Net Gen Ed Experience

GLOBE



Journal One
Today is the first day that I am looking at Net Gen Ed. It is very scary to me and rather confusing but the concept is exciting. The wiki is confusing but I am still looking forward to helping as an advisor. I introduced myself as well as commented on a student’s blog. However, found out that my idea was wrong because I had not researched their topic enough. I am now fully looking into this particular student’s work because it interests me and she seems genuinely interested in her topic of mobile commuting.


Journal 2
The girl whose blogs I found interest in and I are now friends. As well as I commented on another blog of hers with corrections on proofreading errors and asked a couple of questions. Her blog was on the idea of where technology will be moving in the next ten years. I asked her some age old questions such as since I am going to be becoming an educator where do you think I will be in ten years? As well as do you think I will be needed or will schools predominantly be online? No response yet, but I understand that all of these students are very busy.



Journal 3
The open content area of the wiki is full force. I am finding it very difficult to keep up with all the new information. I am also unclear as to what my job is as an advisor. This website is tricky and I only have access to certain things. I am slowly but surely trying to figure everything out….but slowly is the keyword here. I feel like everyone is passing me in the technology world!



Journal 4
I tried commenting around and messaging a few of the kids. I find it is very difficult to get responses or information. I know that they are very busy and I do not know their schedules but this project is very frustrating to me and I feel as if I do not have enough education to do this project. I watched videos and read up a lot, but I need a crash course or something!



Journal 5
With Net Gen Ed I first thought that it was as simple as a blog and just another crazy idea that these quote unquote tech nerds were doing. However, that was before I looked under the surface. Before this class I never realized that a project such as this existed or that it connected so many people. I knew that the internet is worldwide (hence the name worldwide web) but I never realized how you could collaborate with so many schools all over the world on one topic. This is a great project but I feel as if I am far behind and do not comprehend a lot of it and am excited to continue to learn from this experience.


When I first got started I really was stuck. I did not know how to start. Then I decided before I started I should probably learn a little bit more about a topic that I was going to be submerged in for awhile. Flat Classroom Project was a project started by Vicki Davis (whom we talked to via Skype) and Julie Lindsay around 2006. Then I started to think about the topic that the student’s were discussing and that was technology. With the help of Don Tapscott and his expertise, the kids were directed on technology and where and when things came about. He presses the students to think about the new technologies that are coming up and how they will use them in the future. He challenges them to think beyond what they see now and think of the ways in which these new things will be used in the future. That is a hard assignment but it seems like the students are excited and I know the more I learn the more excited I am.


The main purpose of this project was to be able to collaborate with different students from all over the world. Technology is different in different areas so this is a way that we can get the world’s learning on the same page. There are over 300 students participating from all walks of life and different areas of the world. These students get into groups and collaborate on their ideas about how education can be improved. Through discussions, blogs, and groups these students are constantly assisting one another. They also are able to put information on a wiki where they can adjust the information just like how we do with GoogleDocs. It is all a very interesting process.


The next step that we took was to set up our spot as an Expert Advisor. This terrified me because every time I made a comment at first I realized that I do not seem like an Expert. What I learned in school is so outdated it is unbelievable and I am trying so hard to play catch up with these students. I signed up for open content and monitored a few of my favorite project students to watch and make sure they were using their sources correctly. I also got the opportunity to comment on blogs, message them, and just ask them questions as well. I just now really learned what open content was so I was a little shaky on being an Advisor. Overall, however, I realized that my expertise was not really needed that much. These students have a lot of things under control and know their limitations. It amazes me how advanced they are and it makes me more excited to join them in this digital age and hopefully it will make me a great teacher with a whiz kid minor.


As an expert advisor, I read through the discussions regularly. However, I found that there really was not a lot that I knew about or could help them on. This made it very hard to do this assignment. I read many blogs and commented on a few but often found that the response rate was slow. I feel as if my expertise was not really needed but if anything else I learned a lot from these students and this project and hope to be able to be a more active participant in the future.


The best thing about this project I think was the way that Vicki Davis coordinated it and put things together. I do not get how you could be sitting one day and think of such a great idea. All the students (300 of them) are organized on one site and are able to openly communicate and share ideas. They can edit things for peers and receive feedback on their questions. Everything was organized well, however, since I did not get a lot of responses, I feel as if incorporating mobile communication would be better. Maybe incorporating something that could notify the students when they receive a message so that way they can help each other quicker. However, they might talk to each other just fine and maybe I’m just the odd man out I am not really sure. This is why when it comes to something that I feel like did not work out in this project; it was definitely the aspect of communication. There were many different ways to contact the students or help with their work which was nice, but it was almost as if I was speaking on a radio to myself. It gave me many ways to approach or talk to the students but there really was no effective way for me.


Overall, I enjoyed this project. However, I wish I would have known more about it and not felt so rushed. I wish I had more time to take looking at everyone’s blogs and discussing the topics, but as a busy working college student it becomes difficult. I enjoyed working on this because with every class I take as an Educational Technology Minor, the more behind I realize I am. These students are thinking about the future which is something I need to do as a teacher. Another important thing I learned was that I am always going to be a student as well. I need to be open to new experiences and knowledge at all times because otherwise I will miss out on many opportunities for my students.


It is so important for teachers to constantly be educating themselves and be willing to push the bar. You cannot stay rooted in the land where you first started growing. If I teach for thirty years I hope that with every year I am changing and making new waves in education. I will need to adapt collaborative teaching into my classroom and need to push to accept technology in my classroom. We are growing into a visual age and what better way to teach students then in a way they will understand. I want to make students excited to learn again and using different technologies and ideas that the students used on this site I will be better equipped for the future. I need to push the bar and use things that the students know and love to do in order to make my classroom the best and most beneficial place for everyone.


What will a school look like in ten years?




Other projects that I find very interesting:




1. Water Usage

This project is for 4-8 graders and is a place where students are examining their water usage and comparing it to other students around the country and around the world. They are collecting their own data and average the amount that they use. They are then comparing it to other students to see how much water we use in different areas of the world. I like this project because it is always interesting to me when I compare my life to someone who is around living in a different part of the world. You not only learn about their culture but you realize how you also have a lot of the same things in common. It could teach my classroom about diversity and culture as well as it would be very scientific!




2. Cyber Bee Geography

This website had many ideas about telecollaboration, however, I found this particular one fun because it is an old idea of writing post cards to classrooms all over the world to help learn Geography, but what if now they made classroom blogs and shared that way? Then they would have up to date photos and information and could quickly add new things and answer questions. I would like to do this in my own future classroom. It did not really describe doing a blog, but I remember when I was in school and we would often pretend like we were receiving letters from around the world. I thought it was the neatest thing, so why not for my future students actually give them the opportunity to learn from another group of students their own age firsthand? This is one of my favorite projects I have found even if I am pushing it a little and inventing my own way for the most part. It just seems like something that would be very beneficial.



3. National Idols

This website was the best one I have found. It showed me not only projects from the past, but also current projects and future projects. There were so many different projects going on but I enjoyed this one once again because of the cultural aspect. The goal is that every country that participates researches an idol or person dead or alive who has made a great impact on their country. Then after this is done each child will compare their classroom idol with the others around the different areas. If the person is dead or alive the children will learn history, and could also have many opportunities to learn new things through language. They are using blogs and other methods to connect to one another. This is great to me because kids love famous people like Hannah Montana, this would be a way that they could see how kids in other countries have the same interests as them, and who knows they may even enjoy Hannah Montana too. I just want to be able to use things in my classroom that push my students, but also use what they enjoy to help them learn as well. This seems like a very fun project.