EDx

As I browsed though the EDx "school" I thought it was very easy to manage, there is plenty of places to go for help to find out what you need and the short videos were very informative.
I think if EDx is successful in launching this as a real time online school it could succeed.

I like how the dashboard on top of the screen directing you the steps and what to do next keeps students on track and lets them work at the pace they are comfortable with and hopefully do well.

Overall, this would be an interesting and well thought out way to take true college courses when (and if) they get it up and running.

MOOCs BYOD

Mod 2 Post 1 RE:  MOOCs and BYOD

As I read through the articles and watched the videos on MOOCs and BYOD I was hopeful that these innovators had found a way to make college less expensive for future generations.  This is not the case now but it sure seems that there is a genuine push towards this outcome.

As the articles states, MOOC is not a school or online course, what it is is a platform to connect like thinking individuals to collaborate on the subjects they like. 

When reading the Wikipedia information on MOOCs it seems the biggest problem facing these schools and companies interested in starting MOOCs is the platform it will run on and the monies it takes to run but that is not the only issue that comes to mind for me.  When problems like cheating, sharing information among those in class, copy and pasting information to answer questions and will all courses be proctored or just complete and move on to the next class.  Then you have to wonder where does a student go with questions or arguments?  Is there a recourse for a bad grade? 

So overall, my opinion of the whole MOOC movement is that it is a promise if the developers find ways to ensure content is whole and true, plug up any problems there may be with cheating and make sure licensing issues get resolved.  I would love to have a way to have future students save on college, we all know how expensive college can be.

The BYOD movement I loved!!!  Why not let kids use the devices they are so used to using?  How can this be wrong?  They are comfortable using these devices, they know how to use these devices and have mastered these devices so they will know how to find information, find a video on youtube.com, watch a video from somewhere else, make movies and many other applications so I think you should let them use what they know. 

There are several schools here in my area that provide ipads for students for their school careers, it helps the students stay competitive with other schools, allows them master the device and hopefully do better in school. 

I could not agree more with this trend!

I think I did GOOD on this reflective post.  

Heckel Blog #1 EDFI 575 Spring 2016

Heckel Blog #1 EDFI 575 Spring 2016

            After reading Prensky’s article I was bit angry.  Why angry you ask, well because as I read more and more of the article it seemed to me that Prensky seemed to think that teachers today have not tried to adapt the way they teach for the learners today.  I have been in school (college) for over 20 years (at various levels obviously) and it is amazing how teaching teachers has changed.  It is no longer black and white, we have to be able to adjust to every learner we have in our classroom.  We have to find ways to connect to these learners so that they will stay interested and want to learn.  So for a teacher in a classroom now, that means finding ways of pulling technology into the everyday curriculum so we don’t have kids turning off. 

           

            I understand that Prensky was trying to wake up educators who may not be aware of the changes in students today, but I firmly believe any teacher who is in the classroom today knows students are different have been different for many years.

           

            When first answering the question, are students fundamentally different today, my response was YES!  Students today have so many ways to learn and find the information they may be looking to for to answer a query.  But it is not only that, we know so much about how a young person’s brain works compared to 20 years ago and we can take that information and help our students become critical thinkers. 

           

            Also, the opportunities parents have to provide educational enrichment to young students (before they are actually in school) is dramatically different compared to when I was a little one.  And many of these enrichment activities are on some sort of technology so you are introducing kids to learning technology to give them a leg up when they get into school.

            I agree that teachers today have to be speaking the language of learners today, they have to find ways to be fluent in the technology and languages students use today and find ways to adapt the daily curriculum to fit this new age.  But I think many teachers already do this.  Every teacher, no but I do believe many teachers do.