Blog Post #6

1)  The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler was a wake up call for me. I know that technology is creeping into our schools but I guess I did not realize that by the time I am a teacher it will be even more advanced than it is now. I have an average knowledge of today's technology. I felt like I knew a lot about technology until I entered this class and found out so much more.
     As a future teacher, if I do not keep up with technology I will not be able to teach my students everything they need to know. I have to be ahead and able to teach the students more about technology than they can teach me. Although I will be an elementary teacher, my students will still be using technology. I have a 13 year old brother and he is almost more technological advanced than me.
    To answer the question "Am I ready to teach a networked student?" No I am not. I do believe this class is helping me to prepare to teach them, but I will have to further my education after this class. I am going to try my best to take workshops about computers and technology so that I can be up-to-date on technology as much as possible.

2) A 7th graders Personal Learning Environment is a very interesting video. I think her PLE was pretty neat! I even may start to get familiar with Symbaloo. I guess my PLE would be my checklist and instruction manual for this class. Like hers, it also gives me freedom to do things as I wish and be creative. It also holds me accountable to be a responsible student, and I practically choose my own grade. By choosing my own grade I mean that turning work in on time and sufficiently is completely up to me. If I choose not to do my work and turn it in late, a teacher does not hassle me they just simply give me a bad grade. It is all up to me.

3) Michael Welsch's "The Machine is Changing Us" proves he is a wonderful teacher. I am glad that I watched this video although it was rather long. In my opinion, some of his comments contradict each other, but I can also see why they do. Technology is something that has a gray area. Some people think the advance in technology is a bad thing, but some people also think it is a wonderful thing! I do not think we will ever be sure of every pro and con about technology but I do think that technology will continue to advance. His points about the internet were so true! YouTube is something everyone started using without realy understanding the purpose. This comment keeps running in my mind and I think it is something to think about: A camera allows you talk to anyone without knowing who you are talking to or where that person is at.