This week we were fortunate to have an appearance by the notorious Mike Nantais! We discussed some odds and ends from different presentations and also had another appearance by Dr. Gatin to review second life again. Part of Mike's instruction was on an Alan November video, which included many of the topics we have covered thus far in the class. A couple of things I got out of the video include; the idea of splitting the class up into different groups in order for every student to have a role in the classroom. He referred to them as "teams" and some ideas of different teams to use within the classroom included: research team, scribe team, assignment team, etc. I like this idea and it all relates back to the idea of the shifting role of the teacher to a facilitator within the classroom. This gives all class members a responsibility within the classroom. He also talked about using these teams to help create the assignments within a class. This idea of giving students responsibility within the classroom, collaborating, etc. helps to develop skills that will be useful in the workforce. This will also help students to take initiative and become life-long learners. This video really summed up a lot of the things we have done in class so far.
As mentioned, we had another visit from Dr. Gatin on second life and the applications of this program in the classoom. Today I was able to get a better idea of how to use this program and how it related to school because we could actually see the avitar moving around from place to place. One idea I had to incorporate this into the classroom was using the library on the program. This would be an engaging way to have students read articles. The avitar can take it out of the library and this will download the pdf to your computer. This may be a more exciting way to get students reading in the classroom!
Thats all...
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It sounds like you have Reading, Thinking, Study Skills on the brain...But yeah I like your idea. It seems almost impossible to get some students to read articles, but I think you're right, this may be one way to intice them. I also liked how the video talked about globalizing the curriculum and having students connect with and have conversations with other students around the world.
ReplyDeleteI feel its super important to have every student feel like they are a part of the classroom. Students learn best when they are comfortable and when they are in a welcoming environment they are more likely to succeed. By having the students become the teacher they assume the responsibility of not only their learning but their classmates as well.
ReplyDeleteI'm still a bit skeptical about Second Life. I still feel the risk of the program outweighs the reward. I feel there are safer ways to have students interact with people in other parts of the world. Its a program that I am positive I will not use in the future.