Post #2

The central message of the Sir Dancealot video was clearly an example of ineffective teaching techniques. While power point slides and notes may be appropriate occasionally for some subjects, it is absurd to expect students to learn a physical activity like dancing through this method. To learn any activity or concept, one must practice. The author proves his point by showing the students confused during the final when they were expected to perform tasks they had never practiced. It is impossible effectively teach a dance class by only lecturing. Not only was it hard to explain the steps and demonstrate from behind the desk, but the students became uninterested quickly because they were not engaged in the learning process. I agree and think that the idea of this video can be applied in all subjects, not just a physical activity like dancing. If you do not engage your students and allow them to participate and practice, they will not be interested and will have a difficult time mastering any concepts, from multiplication tables to effective essay writing to the structure and function of a plant cell.

The Teaching in the 21st Century video, Kevin Roberts makes several strong points suggesting that the future of teaching will be solely based on technology. With the increasing availability of technology to students,they are able to find out almost anything from the internet. Our job as teachers will be to guide students on how to search for information effectively. We will no longer be their source of knowledge. I agree with this but I also believe the role of teachers is still very important because even though a student may be able to read information on a screen, it will not always be easy to practice that information. An example of this was shown in the first video, Sir Dancealot. The students were capable of looking up the steps and moves of the dance on the internet, but they were not able to perform the dance without practice and personal instruction. This personalized attention is important in every subject, especially English. Students cannot learn to write an essay from an online tutorial. I agree that technology is becoming more and more vital in the education of children, but I do not think it will ever be appropriate to totally discount the importance of teaching in person.

I like the idea of The Networked Student video. Drexler shows how students are able to find information online and share it with other students around the world. In moderation, this is a good learning technique. However, I do not feel that all learning should be done online. I am of the opinion that students should still have to read books and turn in hard copy projects and handwritten assignments. I think allowing students some time to search the web, write blogs, comment on posts, and communicate with others about their opinion is a good thing to be used as a reward or to gain student interest and increase involvement. Even with using the internet to find information, teachers are still necessary to show students how to search effectively and find credible source, as well as ensuring that all work done online is appropriate. I do believe that opening the technology door this wide allows many issues such as plagiarism and the availability of inappropriate materials.

Davis understands the necessity of varying teaching styles to ensure each student is receiving an effective education. She uses technology to help students who do not learn well with pencil and paper. One technique I found especially interesting was allowing students to teach the class information that they have found on the internet. I think this is a great concept because students must really understand the material if they are to teach it to the rest of the class. I feel like it also gives students some control in the classroom which promotes interest and involvement.

I think Flipping the Classroom is a great method of teaching. It would be especially useful as an English teacher because instead of spending class time lecturing grammar rules, students could watch lectures at home and then practice with fun exercises in the classroom. In high school I spent a lot of time in classes that were all lecture and then assigned a lot of homework as a result. I think students would be more inclined to watch videos and gain a basic understanding of the material than they would spending hours doing problems or exercises at home. Flipping the classroom seems like an effective way of managing time in and out of the classroom and continuing the learning process at home without having to assign homework that more than likely would not get done. The more time spent in the classroom applying concepts and learning hands-on, the more engaged students will be.