Empowering Students with Technology – Alan November

The first three chapters were positively brimming with great information, so I must limit myself and comment on only two:

Cleary, we cannot prohibit children from accessing social networking sites at home or even on the playground.  And I understand the argument that we shouldn’t block these sites at school because we need to engage students in a critical dialogue about global and online citizenship.  But allow me to take a step back and say that these sites were blocked at my high school…and then again when I worked at MassMutual.  I never questioned it!  It seems intuitive for a school or employer to block these sites as they are huge distractions and counteract productivity.  It is axiomatic to say that educators must teach students to have a responsible global voice, but had my school not blocked these sites (even as an honor roll high school student) I would have been in the library during English class, not researching as I should have been, but “stalking” my friends/acquaintances on Facebook while my teacher wasn’t looking.  Is there a balance?

 

The internet is powerfully motivating for students.  It is heartwarming to read stories of students who continue their learning experience after school hours virtually.  I never thought to share a particular learning experience with virtual onlookers, who can pose questions to the students.  But students who have had this experience (November’s duck hatching example) were eager to answers these questions, yet less eager to answer the same questions when posed by the teacher.  What a wonderful way to create INDEPENDENT learners!

 

Having an audience to share your work with creates accountability, and is thus motivating.  I’ve mentioned this idea before when I’ve discussed publishing student work on a class website.  However, November uses an analogy that draws a wonderful parallel:  the internet is similar to an auditorium or a field.  Actors, singers, and athletes rehearse and practice, culminating in a performance.  In the classroom, formal assessments are the performance.  It just makes sense to give the students an audience to share it with (and it doesn’t hurt that is motivating!).

Ciao!