"Learning is amplified by the number of people who are collaborating, participating, communicating and creating. The learning is not about the technology tools, but what students can DO with them to learn in new ways. The learning is about authentic tasks, that allows students to contribute in a individualized and personalized manner to make them realize that their work matters in the real world.
(http://langwitches.org/blog/2013/01/27/learning-in-the-modern-classroom/)
I'm thinking of this as a metaphor for encountering all of the tools of technology for learning, teaching, and communicating. There is so much potential. An overwhelming amount of potential?
· When I read Grow
Your Network: Become a Detective, it motivated me to just start following more people on twitter. They are fenced into their own columns in tweetdeck; I will be tending them for a while and seeing if they fit me. So that is one nice entry point for me into the Information Entity.
I chose the quote above because it is a nice summary of what we have been learning this quarter, the importance of the students' connection with others, with the world, and with themselves as learners and citizens. It's clear that technology for technology's sake is not very useful, but it's good to be aware that some people may not be so discerning about the specific uses of these tools; we should watch out for that ourselves. I am most interested right now in the potential of technology to allow our students to use visuals and audio in their learning.
I also have a question about students, teachers, and technology: how can we make the best, most meaningful use of these tools to connect with other people?
The picture you chose for the top of your post caught my architectural eye, and I would be interested in hearing how much you know about it and where you got the image from. To me, the building looks like a very modern, open floor library with ideas of connecting information as a driving concept. I think that the numbers on the walls refer to call numbers and the colors paired with the numbers refer to genres. I would guess that the picture is taken from the center of the building where most of the circulation occurs on the ground floor with the circulation between floors occurring at the edge of the building.
ReplyDeleteLike the way you talk about technology, this building connects knowledge and people in various ways. The frame of the building literally connects the sections of knowledge as an interconnected main unit similar to the connection between information and we pages on the internet or between devices. The open nature of the framework invites the occupants to literally see these connections between the knowledge and the framework and the connection between the self and how to get information from the books and from others who are looking at the books.
Thoughts on my interpretation? How else were you thinking about the image/building?
Yes, as you say, the building can be seen as a metaphor for knowledge and its framework, and my guess would also be that it is a library. Unfortunately, it was a royalty-free image without much information - it just fit the idea I had.
DeleteI do also think it looks a little like a hive, and that might suggest a relationship that is productive for the ones who go in and out to do their work and live their lives. I suppose this could be a metaphor for how we construct our relationship with the world using technology, it is something that evolves over time, in the course of our excursions and returns.
I wonder if the dances of bees communicate something more than just directions to the best pollen? Or is it just mapquest for bees?
I like this: It's clear that technology for technology's sake is not very useful...
ReplyDeleteI'm hesitant too to dive deeply into tech use at this point because at times it feels like it's for the sake of being techie.
That said, I'm reminded of a convo I had with a 4th grader who was pushing back about following the writing model we were working on in class:
Upon seeing a mostly completed story without any outlining or web, which were requirements for this stage of writing...
Me: Where's your outline or web?
Girl: Well, I don't really like to write that way.
Me: Oh? How do you like to write?
Girl: I just like to write as the story comes to me. This is how I learned to write in the third grade and it's how I like to write.
Me (knowing this girl LOVES books and aspires to be an author): So what I'm hearing is you're all set with your writing style for the rest of your life, is that right?
Girl: Yeah, mm-hmm.
Me: Do you think all writer's write the same?
Girl: (thoughtful pause) No.
Me: Okay. So that means there are different styles of writing and preparing to write. Have you tried them all?
Girl: (Hesitant) No.
Me: Yeah, probably not. When I wrote my first book I was over 30 and I didn't know how to properly outline. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't, but I get to make that choice. Do you know why that is?
Girl: (shakes head)
Me: Because I took the time to try the different techniques and decide for myself what works or not. But I had to try the things first. You can't really decide you don't want to use a skill if you don't try it out in the first place. Does that make sense?
Girl: Oh, yeah.
There was more to that, but it's something I remind myself when I feel I'm pushing back on this overload of 'trying' out new stuff.
You're not alone!