In diving into the readings and videos for Module 2, I felt like it was a good follow up from the first Module about Web Literacy. The idea of connected learning is so prominent in my life, currently, because of the simple fact that I am in this class. Dr. O’Byrne has said multiple times that our feedback to each other throughout this course is possibly more important than the feedback we receive from him, the professor himself, which is a powerful point. Even in this short two weeks, I have learned a GREAT deal from my classmates, which is wonderful and they are a wonderful tool!
Will Richardson made some good points in his video, referencing the fact that individuals can learn so much from online and different websites that they may not be able to get from a typical classroom in school. Individuals have the opportunity to take initiative and learning into their own hands and learn online from other people. I have seen this many times in friends of mine as well as myself learning specialized skills simply from youtube tutorials such as; How to drive stick, french braid, tie a tie, change a tire and many more. Richardson also discusses the idea of emphasizing life prep vs. test prep in schools, which is something I whole heartedly agree with- life skills are just as important and people shouldn’t have to take their own initiative to learn important skills outside of school The Connected Learning Alliance did a great job summarizing the idea of connected learning and also touched on the idea of supporting learning beyond formal education, such as in the YouTube videos. What was alarming to me was the statistics shown that traditional education is failing to engage students and drops from 76% in elementary school to 44% in high school. My only question is how the level of engagement was measured in this study, as it was not mentioned? A great point was made on their website that “we need to harness these new technologies for learning rather than distraction.” This is so powerful and something that I will take with me as a teacher and an individual who would like to be a mother. These young children are going to have access to technology in many different forms and it is up to us to ensure that it is being used in a productive and educative way, not simply as a distraction and something to fill time. Joanne Orlando wrote an interesting article called Banning kids from using technology is counter-productive and it piqued my interest due to the fact limiting screen time in young children came up in our thread discussion in the last Module. http://theconversation.com/banning-kids-from-using-technology-is-counter-productive-37173 The takeaway from this article, that tied into the last reading was the last paragraph about embracing technology. Orlando explains that technology is not going anywhere and we need to embrace the benefits it holds in order to help reach our children’s goals. The video I took the most away from and I feel is applicable to nearly everyone was the Youtube video RSA Animate: Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. The other videos and readings discussed how we take initiative to learn about what we are interested in and motived by but this is specific to the workforce and performance and the science behind it. Through a study conducted at MIT and followed up in rural India, it was concluded that when given tasks that required conceptual thinking and cognitive skills, higher incentives were not effective. The 3 factors that did, however lead to a better performance were autonomy, mastery and purpose—something that in my opinion business owners and management should look into in order to create a more productive work environment and in turn, better production in our world.
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