I just read an article called "Words Without Walls: Learning Well With Others," and figured I would share my thoughts with you. Just kidding, it's an assignment. But back to the topic at hand.
The article is about how new methods of teaching that fully incorporate use of the internet are now possible, but are being overlooked. In the authors opinion, teaching in the classroom setting is becoming quickly obsolete, now that student's have the ability and the resources to learn the same material in whatever way suits them best. All the knowledge and expertise found on the internet should be taken advantage of and utilized by schools, something which has only been happening in few select classes. As the author puts it, "For
educators and the schools in which they teach, the challenges of this
moment are significant. Our ability to learn whatever we want, whenever
we want, from whomever we want is rendering the linear, age-grouped,
teacher-guided curriculum less and less relevant."
While the article was interesting, it wasn't anything I hadn't heard of before, so nothing about it took me by surprise. I was surprised, however, when the author talks about how an eleven year old "community volunteer and blogger" has a large audience of people from all over the world. It's mentioned in passing, as if it's not a big deal. I was surprised because, as any frequenter of the internet knows, kids as young as eleven don't usually have a large audience unless it's a group of people mocking them.
The article is pertinent to what we are doing in class because as far as I can tell, we're trying to establish a classroom environment both in class and on the web. I have had teachers who have tried this before, but they either lost interest or just slowly stopped trying to use the internet to teach. Not to sound pessimistic, or anything. I have high hopes for this one.
I'd be interested in learning more about film history.
Post over.
Here's the article
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