The topics that struck me regarding Dr. Zhao's podcast were about the future of education, not so much about what is wrong with it now. Those that seemed vital included:
1. the global nature of the future for our students t
2. The need to shift away from using technology as a way to teach traditionally and instead allowing the student to feel like a contributing individual in the global community.
I liked the theme that seems to come up again and again of farm life whether in China or Nebraska or locally that every individual contributing to the community is a valued member working the crops and with each other. It was interesting to hear how vastly different teaching can be using technology differently. The intriguing example of how Dr. Z has developed a mandarin chinese curriculum online with an island on second life that helps to immerse you in the language with the tools to learn the curriculum would be fascinating to put some creative minds on and apply locally. Are any of our classrooms and students speaking virtually or through technology to other cultures and languages as he describes?
This podcast was especially interesting for me as an alum of Michigan State, where he is from, and how distance learning is changing the make up of standard based classes in a room not in virtual reality. It helped to link some things that had started with distance learning when I was there and my professors were pulled to start the distance learning initiatives. it is nice to see how they are progressing across the board. I wonder if other universities are all in line with this and at what point it will move down to the secondary and elementary schools as much?
Sunday, February 3, 2008
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It was helpful to read your comments on Dr. Zhao's podcast, Kevein. Part of what he was referring to is the way technology is embedded in what our students do in their lives. As a younger teacher you have some common experiences with the students. You are probably in the middle in seeing the possibilities of technolgy. Your comments about the evolution of distance learning brought that home for me. All of this is foreign to me. I have to actually plan to use technology and then I have to learn it! There are a lot of peole my age in the business and most of us are struggling to keep up with the changes. We see the potential, but we're not sure where to go with it.
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