Week 6 Readings (Tuesday)

“Teaching in the Connected Classroom” reading puts everything we learned in this class into perspective. Since I have not used a lot of technology in my own classroom before, the case studies discussed in the book are very helpful to solidify the importance of technology for classroom learning. Especially, since it points out how technology usage improves other skills we traditionally want our students to learn. I really like the definition of connected learning where it’s described as “socially embedded, interest-driven, and oriented toward educational, economic, or political opportunity” (p.6). It also discusses how technology can be used to orient classroom teaching to accommodate specific student and class needs. This is very important because as I have experienced, every student has their own learning styles and every class cohort develops kind of a learning culture. By using technology we can give wider access to students to explore concepts using their own imagination and life experiences. We see a lot of teaching styles that fall into the category of forcibly transmitting information to students and caring less about meeting students where they act as developing thinkers (p.10). This is probably the least effective way of teaching and technology can help us move away from this style. We have to tap into the minds of the students and teach them to learn how and what to learn. We should be a guiding hand to direct them in the correct path. This is how a lasting impact can be made in our students’ lives. As discussed in the case study, the students remembered their blog activity two years after by just how it made them feel (p.14). That’s what we should strive for, to help them to be inquisitive and hungry to learn and technology provides a path to achieve that goal.