Chapter 1
Quote: "This new type of learning is a cultural phenomenon that underlies a large number of people’s experiences and affects them in myriad ways. It takes place without books, without teachers, and without classrooms, and it requires environments that are bounded yet provide complete freedom of action within those boundaries." I chose this quote because it sums up this new type of learning where students take it upon themselves to learn, explore and discover for themselves, without the confines of a traditional classroom.
Question: How can teachers help encourage and develop students ability to become lifelong, self-directed learners?
Connection: The chapter talks about how learning should be taking place everywhere including outside the classroom. This concept reminds me of the 20% project in EDSS530. In the 20% project we extended learning to non-school type activities, in my case writing and producing music.
Epiphany/Aha: I found the importance of asking questions and having fun in learning as an aha moment. Sometimes I think we forget that learning can be fun in addition to being productive, and in fact fun and asking questions is an important part of the process.
Chapter 2
Quote: "In the new culture of learning, the classroom as a model is replaced by learning environments in which digital media provide access to a rich source of information and play, and the processes that occur within those environments are integral to the results." This quote illustrates how learning develops naturally into a culture of itself within the new culture of learning, where as in the old model, the culture was established and all who wanted to learn had to go into the already established culture.
Question: How can we encourage students to embrace the new culture of learning when many of them are used to the traditional model?
Connection: This chapter reminds me of some things in EDSS530 such as when I did my first twitter chat. When I first started participating I didn't really know what was going on or how to engage in the chat. No one really was any the wiser or seemed to care though. As the chat progressed, I got more into it and understood it better. I learned this on my own through trying the twitter chat rather than be told how to do it and what to do and not do.
Epiphany/Aha: The old culture of learning say change as something to avoid, whereas the new culture of learning seeks organic change.
Chapter 3
Quote: "Throughout the twentieth century, particularly after the Second World War, we have had a slow-moving river. Stability, continuity, and maintaining the status quo defined our culture, and progress was carefully controlled. This environment influenced both education and technology." I chose this quote because I think it defines some of the major problems with education in the past decades. I think it is important to define what you are trying to change and this quote does it well.
Question: How does a teacher who is just starting out help bring changes to education?
Connection: The chapter quotes some statistics about how quickly change has occurred in technology. For example, from 1997 18% of US households had internet connection. By 2008, that had changed to 73%. This reminds me of EDSS530 in that, many of us adopted these new technologies and tools relatively quickly. We were introduced to many new tools and adopted them in one semesters time.
Epiphany/Aha: Much of the past decades has been about trying to promote stability rather than change. The future is going to be more about embracing change.
Quote: "This new type of learning is a cultural phenomenon that underlies a large number of people’s experiences and affects them in myriad ways. It takes place without books, without teachers, and without classrooms, and it requires environments that are bounded yet provide complete freedom of action within those boundaries." I chose this quote because it sums up this new type of learning where students take it upon themselves to learn, explore and discover for themselves, without the confines of a traditional classroom.
Question: How can teachers help encourage and develop students ability to become lifelong, self-directed learners?
Connection: The chapter talks about how learning should be taking place everywhere including outside the classroom. This concept reminds me of the 20% project in EDSS530. In the 20% project we extended learning to non-school type activities, in my case writing and producing music.
Epiphany/Aha: I found the importance of asking questions and having fun in learning as an aha moment. Sometimes I think we forget that learning can be fun in addition to being productive, and in fact fun and asking questions is an important part of the process.
Chapter 2
Quote: "In the new culture of learning, the classroom as a model is replaced by learning environments in which digital media provide access to a rich source of information and play, and the processes that occur within those environments are integral to the results." This quote illustrates how learning develops naturally into a culture of itself within the new culture of learning, where as in the old model, the culture was established and all who wanted to learn had to go into the already established culture.
Question: How can we encourage students to embrace the new culture of learning when many of them are used to the traditional model?
Connection: This chapter reminds me of some things in EDSS530 such as when I did my first twitter chat. When I first started participating I didn't really know what was going on or how to engage in the chat. No one really was any the wiser or seemed to care though. As the chat progressed, I got more into it and understood it better. I learned this on my own through trying the twitter chat rather than be told how to do it and what to do and not do.
Epiphany/Aha: The old culture of learning say change as something to avoid, whereas the new culture of learning seeks organic change.
Chapter 3
Quote: "Throughout the twentieth century, particularly after the Second World War, we have had a slow-moving river. Stability, continuity, and maintaining the status quo defined our culture, and progress was carefully controlled. This environment influenced both education and technology." I chose this quote because I think it defines some of the major problems with education in the past decades. I think it is important to define what you are trying to change and this quote does it well.
Question: How does a teacher who is just starting out help bring changes to education?
Connection: The chapter quotes some statistics about how quickly change has occurred in technology. For example, from 1997 18% of US households had internet connection. By 2008, that had changed to 73%. This reminds me of EDSS530 in that, many of us adopted these new technologies and tools relatively quickly. We were introduced to many new tools and adopted them in one semesters time.
Epiphany/Aha: Much of the past decades has been about trying to promote stability rather than change. The future is going to be more about embracing change.