Blog Post #2

The central message of the movie Mr. Dancealot is that children learn from doing and observing. Teachers need to get involved so they can learn. If the students are expected to just sit and watch, they will not stay interested and they will not learn. The author made his case by showing and instructor lecturing how to dance with a power point presentation and blocking all the students visibility to learn the dance. He then tested them by watching them dance. This was not the way they were taught. I agree with the author's conclusion that teachers need to get their students involved. Teachers need to know how to teach the students in a way they will learn.

In Kevin Roberts movie Teaching in the 21st Century , he thinks that teachers need to teach the students how to use technology. He says that teachers are filters. I agree with his thinking. Todays children know how to use a computer, iPad, iPhone, and so much more by the age of two or three. If teachers do not teach their students how to use technology responsibly, they will not know how to find reliable information and sources. This changes the way educators teach. Educators must be technologically literate and use different types of technology in the classroom to engage their students.

I watched the movie The Networked Student by Wendy Dexler. This movie was about a student that is learning through networking instead of an instructor led class. During the movie a question was asked "Why does the networked student even need a teacher? My reaction to this question was that the student needs a teacher to teach him how to find reliable information. As the video continued, I learned there were even more reasons for the networked student to have a teacher. The teacher offers guidance and teaches the students how to communicate respectively. The teacher also helps the networked student how to sort and organize all the information the student finds. This strategy helps prepare the student for his future.

The thesis of Vicki Davis' movie, Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts, is that students are empowered by using technology and discover answers on their own. I agree with this thesis. Students feel empowered, accomplished and confident by discovering the answers themselves. She feels that teachers do not have to know how to do something to each it if technology is used in the classroom. If you empower the students to learn on their own, they will be teaching you.

I have never heard of flipping a classroom until I watched the video Flipping the Classroom by Lodge McCammon. I think flipping the classroom would be useful as a teacher. The students would be able to come to class prepared for the lesson for that day. The teacher would not have to go over basic information. The teacher would be able to dive right into the application and move on to the following lesson.