MLE Session 2: Getting the Most Out of Your Students in the Networked World
Session 2 Presentation (Phoenix videos out of intended order…)
My second presentation at MLE2010 was on Getting the Most Out of Your Students. It focused on the rational behind changing our classroom practice through the use of technology. This was a jam-packed session with information ranging from Digital Natives/Immigrants/More, Filtering, Remix Culture, Verifying Information Online, Wikipedia, and Building a PLN.
We started with a look at Wes Fryer’s impressions on Digital Natives/Immigrants/Voyeurs/Refugees. I made sure to discuss my views on the problems with Prensky’s oversimplified view of Natives/Immigrants. I think this false dichotomy causes problems for educators who are told they will “never get it” like their students. The Fryer Spectrum of Digital Immersion (bet he’d love to see it called that) gives a much more accurate picture, especially since it’s specific to individual tools/technologies.
We then moved toward a discussion of the new media landscape presented by Clay Shirky in “Here Comes Everybody”. People really seemed to like the idea of computers putting the power of a printing press, music studio, and video production unit into their student’s hands. We had a wonderful discussion of the similarities between verifying information online and verifying information in Dead Tree resources in the past.
We then moved on to discussing how to verify information on a Wikipedia entry, looked at the Pacific Northwest Tree Octopus and other similar sites, and then into a discussion of how and WHY to build a Personal Learning Network.
This session could have used an extra 30 to 45 minutes (I’m a bit of an over-planner) but I think I hit many of the high points trying to introduce a group of educators to the ideas of how our students are different.
Would love to know your thoughts on the presentation and handouts.
Filed under: middle level essentials, presentations | Tagged: mle, mle2010, networks, presentations, students | Leave a comment »