Karen Lirenman began her presentation to us by stating that there are three main ways that she uses Education Technology in her practice: as an access point for every learner, a way for learners to show their learning in different ways and as a way for her learners to connect to the world around them. The first two ways she discussed resonated with me as they were ideas that were being echoed by many of the other presenters we have heard from this semester. The new idea that came from listening to Karen and that I had not considered was whether we are using technology for consumption or creation. Karen encouraged us to try to use technology with our students for creative purposes. She elaborated by saying that research is showing that many of these consumption apps have little to no benefit for the student and that they are simply glorified worksheets. I tend to agree with Karen and think that our student would benefit more from interacting with their peers and experiential learning.
The other idea I had not considered before was using technology, specifically social media, to connect with the world around us. I have been developing my professional network (PN) this semester on twitter and can see the benefits of being connected to other educators on that platform but had not considered how my students could benefit from connecting to my PN or other professionals. Karen suggested starting a twitter account for one’s class and then asking questions to the twitter universe. The class could connect with academics, scientists, politicians, authors to ask them questions and help them realize that there is a whole world of learning beyond the books they read and the walls of their classroom. They can also connect with other classes and learners from around the world to collaborate and share their learning. This is such an amazing opportunity for students that I could not have dreamed of when I was a child.
Twitter is such an amazing powerful tool that I am excited to keep exploring. I will be setting up a class account when I have my own class.
ashlie.cook
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and ideas throughout this blog. You made so many points about Karen’s presentation that I also made throughout mine. The idea of using technology to bring in the classroom to connect with the world around us is so fascinating to me. I never thought to we could do this by developing our professional network before entering our own classroom. I can’t wait to see the amazing things you do with technology within your classroom!
Jordan Hall
Melanie I loved Karens presentation and the point that resonated with me the most was also Karens commented about ” are we using technology for consumption or creation?” This point was really the Aha! moment for me. We have been learning so much about technology and adapting it to appropriately fit our learners that I think we can get caught up in the idea of whats the best new app out there that I can buy and use for my students? We do not need to buy these consumption apps that really in hindsight work as worksheets, we should be promoting technology as a NEW way for students to inquire on their educational journey through creative thinking using technology! Great post.