Blog Post 6

1. The Networked Student

This is very overwhelming.  I thought that I could handle being teacher, but I am glad I have a few more years to prepare myself to be the guide of so many impressionable students, and more importantly, future leaders to this world of educational networking.  But by then, there will be so much more to take in.  Like the video said the networks these students use as a part of their PLNs are continuously expanding.  I know one thing is for sure, without this EDM310 class I would be completely lost in this world of educational networking.  

2. A 7th grader's Personal Learning Environment

I see many and very few differences in our  PLNs at the same time.  I use the same sites she uses.  I try and search for new ways to learn on my own.  But my PLN may not necessarily have the same information.  I am still in the process of trying to wrap my head around this whole new world, but I think I am starting to understand it a little bit more everyday.  I appreciate the fact that the idea of learning is now in a way self-motivated and endless and ever-changing, but now I have to use this to my advantage.  It is not a one-stop-shop, it is a continual process.  So while I may be overwhelmed with the abundance of information out there at this point in time, I look forward to using it to my advantage and learning for the rest of my life.

3. The Machine is Changing Us

I love this movement from indifference to involvement.  No longer are we using the machine or technological mediums to for just pleasure. We are now using them to make a difference, to be heard.  I enjoyed his research on the evolution of whatever.  We now have the ability to research anything possible throughout the internet.  His comparison between his class, that was obviously disengaged, and the audience of the American Idol audition was hilarious.  But once his class began actively researching the evolution of whatever, and the medium Youtube, and how people now interact with each other, they got involved and became excited.  I hope that I can use this in my classroom to engage with my students and excite them by relating the material to things that are relevant to them.