from the video “The Networked Student”, is that this course is more of an independent learning course, which requires students to learn and teach themselves as much as possible and use critical thinking skills. The Network Student course is similar to the EDM310 course that I am currently taking because it is a blended course which means students attend class on certain days and the other days students complete their assignments through the internet. Any students who take courses similar to EDM310 or Networked courses must be computer literate and allow as much time as possible to learn, study, and complete assignments on time.

Another thing I noticed about “The Networking Student” video is that the teacher almost never lectures, so a majority of the assignments are done through some type of technology networking source. In the video “The Networking Students”, the author uses the word connectivism, which is a theory that learning occurs apart of a social network of many diverse connections. The teacher in this course empowers her students to take control of their own learning and make new connections with others strengthening the learning process. Overall I think the purpose of this course is to require students to think and be independent educational learners; therefore, once they become teachers in the 21st century they will know how to teach their own students and answer any question the students may have.

To sum up the question “Why does the networked student even need a teacher?”,  is because the teacher is the one who teaches the students how to build the network and take advantage of learning opportunities. The teacher offers guidance when the students get stuck, show students how to communicate properly and ask respectfully for help from experts, and teach students how to differentiate between good and bad information. I really feel that classes similar to the class in the video is a very helpful way to teach students because it allows them to use critical thinking and problem solving.