LRND6820

. Developing Personal Learning Networks for Open and Social LearningAlec Couros

9. Personal Learning Environments Trey Martindale & Michael Dowdy

Yes, we can use fear as a motivator. It’s been used by petty dictators over the centuries and it’s always failed in the long run.

It’s the job of the teacher to create this environment where learning is fostered and goals are clearly marked out.

We need to set the bar higher than we think they can reach, so when they fail we’re happy with the results.

POINT 1. The PLE differs from the general usage of the LMS in that it is not course focused, but rather focuses on the learning the student is doing over the length of their learning journey. By extension it tends to allow for the student to control the way their own work is organized.

POINT 2 – PLEs are (to me at least) the ecologies within which PLNs operate

I think that this work done by Jim Groom is the most rarefied version of the PLE in Higher Education. Students are instructed to choose their own domain, find a hosting service and create their own blog space.

I wouldn’t say that Google is making us “stupid,” but it is most definitely challenging our self discipline.

I think that providing a handful of proven resources would be beneficial for getting them started, then encouraging them to analyze the “quality” materials before moving on and searching for additional resources on their own. This allows them to see examples of what to look for before going out on their own.

If you examine this backwards, it would appear that the only way to change behaviors in an individual is to first alter the perceptions/predictions which are coming from the brain.

Thus, if we couple expectations with predictions and perceptions, I believe that we can go a long way in changing behavior over time.  If a person is going to behave based on what the brain see’s as most logical, then behavior can be changed by changing the logic.  I am a true believer in congnitive therapy, for instance.  I believe that cognitive therapy is rather strong proof that the patterns of ones behaviors can be changed by retraining the brain to set up the resultant behaviors to the desired outcome.

There needs to be more emphasis on “what” behaviors are resulting from technology.  If we can tangilby measure the behaviors resulting from technological innovation, would that not help us to understand what parts of technology are effective and what parts are ineffective?

The author mentions that UDL is meant to “level the playing field” for learners with all kinds of disabilities and I think that it has the potential to enhance the learning experience for all types of learners.

It was very nice to get to know some of the other student better and more personally.

I just think if my entire team could have sat down in the same room with a few notebooks we could have gotten a lot more done as everyone would have been focused on the project at the same time.

Conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project and Elon University’s Imaging the Internet Center.

Embrace a philosophy of partnership and be willing to share power with families. Make sure that parents and school staff understand that the responsibility for children's educational development is a collaborative enterprise (Mapp, 2004).

When parents are involved, students achieve more, regardless of socioeconomic status, ethnic/racial background, or the parents' education level;

The more extensive the parent involvement, the higher the student achievement;

A 2009 Horizon Report sponsored by the New Media Consortium identifies the "personal web" as "a collection of technologies that confer the ability to reorganise, configure, and manage online content rather than just view it; but part of the personal web is the underlying idea that web content can be sorted, displayed, and even built upon according to an individual's personal needs and interests" (Four to Five Years: The Personal Web section, para. 2).

The Networked Student Model adapts Couros' vision for teacher professional development in a format that is applicable to the K-12 student. It includes four primary categories, each with many components evident in the networked teacher version (Figure 2). Figure 2: The Networked Student These include academic social contacts, synchronous communication, information management, and really simple syndication (RSS). Social contacts include teachers, classmates, students outside of the class, and subject matter experts. Synchronous communication refers to video conferencing and instant messaging. Information management activities include locating experts, evaluating resources, accessing scholarly works, and finding other open educational resources (OER). RSS encompasses blogging, subscription readers, podcasts, wikis, social bookmarking, and other social networks. Students will not necessarily make use of every subcategory; however, this list represents the tools available to the student for constructing a personal learning environment on a specific topic of study.

Same thought could be said with a more mature learner with similar technology like ipads.