Week 4: The Networked Classroom

What are the advantages or disadvantages of a networked classroom?

       First the technology has to work.  I'm sure we've dealt time and time again with the frustrations of planning on a networked classroom and something goes wrong (i.e. the network goes down, or the Wi-Fi stops for some reason).  Another issue that the book brought up was ethics/safety, an issue that always concerns me, especially with my elementary age students.

        That point aside, let me share a story that I believe really fits this chapter well: We began an assessment of the regions of Missouri, we wanted our students to go deeper than just labeling a map so we included questions that required students to use all the tools at their disposal (notes, chart they made, text book, laptops).  One question we created asked "If you had a business degree which region of Missouri would you begin your job search in, provide evidence to support your choice" (or something along those lines).  As I walked past a student's desk he had pulled up a link to an area newspaper and had begun a job search in that area to support his choice!  All this in 4th grade! 

       I don't believe sort of work can be done with books and notes alone, how could it, and the whole point is that we are creating students who understand how to network in real-life.  A student who can tell you which region St. Louis or Kansas City is in can tell you that may be a good region to search for a job, but a student who can email, Skype, or job search an area will be far more successful in real-life.

       We can address the transparency, safety, and ethics problems with workshops for the teachers (something that should be done way more often) and addressed to the students and parents clearly.  The one thing that still need to be addressed better is the assessment portion, something I hope to be even clearer about as I progress through this MET program, assessment is not as easy as it sounds and the literacy aspect, the ability to use the tools (which is reinforced during the chapter as NOT being assessed, the learning is), and the incorporation of networking more often in the classroom.