EDCI 5825 Readings

Should all teachers be encouraged to create online activities for students within traditional classrooms? Please explain.

Creating online activities for students in any classroom, including traditional classrooms provides a numerous amounts of learning benefits for the children. As November had mentioned, just because an activity is online does not mean that the students need to only utilize the Internet or computer as a means of learning (November, 78, 2001). Teachers can use the Internet as an opportunity to have students explore research and data outside the classroom, which will be incorporated into the online activity, producing more meaning and relevance to the students doing the actual work. This can easily be done in more traditional classrooms. Teachers can be encouraged to see the importance of students connecting with peers and parents through online activities, enhancing skills they would be using inside a traditional classroom, like collaborative work. A teacher in a traditional classroom should integrate the online activity in a thought-provoking and well organized manner so that the students know the purpose of using an online activity and are able to work with the activity online in an efficient manner just as they would in the classroom.



Envision the role of social networking in 21st century learning environments. Write a brief description of this vision

With the enormous amount of people online and in networking sites, connecting and interacting with new or old friends will have harnessed a multitude of relationships that help build new and creative ways of learning, sharing, and acquiring knowledge. In sites such as twitter, educators all around the world are following other educators and get on the moment ideas, questions or answers, that are helping to foster creativity throughout the educational system and solve problems quicker through "expert" educators (Richardson, 86, 2010). Social networking, like social bookmarking, "redefines" the way others may view certain topics or helps others, through bookmarking different sites, people are molding the new information into their existing knowledge, creating a new learning environment for themselves. Social networking is allowing kids to become "self-directed" and learn through and with peers about numerous topics and interests (Richardson, 132, 2010). Students are keeping connections with other peers around the world, and are growing rapid interpersonal relationships with peers of all different backgrounds, with all different perspectives, and forms of knowledge.