C4T #2

I was assigned to read Beth Knittle's blog "Beth's Thoughts on Technology In The Classroom." The first post I commented on was titled "Where is Learning?" The post was about a tweet she saw come through on her twitter account. The tweet read, "Tedxx Philadelphi talk should be required viewing in every teaching 101 course. All our classrooms would be such better places." From this it made her think about learning and how this tweet made it look like just because our students watch something they will learn it. Ms. Knittle did not agree with this she said we cannot just expose students to the material and expect the to know it. Learning is interactive and learners need to do something with the material they are learning. She also said that sometimes we need to take a deep breath and rethink the fundamentals. She was asked by a college of hers to help post videos on her wiki containing the information she didn't have time to teach. She thought that if the kids came and looked at it she could count it as covered material. I agree with Ms. Knittle about how learning is interactive and it needs to be so learners can be creative with learning. I think that videos are good but you need to do something with the video other than just watch it. I commented on her blog saying that I agreed with her on how teachers seem to rush through material just so they can cover it because it is on the syllabus. They just expose us to material and expect us to soak it up like a sponge. That is not enough tell us how to interact and learn from the material. Her response to me was,"Learning is a participatory activity – all a teacher can really do is provide learners an opportunity to interactive with what we learn. Video does have its place if it is part of an active learning environment. But a teacher cannot make us learn, interact or engage, that is ultimately up to the learner.
I wish you success in your course."

This week I read a post from Ms. Knittle that was titled "Wistful Reflection" in which she reflected back on her years of teaching. She said she taught middle school math and science and in 15 years she taught at 4 different schools on 3 continents. For science she had the same Prentice-Hall book edition that she would change and adapt to the local environment. She would do this by adding new tools, strategies and resources which allowed her to focus on practical effective change with her students. She is now a tech integration specialist where tools, software and hardware are rapidly changing. "Flying by the seat of my pants" is how she feels sometimes with all the changes in technology that occur. She said that she feels like she is being more reactive than reflective and wonders if she is being effective. I commented on her post by saying this : I also feel like technology is changing rapidly from year to year. It is hard to keep up with it all! I like how you said you wondered if you were being effective anymore. I think that anytime you can learn something new about technology you are becoming more effective learner and then you can pass on what you learn to help effect the rest of your learning community. Just like you do through your blog. I think that being effective is important and we all need to think about if we are being effective learners and teachers.