Studies have shown that students perform better in class, and on tests when technology is used in the classroom. Students want to be engaged. When technology is used in the classroom the teacher then becomes a facilitator and students can take ownership for their learning experience.
Technology and the use of Web 2.0 tools allow students to be creative and to hone their higher order thinking skills. Web 2.0 tools also allow students the opportunity to create, share, collaborate, explore and evaluate their work and the work of others.
During the MLT class, I completed an online test to determine my learning style or MI. My results were: Intrapersonal 80%, Bodily/Kinesthetic 75%, Interpersonal 70%, Visual/Spatial 50%, Naturalist 45%, Verbal/Linguistic 40%, Logical/Mathematical 35%.
Students each have their own learning styles. Technology makes it possible to target the right approach for each student in order to provide individualized and differentiated instruction (Solomon & Shrum, 2001)
As a instructional technology teacher, I am looking forward to learning more about PLEs and how they can be used in the classroom. I am familiar with course management systems such as Blackboard, D2L and Moodle.
As mentioned in the video Schools Out – Personal Learning Environments, the classroom has remained the same since the 19th century. The teacher stands in front of the classroom and presents or distributes information to students. Students memorize the information at best to prepare and pass a test. Passing a multiple choice test does not mean that you fully understand the information that was previously taught. Many teachers teach the test instead of teaching to the student. In the real world, assessments are performance based. Project based learning is a great way to assess a student’s understanding and level of learning. It is time for a new school. It is time to reform education and the classroom environment. In the new school, teaching should be student centered and less teacher centered. The student should be allowed to be creative and to have ownership of his or her learning. When it comes to using technology the students are ahead of most of their teachers. Teachers need to catch up and should be offered staff development opportunities geared towards integrating technologies. Teachers should integrating technology into their curriculum on a weekly basis. Death by PowerPoint is not what I mean by technology. Key components in the new school involve students creating movies, photostories, blogging, social network sites, podcast, RSS feeds, webquests, CPS systems, website creation, collaborating, anything other than an assignment that ends in the student creating a PowerPoint. There would be greater use of open source software such as GoogleDocs and Open Office. Students would be allowed to be creativity. Each student would have their own laptop for use during the school year.
School systems lose many students each year because they are bored with school or don’t see the benefit of what they are being taught. It is time for a change. Technology is a vital part of creating the new school. For many students, VLE and CMS is the answer.
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"School systems lose many students each year because they are bored with school or don’t see the benefit of what they are being taught. It is time for a change. Technology is a vital part of creating the new school. For many students, VLE and CMS is the answer." Exactly - and they lose them even before they can "drop-out" as they simply shut down and go through the motions. And the "death by PowerPoint" is right on the mark:) Excellent post, Tracey!
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