If any of you are looking for information/inspiration about what sort of things should be happening in your schools (if you are an educator) or your children’s schools (if you are a parent) take a look at this. If you do not know what Jeff Utecht is talking about in this posting, then it is time you started informing yourself about how education could be.
What I particularly like about this posting is the following:
First, Jeff decided to try out something new this time around.
He started with getting his students to read (RSS reader: a program that searches websites and blogs for content related to your personal interests) and he is waiting until their interests are peaked before starting them on blogging.
Some people (myself included) often try to get the students up and blogging right away; out of a notion that participation/writing is better than being passive/reading. The idea is, once the children start writing then they quickly reach a wider audience (e.g., other students, parents, teachers) with their writing and this excites them to write more.
Yet, more and more, I am hearing about educators taking the route that Jeff is taking, reading first then writing. It will be interesting to see what the advantages and disadvantages are later on in the process.
Secondly, technical glitches occur.
This is the reality of working with people and technology. It is probably the main reason teachers and parents don’t actively partake in new technological trends… out a feeling of helplessness. Yes, technical problems occur all the time. And yes, sometimes it is difficult to find help or get the right answers. Still, feeling overwhelmed or fearful does not excuses
us from the responsibility of exploring new technology.
The reality is, in most schools today in western countries, the only media literacy our children are acquiring is learning to use Microsoft programs to present information or learning to use the Internet to search for information. What they should be doing is actively partaking in all sorts of social, educational, political, environmental programs: collaboration processes. Active participation creates knowledge learning experiences, which our children will remember throughout their lives. Learning and presenting information doesn’t.
Thirdly, the younger and older students are contributing and exchanging their ideas on the same platform.
Sometimes I wonder whether the students of today are even concerned about who is reading their web content. Some say students are only concerned about their peer group (think myspace “friends”), others say a reader's audience is not important; the main motivator is presentation of self. It is good to hear in this posting that students of all ages are reading the posts of others.
It is good for young and old students to realise there are students with interesting ideas and personalities at every grade level. It takes courage to write something that is personally meaningful. Yet, there is nothing more motivating than receiving positive feedback from someone outside of your age group to set you out on the road again.
Many of the readers of my blogs are not my age. I find this exciting because, hopefully, it means that what I write doesn’t only fit one size.
What I particularly like about this posting is the following:
First, Jeff decided to try out something new this time around.
He started with getting his students to read (RSS reader: a program that searches websites and blogs for content related to your personal interests) and he is waiting until their interests are peaked before starting them on blogging.
Some people (myself included) often try to get the students up and blogging right away; out of a notion that participation/writing is better than being passive/reading. The idea is, once the children start writing then they quickly reach a wider audience (e.g., other students, parents, teachers) with their writing and this excites them to write more.
Yet, more and more, I am hearing about educators taking the route that Jeff is taking, reading first then writing. It will be interesting to see what the advantages and disadvantages are later on in the process.
Secondly, technical glitches occur.
This is the reality of working with people and technology. It is probably the main reason teachers and parents don’t actively partake in new technological trends… out a feeling of helplessness. Yes, technical problems occur all the time. And yes, sometimes it is difficult to find help or get the right answers. Still, feeling overwhelmed or fearful does not excuses
us from the responsibility of exploring new technology.
The reality is, in most schools today in western countries, the only media literacy our children are acquiring is learning to use Microsoft programs to present information or learning to use the Internet to search for information. What they should be doing is actively partaking in all sorts of social, educational, political, environmental programs: collaboration processes. Active participation creates knowledge learning experiences, which our children will remember throughout their lives. Learning and presenting information doesn’t.
Thirdly, the younger and older students are contributing and exchanging their ideas on the same platform.
Sometimes I wonder whether the students of today are even concerned about who is reading their web content. Some say students are only concerned about their peer group (think myspace “friends”), others say a reader's audience is not important; the main motivator is presentation of self. It is good to hear in this posting that students of all ages are reading the posts of others.
It is good for young and old students to realise there are students with interesting ideas and personalities at every grade level. It takes courage to write something that is personally meaningful. Yet, there is nothing more motivating than receiving positive feedback from someone outside of your age group to set you out on the road again.
Many of the readers of my blogs are not my age. I find this exciting because, hopefully, it means that what I write doesn’t only fit one size.
lilalia 
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