Blog Assignment # 2

1. I believe that the central message of the youtube video titled "Professor Dancealot" is that in order for the students to truly learn, they must have some sort of interaction with the teacher. The professor had no interaction with his students, which caused many of the students to become lost with the material. He expected them to learn the steps of different forms of dances by showing the patterns on a powerpoint when he should have taught the students firsthand how to perform the moves. People are better learners with experience, such as rewriting facts over and over again in order to retain the material. Professor Dancealot's students could have been able to perform the dances for his video if he had merely showed them how to dance, especially without any podiums or tables blocking the views of all his students.
2. Kevin Roberts describes teaching in the 21st century as an innovative way for students to learn through multiple forms of technology. They can learn through texts, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, even podcasts, but teachers are the filter for this incoming information. They validate, synthesize, leverage, and communicate the information that students are easily able to find through various forms of technology. Teaching isn't about entertaining the students, but merely engaging the students to learn in a meaningful and applicable fashion that has long-term results. Engaging the students in the learning experience allows them to put forth their own creativity and actually enjoy learning. This gives me a new perspective on how teaching with these new forms of technology can actually promote the learning process. I will be able to teach my students by allowing them to teach themselves.
3. In Wendy Drexler's video called "The Networked Student," she explains that a teacher not only teaches in the field of expertise, but also helps students build social networks and take advantage of learning opportunities in order to seek help from experts, guide through information to determine which is fact or fiction, and to present resources. Mrs. Drexler made very sound arguments in why this is a reasonable and satisfying journey for students to experience, such as being able to sift through the internet and being able to determine the validity of information. I do not believe that all classes should be set up in such a manner. Some classes do need to have sit-down lectures where the professor teaches them solid information from a text book, but all students should take a class where they can acquire the skills that Mrs. Drexler is presenting in the video. It is an accessory that every student should have.
4. Vicki Davis explains in the video "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts" that allowing students to interact with the world on a virtual level and experience and study the trends in information technology permits the students to stay globally connected. Mrs. Davis makes a sound argument that students acquire a better retention for knowledge when they experience it firsthand, and not when they take notes all day with a pen and paper.
5. Flipping the classroom consists of the teacher presenting the new information before class time so that the students can come to class prepared with prior knowledge and questions that he or she may have. The idea of flipping the classroom is completely new to me. It seems that a pretty enriching idea, allowing students to get a more in depth learning experience and creating a higher level of thinking. The only opposition I have is that it may give the student too much work to do at home with not enough time to do it. I think that I will try to connect this to some of my teachings, such as with group projects.