Jan. 31, 09: My thoughts on Personal Learning Networks

For today's class I very much enjoyed hearing from Clarence Fisher. The articles we read for the class today

• Engage Me or Enrage Me by Marc Prensky (Educause)
• Living and Learning with New Media: Summary of Findings from the Digital Youth Project Overview pg. 4-5, and "Hanging Out" 13 - 20 (MacArthur Foundation Report)

troubled be a bit as they seemed a bit biased against 'traditional' pedagogy, especially Engage Me or Enrage Me, and didn't really speak to who ISB and our students are, or my values as a teacher.

Clarence's presentation reassured me that using technology in a connected classroom can support values of mine as a teacher and parent in empowering students personally, socially, and intellectually,

• by giving students a voice, platform and audience (both in my class, locally and globally) to share their learning
  
• by giving them confidence and competence in their role in a networked world
• by giving them access to the "latest and greatest information for free"
  
• by allowing students to learn from others (both in my class, locally and globally) and to establish their own personal learning networks
• by exposing students to information in varied forms from different parts of the world
  

I also found Clarence's presentation useful in recognizing the possibilities of a networked and in reminding us of our role as teachers in...

• modeling comments and blog posts
• engaging with our students as networked partners in learning
  
• and mainating a leadership role as a network 'hub'

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