Stop digitizing the traditional teaching style please.

Funny how one of my favorite bloggers, Joe Bower - For the love of learning,  and my Masters forum  discussion ended up on the same topic this week.  Our class discussion began with a discussion post about the compatibility of Cognitive Tools and Cognitive Flexibility but ended up  toward a discussion on using technology to ‘re-imagine learning’.  One of the readings this week was an older paper but there were some great ideas.  Not new, but lovely to see. The description of learner and computer being “intellectual partners” where each is responsible for what they do best struck a chord in me. The idea of offloading the unproductive memorizing tasks to the computer so that learners can think more productively is very appealing(Jonassen and Reeves p. 697). The article explained that our idea of knowledge needs to change...does memorizing facts make us knowledgeable, or the ability to use these facts?

A TED talk by Richard Calcutta http://www.instructionaldesign.org/index.html made some great points.  We have to stop “digitizing” the traditional teaching style.  Technology creates creators and this cannot be leveraged using a direct teaching method.  We should be using technology to re-imagine learning....YES!

So back to Joe and the post that caught my attention today: Technology is not neutral (http://www.joebower.org/2013/02/technology-is-not-neutral.html)  I had no idea what to expect follwing the tweet to his site, but boy was I pleased. This grabbed my attention: ‘We can use classroom computers to benefit the system, the teacher or the student’ - wow, exactly! It continues,

“ Used well, the computer extends the breadth, depth and complexity of potential projects...Thanks to the computer, children today have the opportunity to be mathematicians, novelists, engineers, composers, geneticists, composers, filmmakers, etc… But, only if our vision of computing is sufficiently imaginative“

Ready, Set, Blog

It is time, finally!  How many blogs have I started but never really knew what to write about....too many.  This blog, I've got plans for!  This can be my learning journal as I complet EDUC5103 (the first course towards my Masters) AND help me continue with the #etmooc that I really really want to make time for.

This week in official "class" we read about some learning theories that best fit direct instruction and the constructivist approaches.  During the discussions I'm noticing that math keep being described as a subject best taught by direct instruction.  Sad if this is true, since I just spent 3 years creating math courses based on social constructivist methods!!! 

This week in my "unofficial" class - #etmooc - I realised there is no way I can have google+ send me emails every time someone posts.  1000 students is alot :)  I also appreciate how this course is described:

• cMOOCs are not proscriptive, and participants set their own learning goals and type of engagement.
• cMOOCs are discursive communities creating knowledge together.

And apparently "The best way to understand a connectivist course is to participate in one." so here I go! (martin)  If this course is about conversations and socially constructing knowledge...I'm in!  Ready, set, blog!