Webinar Thoughts

This week I watched/listened to a Webinar about education in the age of mobilazion! Here are the question that were to be considered and my thoughts on them! 

How prepared are you to engage in each type of learning (Carpe Diem vs St. Marys)?  

So the Carpe Diem way of teaching was having each student at a computer for half the day and drilling them on the computers. I dont think its very hard not to be prepared for that because you as the teacher to me seems like you are not facilitating the learning (the computers are). The St. Marys way of using technology was that the technology was a tool in hands on learning or "learning by doing." I think this is how I have been prepared at Shenandoah to teach and is what my professors stress! It is so important to integrate lots of hands on learning in the classroom and use smart phones or the mobile technology to enhance the curriculum so more learning can be achieved. 

 

If you not in the class now, what would you suggest teachers in your field adopt based on current knowledge of mobile/wireless devices. 

I would suggest to teachers in my field (elementary school) should adopt the use of mobile devises in the classroom. Students are excited by this technology and based on the webinar mobile is going to become bigger than the internet. How awesome would it be if students had their phones with aps on them which enhanced their learning. Information would be right at their finger tips creating an environment were students can problem solve on their own!

 

What would you recommend in terms of a school wide initiative to improve teaching and learning at this point if you were in a position to do so? 

I think I would recommend that school invest in mobile learning rather then more "computer labs." When you have a computer lab you have to sign out times and can only be in the computer lab for a limited amount of time. Imagine if the technology was right in the classroom and in the hands of all the students where they could gain information and maybe even more information then they could from the computer lab. The statistics and research given in the webinar showed that mobilism is the way our society is moving and thus i think it should be emphasized in the schools. 

 

A mixture of the 2 models (Carpe Diem vs St. Marys) is probably in everyone’s future. How do you see executing your version of the blend in your field?

My blend is more towards the St. Marys side of learning by doing and I though I know some teachers dont think there is enough time for hands on learning I think that if I integrate subjects and create projects that hit more then one SOL in more than one subject that I will be able to support my students by doing hands on learning. (much better than having them sit and be drilled at a computer I think!)