The case study I chose was written by a man named Jim. Jim is an Education Consultant working to help teachers use technology to create student-centered learning environments. Jim has 8 years experience in the classroom and has a Masters Degree in Education and a BS Degree in Computer Science. Jim is currently working on creating online learning environments for teacher professional development programs. Jim believes that “Getting excited about information is a good thing! This is intrinsic motivation at its best and so many people have re-discovered their love of learning through the Internet! This includes kids!!! Two key factors in charging up that intrinsic motivation are (1) deciding "what" you want to learn about, and (2) deciding "when" you want to learn it. Each of these factors can be increased using the Internet.”
Jim believes that we need to provide intrinsic motivation in learning. “To increase the "what" factor, educators need to create a more student-centered environment where the students have more control of what they're doing. To increase the "when" factor, educators need to make classroom information including notes, lectures, student work-in-progress, answers to questions, etc. available 24/7.” Educators can create blogs to share any type of information. Jim explains that using blogs through education gives access to the students to “learn” at any time. Blogging allows students to access information when convenient for them.
Jim posted a youtube video on his site that was very informative; it more or less put blogging into perspective. Blogging is a way to share information, like the news. However, blogging allows for quick response, rather than scheduled release times such as the newspaper. Blogging in the classroom allows for all input, for giving the students the “ball in their court” to say what they want to say and ultimately giving them free rain, and making learning technology based and fun!
http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/blog_jim_hollis/sharing_educational_content_using_blog
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Jillian, I certainly agree with Jim. We should make information available to our students 24/7. It can be extremely difficult for students to keep their minds on their studies. Especially when their minds are on socializing with their friends or the upcoming game. They may be more likely to comprehend and retain the information when they are working on their homework away from distractions.
ReplyDeleteI like the concept of having 24/7 student access to the classroom. I believe that this would allow students to more or less work at their own pace, which allows for greater rention of information. I am curious at to how this can best be accompished. Would this be done through class blogs, wikis, ect...? The only draw back that I can see is that this system would be content heavy in addition to getting all of the information posted. I like the plan, but, I think that I would also engage students to keep the blog updated with new information regarding notes etc...
ReplyDeleteI really feel that allowing students to have constant access to their class information is a great advancement for their learning. Even if they don't cover new information, the reinforcement of previously covered concepts is helpful.
ReplyDeleteOne aspect that might prevent a full implementation would be the access issues that many students may have. I know that my classes consist of numerous students who have little to no access to a computer away from school. This would make online lessons or homework difficult.