Chapter 1:
Quote: “What happens to learning when we move from the stable infrastructure of the twentieth century to the fluid structure of the twenty first century, where technology is constantly creating and responding to change?” (1). I chose this quote because I had never really thought about technology and the relationship it has with society. This century is working with individuals who grew up with technology and are seeking new challenges and innovative thinking to keep them engaged. As a teacher, we need to be able to incorporate meaningful technology in to our classrooms to keep the students informed and ready for their ever changing environment.
Question: During the section about the professor teaching a class that he felt was out of control due to his “mistake” in creating a digital classroom outside of the class, I developed a question. These students eventually proved that they were self motivated and using the technology to further their understanding of the texts, rather than using lectures. However, how would this work for high school students who are not motivated to learn?
Connection: I can connect with the text when it is explaining how tools like Youtube, Wikipedia, and Google have become a part of our everyday lives. In my classroom, the students are constantly on Youtube, or looking things up online. I try to encourage these types of tools for educational purposes. Understanding these tools and their ability to help facilitate learning will help the students to use these familiar tools for academics instead of just for play.
Epiphany: An epiphany I had during this chapter is the need and desire for collaborative learning. Through Sam’s story, I realized that the students like to involve technology and play games, but the largest part about using online tools such as Scratch, is the community and collaboration the students feel. They know that they are helping and communicating with others, which makes them feel like they are a part of something larger than themselves.
Chapter 2:
Quote: “With this new culture, it does not adapt to change. Rather it thrives on change” (37). I really like how the author compares this new digital learning to a culture. He makes a great point in stating that individuals can join this culture, and it embraces change. In this new century, change is happening so often with technology and innovative thinking and students need to be able to accept, and thrive in change.
Question: How can we create a new culture when there are so many opposing existing ones? How can we bridge a connection between current cultures and generations?
Connection: The mechanics way of learning is how I feel that most comprehensive high schools are set up. They have a series of expectations from the teacher to teach specific lessons or give specific assessments to guide all of the students to the same end result. However, it is not working. Many students are disengaged and want to drop out or fail classes because they don’t feel valued or see the importance of learning.
Epiphany: We need to teach our students to learn within the world, not about it. This is especially important in history and English, where the students feel like the material is outdated and not useful. We need to teach the students how to learn about these materials within their current society, not just learning about the past.
Chapter 3:
Quote: “Information technology has become a participatory medium” (42). I like this quote because it really made me think about how different of a world my students are living in. For me, I grew up in a generation where the internet was just beginning to become present in households. In my students’ lives, they are using and surrounded by the internet daily. They share and comment on each other’s posts or ideas instantly. They thrive in a setting where participation is needed online.
Question: How can we change the pedagogy of education where the teacher is the authority figure and the students are underneath the teacher?
Connection: I was huge in to the Harry Potter series and even played online games and looked up information about the texts!
Epiphany: Wikipedia could be used in class to demonstrate collaboration. I could make an assignment where the students are the contributors to the website and are collaborating on one document to create information.
Quote: “What happens to learning when we move from the stable infrastructure of the twentieth century to the fluid structure of the twenty first century, where technology is constantly creating and responding to change?” (1). I chose this quote because I had never really thought about technology and the relationship it has with society. This century is working with individuals who grew up with technology and are seeking new challenges and innovative thinking to keep them engaged. As a teacher, we need to be able to incorporate meaningful technology in to our classrooms to keep the students informed and ready for their ever changing environment.
Question: During the section about the professor teaching a class that he felt was out of control due to his “mistake” in creating a digital classroom outside of the class, I developed a question. These students eventually proved that they were self motivated and using the technology to further their understanding of the texts, rather than using lectures. However, how would this work for high school students who are not motivated to learn?
Connection: I can connect with the text when it is explaining how tools like Youtube, Wikipedia, and Google have become a part of our everyday lives. In my classroom, the students are constantly on Youtube, or looking things up online. I try to encourage these types of tools for educational purposes. Understanding these tools and their ability to help facilitate learning will help the students to use these familiar tools for academics instead of just for play.
Epiphany: An epiphany I had during this chapter is the need and desire for collaborative learning. Through Sam’s story, I realized that the students like to involve technology and play games, but the largest part about using online tools such as Scratch, is the community and collaboration the students feel. They know that they are helping and communicating with others, which makes them feel like they are a part of something larger than themselves.
Chapter 2:
Quote: “With this new culture, it does not adapt to change. Rather it thrives on change” (37). I really like how the author compares this new digital learning to a culture. He makes a great point in stating that individuals can join this culture, and it embraces change. In this new century, change is happening so often with technology and innovative thinking and students need to be able to accept, and thrive in change.
Question: How can we create a new culture when there are so many opposing existing ones? How can we bridge a connection between current cultures and generations?
Connection: The mechanics way of learning is how I feel that most comprehensive high schools are set up. They have a series of expectations from the teacher to teach specific lessons or give specific assessments to guide all of the students to the same end result. However, it is not working. Many students are disengaged and want to drop out or fail classes because they don’t feel valued or see the importance of learning.
Epiphany: We need to teach our students to learn within the world, not about it. This is especially important in history and English, where the students feel like the material is outdated and not useful. We need to teach the students how to learn about these materials within their current society, not just learning about the past.
Chapter 3:
Quote: “Information technology has become a participatory medium” (42). I like this quote because it really made me think about how different of a world my students are living in. For me, I grew up in a generation where the internet was just beginning to become present in households. In my students’ lives, they are using and surrounded by the internet daily. They share and comment on each other’s posts or ideas instantly. They thrive in a setting where participation is needed online.
Question: How can we change the pedagogy of education where the teacher is the authority figure and the students are underneath the teacher?
Connection: I was huge in to the Harry Potter series and even played online games and looked up information about the texts!
Epiphany: Wikipedia could be used in class to demonstrate collaboration. I could make an assignment where the students are the contributors to the website and are collaborating on one document to create information.