Reflection of Intro, Chapter 1, and Chapter 2

After reading through Richardson and Mancabelli's idea of transforming education and learning, I have never been more concerned for my teaching career. Where do I even begin? The idea of education transforming into this online, collaboration style is exciting and worrisome at the same time. The introduction explores the education of a young boy who excelled and learned through his own means of grasping content. He was able to explore photography through collaboration, communication, and experimentation.  Mark was able to utilize professional learning networks where he could,  "learn anytime, anywhere, with potentially anyone around the world who shares our passion or interests" (pg. 2). This idea enhances the desire to transform education and the ways students are expected to learn.

According to the text, "the most powerful aspect of what's happening right now is this potential for learning that we haven't even begun to appreciate yet" (pg. 15).  Chapter one focused on the need for change in the education world. It emphasized the desire to teach students in the 21st century with 21st century tools and technology. With all of the tools available such as Kindle, Google Docs, Twitter, Evernote, Facebook, etc. the way students interact is ever-changing and the amount of information available at their fingertips is unlimited. Although many of us, especially educators, are not comfortable with this digital world, "there's no doubt the world is moving in that direction, and fast" (pg. 16). Although this sounds very promising and exciting, I do not really see how this switch is going to happen in a timely fashion. There is way to much emphasis on curriculum and student-achievement that being able to incorporate such resources seems far away and unachievable. Many teachers lack the knowledge and ability to properly use such resources while also examining the professional liabilities that go along with incorporating such resources in the classroom.

Chapter two focuses on the idea of how to become a networked learner and how to visualize the new type of learning that is in our new future. This text focuses on how online learning environments should look and what type of instruction should be occurring. Throughout each course I have taken through the MET program I feel as though I have established a great understanding of these concepts and ideas. Many of the resources, tools, and instructional strategies examined are similar to those that I have studied in this program. I feel confident in the tools that I have utilized, but I honestly have not had enough time to master these resources in order to properly implement them into my classroom. This is an area that I am in need of focusing on before changing the way my classroom works.



Resources:
Richardson, W., & Mancabelli, R. (2011). Personal learning networks: Using the power of connections to transform education. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press