Blog Post #2

What will teaching in the 21st century be like?

This week, we were assigned to watch a few videos from YouTube. The videos were actually quite interesting and very creative.

The first video we were asked to watch was titled Professor Dancealot. At first, I was very confused, but then I began to catch on. It started off normal, with a professor walking into his dance class that he claimed to have taught for 12 years. He goes through a slide show, demonstrating how to perform each dance, but he is doing it from behind a desk and the students are unable to see anything. When one student stands up to try the dance himself, the professor tells him to sit down because he is trying to teach a class. At the end of the course when the students are taking their final exam, none of the students understand what to do. They never comprehended any of the dances because they were not able to try them in class. I think the author is trying to show that thorough demonstrations and hand on activities will ultimately end with better results. The author shows this at the end of the video when he starts the music and all of the students are lost. I completely agree that hands on activities will end with better results. I am a hands on learner and I remember things better when I am able to demonstrate them.

Next, we were asked to watch Teaching in the 21st Century. Watching this, I think the author thinks that teaching is changing so much over time and we should try and keep up with whatever the updated media is. The author goes through all the types of social media that is out there and how each one would help teachers and students. I agree that we should keep up with the updated media. I think it can be very useful and if it is there we should try and use it.

The next video we were assigned to watch was called The Networked Student. Watching this video, it made a lot of sense. It was very interesting and shared a lot of interesting information. It's true though. The teacher is the one that guides the student through the learning process. When the student gets stuck, the teacher is there to help the student get passed it. The teacher shows the students how to look up information for themselves so they can later apply it.

Another video we were asked to watch was Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts. The thesis of Davis' video was using technology in the classroom, teaching with technology and actually learning from your students and what they learn as well. I completely agree that using technology in the classroom is very beneficial. I do not agree that only a certain type of student can learn with just pencil and paper. Before we had all this technology, that is all there was. Obviously, using technology is very helpful. There is so much information and benefits that it provides and it definitely can help with teaching, but I do not think we should rely on it as much.

Lastly, we watched Flipping the Classroom. I really enjoyed this presentation and thought it was a wonderful idea. I have never heard of anything like this being done before, but it makes sense why teachers would want to do this. I think every student deserves to know what is coming at them the next day in class. This allows the students time to prepare themselves and questions for what I coming the next day. I do think I could use this and it would be helpful for when I become a teacher. This will make it to where every day, class time is not wasted at all. Every bit of time is being used wisely and the students will have so much time to prepare.