In his 2013 TED talk, Sugata Mitra claimed that the future of learning is Self Organized Learning Environments (SOLE). Mitra says that our outdated schooling method still comes from the "British Empire Bureaucratic Administrative Machine." This educational model seeks to turn the world into a global computer, which was really useful 500 years ago but times have changed. We no longer need to all write the same, or do mathematical problems in our heads. Mitra started putting computers in the walls of the slums in New Delhi and noticed the children taught themselves how to use the computer. Through experiments, Mitra believes SOLEs are the future of education. These would be student led with someone watching over them, something Mitra called "the Grandma method." His wish is to have schools in the Clouds. A place where kids have access to computers and are driven by the big questions. A place where kids could navigate their education on their own. Mitra's idea of a SOLE is definitely an interesting one. I think part of the reason I was so swayed by Mitra was because he was funny and well spoken. While I think SOLE is ideal, it makes me worried about students without access to computers. I also think there is something to be said about being able to write down your ideas. I see the appeal of being paperless, but I think people lose a valuable skill. I still write down my blog posts before I type them up for publishing! I think that Mitra's idea was more about the method of schooling. We should allow students to make meaning for themselves. This idea is something I am whole heartily in favor. Mitra, S. TEDTalks. (2013, February 27). Sugata Mitra: Build a School in the Cloud. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3jYVe1RGaU
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So as you know, last night I participated in a little Twitter Chat with my fellow California educators under #caedchat. This was my first Twitter Chat and let me tell you it was very overwhelming at first. So how did I survive? Tweet Chat! This tool allows you to control the live stream of tweets under any given hashtag. Want to know more about this tool? Check out my instructional, screencast video... Image can be found here
On Sunday, October 11th, I participated in #caedchat weekly Twitter chat. The night's topic was Connected Educators Fostering Connected Learners. Check out the highlights from the chat:
You would hard pressed to find a person these days who has not heard of Instagram. The latest addition to the Social Media titans allows its users to create a visual feed of photos and video clips. Each account is a photo album allowing participates to give a glimpse into the lens of our smart phones. Now this idea of a virtual photo album was not my understanding of Instagram, but YouTube personality Casey Neistat. In his video titled, "Instagram i love you," Neistat outlines the right way to use Instagram (Insta for short). His Ode to Instagram slams Twitter for being nothing but text on text on text. And he calls Facebook "a constant flow of Internet diarrhea." So why Instagram? Neistat believes that Instagram is the best part of Facebook, the marshmallows to Facebook's Lucky Charms. It is not all about the pictures like you would think. Nope, Neistat says its all about the sharing, or "the documentation of life." He uses Rick Ross as an example of an Instagram member using it right. Neistat says Ross documents all the fascinating things about his life, giving follows a reason to stick around. In contrast, Justin Bieber uses the platform to post pictures of his face (aka the Selfie) over and over again. There's no story there and Neistat says he's using it wrong. If you want to use Instagram right, you have to "find your theme and share it." Here's a sum of Neistat's tips for Insta:
Awesome tips Neistat, but what about teachers? How can we use this app as a tool? Well I have some ideas. I would use this app as an opportunity to create a photo album for my classroom. As of right now my profile documents my personal life. I think it would be cool to create a new account to document my classroom. Show what cool things my students' are creating. You could even give the students a chance to contribute to the account. It will serve as a tribute to the time spent in Miss Sharp's classroom. How cool would that be? My personal account is set to private. It allows me to show my other side rather than just my teacher side. How do you use Instagram? Are you using it right?
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AuthorDevout book worm. Archives
May 2016
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