Reflecting back over the last month and how much exposure I have had with technology in the classroom, it's hard for me to espouse not using technology and online resources in the classroom. Coming from from my position as the anti-techy, that's saying a lot.
There's a few reasons that really stand out for me. We have talked a lot in other classes about recognizing the importance of youth popular culture and the need to attempt to incorporate it into our pedagogy. Because most of our students reside online, I already had the sneaking suspicion I would have to jump in. But what I have learned in this course and through the readings is that the online culture is not only for the young. As teachers, parents, educated adults, the online world beckons. We simply cannot ignore the possibilities and ramifications of having so many sources available at a click.
As educators, I feel we must prepare our students for the world in which they will live and work. Information literacy is as necessary as skill as traditional reading and writing, and one with just as serious consequences if not taught well. Exposing our students to a variety of online projects will help them think and participate critically in their academic and whole- person lives. Realizing how much vaster a landscape of experience we can provide our students through online activity, I feel we would be remiss not to include and teach into these tools. Wikis, blogs, podcast, video technology--for our students, these are all connectors to exploring not only their own worlds but the bigger world as well.
Ok, so I am all for creating online opportunities for my students. But I am less prepared for the social networking culture that I know is here to stay. I am used to the experience of interpersonal, face-to-face experiences and finding it a little intimidating to operate outside of that sphere. But, as in other facets of technology, I am learning and adjusting. Because I'm not as fluent in social networking, it's a little difficult to imagine exactly how this world will look, especially in the classroom. But, I have a few clues.
For starters, I envision a dynamic, responsive environment. As students, colleagues, administration, community, we will be tightly connected. The classroom will no longer be teacher-centered and instead will learner-centered, and by learner I mean students, teachers, everyone. The classroom itself could very well cease to be as we know it with 24/7 and virtual learning replacing the traditional modes. Learning will be directed not just by the curriculum but by what 's happening in our world, day-by-day, minute-by-minute. Social networking in the classroom will mean reacting and responding and reaching out-- to the people across the room and across the world. Hopefully, the interest-driven capabilities of social networking will enhance the educational opportunities of our students (and ourselves, as educators) and also extend into how our students maintain and grow their personal relationships.
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