Today we
learned about connectivism. Connectivism is a learning theory that explains how
technology has created new opportunities for people to learn and share
information across the web and themselves (Siemens, Downes). We had a fishbowl
activity that helped us discuss the principles of connectivism. Mainly, the
discussion dealt with a concern on how to incorporate technology in certain
contents and to what extent should technology be used. I am a math person. All
I have known is to write problems down on a piece of paper and continuously
work through the problems until my answers were correct. In this time period,
technology is encouraged and is slowly being integrated to every subject
imaginable. The OSPI website has now created the set of technological standards
a teacher needs to aim for and these standards needs to be implemented in the
next two years to all schools. It is pretty nerve wrecking. And so, I know I
will for sure struggle to incorporate technology use to do math for my
students. I have heard great ways technology can be used for other subjects and
it seems like it is a very reasonable way to incorporate it. I know that
technology can make a difference for the students but my problem is how can I
shape students learning for math? I do like the idea of introducing Flipgrid
for a math class and have the students record themselves doing a problem while explaining
the steps. This is one amazing idea, but what else is there?
Don’t get me wrong, I know there may be other big ideas for incorporating
technology for math, but I believe that since I have not taught yet it is
harder to come up with ideas to help students if I do not know what the major
problems they have with learning. So, once I do have that experience of
teaching and I am able to see where students struggle the most, then I would be
able to find ways to incorporate technology for the benefit of my students. For
now, I have a lot of researching to do.
Silvia, I think we all have more learning to do. We may not be able to walk away from this two day course with a lot of know-how, but we can be continually looking for ways to integrate technology in a way that will truly enhance learning. At this beginning stage of our teacher preparation, it is difficult to conceptualize what we are learning when most of us have spent very little time in a classroom. I imagine things will become more clear as we gain experience. Just know, you are not alone.
ReplyDelete