![]() I graduated from college in 1998, right around the time that computers were becoming available in individual classrooms. Teachers at my school, at the request of administrators and the IT department, were asked to try using technology with their students. Even later, when I began teaching in Regional School District 13 in 2009, teachers were told that they should 'do' at least one lesson using technology per year. Many of these lessons, as you can imagine, were disconnected, isolated, and what I call 'using technology for technology's sake.' I agree 'that it is not just the incorporation of technology in pedagogy that facilitates learning, but it is instead the design of the environment and the interactions and types of connections that the technology affords.' The Figure from Ally's article on the left illustrates the reason why I agree with the above statement. When learners engage in real-life applications of technology and meaningful activities, they learn, retain and internalize both content and technology skills, as well as gain the ability to become problem-solvers and global thinkers. Isolated technological instruction is flat and stagnant. The learning environment I foster in my technology classroom for grade 5 and 6 students is constantly evolving. It changes all the time, every year, even during the year, as new technologies become available, world events emerge, and student interests come to light. I teach 3 semesters of Technology each year; each semester contains about 125 students. My teaching evolves for selfish reasons, too; if I were to stagnate my instruction and teach the same topics and skills multiple times a day for a semester and then repeat it twice in the same year, I would lose my mind! My approach is imperfect - but it seems to be working. Students have structured choices in my classroom as to the technologies they would like to use. PowerPoint can be redundant but often times it's what teachers expect - how wonderful, then, to enable students to use a newer presentation tool like PowToon or refine what they know about iMovie (click here to see some of their projects). Embedded within these projects are universal technology, presentation, and Common Core skills that I am responsible for teaching. A critical component to my teaching is the reflective, or metacognitive component that I address and circle back to with every student. Sixth graders each create blogs at the beginning of their semester with me, and during the course of a project, they blog a reflection about the process they are undergoing. They also communicate ways they might apply what they are learning to other aspects of their lives - both personal and academic (click here to check out Liya's very precocious reflections). While Jennifer Lewis states in her "Learning Theory and Online Course Design" that there is no perfect or best theory, we can glean the advantages or each one and use them to our advantage as we support our students in navigating the rise of online learning. ![]() Connected Learning at its core is not about promoting a specific technology or resource, but is a model of learning that fuses interests, academics, and experiences with hands-on production, shared purpose and transparency. By drawing on the power of today's technology, Connected Learning can produce lifelong learners, higher-ordered thinkers, powerful content and connections between school, home and community. Charles Raben, in the video below, demonstrates Connected Learning through his love of photography. By going out into the community, asking questions, advocating for change, and engaging with others around him, he makes connections and facilitates change based on the sentiment of a shared purpose. He says, "I like to take charge of my own learning," and notices that the system around him is comprised of myriad components. He notes, "when you take away the components, the system fails." This observation is analogous to the idea of Connected Learning: all of the pieces fit together to create a successful learning model. The following is a summary of the Principles of Connected Learning via connectedlearning.tv:
While these are universal principles, they can be applied to the technological changes of the 21st Century. |
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