Blog Assignment 6

The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler 

This video is about how he modern day student is more connected to different outlets of learning than they ever have been.  This is due to the advancements in the world of technology and the advancements in the world of education.  Educators are sharing their knowledge on a whole new medium.  Whether it is through using a blog, podcasts, YouTube, or iTunes U.  This makes it possible for students to make a learning network, which is a place the student can go for reliable sources of information. The video talks about how it is the teachers responsibility to help guide the student in this process of building a personal learning network, or PLN.  The video also poses the question: "Why does a networked student even need a teacher?"

I found this video to be very interesting.  When the question about whether or not a networked student needs a teacher is brought up it made me think.  At first I thought, well, I guess not.  But after thinking about it for a few seconds I thought, well, absolutely.  Think about it, suppose there were no teachers, who would be building the content of the PLN?  Also, there needs to be someone to monitor what information is being processed by the student.  I thought the use of the phrase "information concierge" for teacher was a good one.

A 7th Graders Personal Learning Environment (or PLE) 

In this video an anonymous seventh grader talkes about her personal learning environment.  She refers to this process as networked learning and how she goes about cultivating her PLE.  She has all of her information that she has gathered from all over the internet for her science class on one personal page.  She also has her personal things on the same page, like her favorite music, movies, websites, and other downloads.  I thought this was great because the page serves a dual purpose and it encourages learning to be part of life, as opposed to only learning in school.  She also talks about some of the projects she has worked on.  She talkes about using Google Docs, Evernote, Presentation, and a Glogster.  A glogster is a digital poster.  She then talks about how she really likes to learn using networked learning.  She says that she gets more freedom to learn how she would like, and that the freedom encourages responsibility.

In comparison to this 7th grade students PLE my PLN is not even close.  It has encouraged me to do more research and increase my PLN.  I am very glad that I am able to take this class so I can learn more about network learning so I can use that when I teach.  Even though I am planning on teaching English I know that technology will play a major role in my teaching.