Week 5 Reflection EDCI 5825

Should all teachers be encouraged to create online activities for students within traditional classrooms? Please explain.

Yes, I do believe that all teachers should be encouraged to create online activities for students within traditional classrooms. Technology plays a vital role in this generations lives and it is a tool that is constantly changing and evolving. Although, it is essential to have in class experiences, it is also important to incorporate a more hands on learning tool that many young people of today are accustom to. "The debate is no longer about if we will have online learning; it is too late to stop it because there is a massive movement by universities and colleges to build entire degrees online" (November, 2010, p.84). Online activities have become a reality and it is the duty of the educators to keep up to date with the evolving educational process. Online learning is an essential part of the 21st century learning environment.
Providing online activities for students has many various benefits and only enhances the learning process. Some students actually feel much more comfortable expressing their thoughts and opinions online. "Students have the time to respond, so they can be more thoughtful in their answers, and they cannot see other students rolling their eyes or laughing at something they said. (November, 2010, p. 88)" This enables students to reach their fullest potential without the fear of others opinions. Online activities also improve student-teacher relationships. "Many students reported that they received more feedback from their online teachers. (November, 2010, p. 89)" Also, students develop a stronger sense of community while working online. It is safe to say that students are not provided with the opportunity to develop cliques or groups within the online atmosphere. Students are continually sharing ideas and are aware of the thoughts and opinions of others.
Student responsibility also becomes a large part of the online learning process. The students are given the responsibility of taking their education into their own hands and in turn it empowers them to reach their highest learning potential. "With online learning, students can do their work when they are bes prepared mentally and physically do to it, whether that is 9 a.m., 8 p.m., or 2 a.m. Furthermore, if they need more time to do a particular task, they can take as much time as they need" (November, 2010, p. 91). This can be a saving grace for many students. Some students do not learn well in the morning because they are still sleepy therefore, online learning would allow them to complete the assignment at a later time if necessary and they would be able to perform to the best of their ability.
Lastly, online activities improve the teacher's ability. Many teachers have reported that after completing online activities, they realized that their students have much more to offer then they might have seen in the regular classroom setting. Therefore, I believe that online activities provide an abundance of learning opportunities for ALL involved in the learning process.


Envision the role of social networking in 21st century learning environments. Write a brief description of this vision.

Social networking has been continually growing throughout the past few years and I only see it expanding over the years to come. Social networking allows for students to take on the responsibility of their own work and also to allow those interacting with it such as readers or critics to take part in sharing responsibility for that work. "Learning is a continuous conversation among many participants" (Richardson, 2010, p.86). By allowing social networking to grow, learning will be in the hands of many different people and allow for multiple ideas and opinions to be shared across various different areas.
The social networking tool, Twitter, can be useful throughout education. "Following other educators on Twitter creates a network at my fingertips phenomenon where people ask questions and get answers, link to great blog posts or resources, or share ideas for projects as they go through the day" (Richardson, 2010, p. 86). I was actually lucky enough to experience the power of Twitter through my Educational Psych class with GNA. She happens to follow many other educators through Twitter and they are constantly sharing ideas and philosophies. We were instructed to watch a video that was created by a fellow Twitter educator and then respond to questions on our blog. This woman then was given each of our blogs and commented on our ideas and questions. It was an amazing connection!
Another form of social networking is social bookmarking services. The two most important sites that I have read about were delicious and diigo. These are two bookmarking services which allow the educator to organize the information for others to view and use freely. "The idea that we can now use social networks to tap into the work of others to support our own learning is an important concept to understand" (Richardson, 2010, p. 99).
Most people these days have tapped into Facebook in order to keep close ties with friends both near and far. Children these days are now using social network, such as Facebook, in order to explore interests that may not necessarily have the opportunity to encounter in a school environment or within the community. Within this stie, they are connecting with people they may not know but who may share similar interests. "They become at once teachers and learner in these spaces, and, in the process, they learn about the things that school can't or won't teach them" (Richardson, 2010, p.132). Throughout these interactions, students are engaging in responsible self intended and collaborative learning. Networked learning presses the idea of cooperation, interaction and social relations and communication.