In critiquing George Siemens’s “metaphors of educators” in “Learning and Knowing in Networks: Changing roles for Educators and Designers” (2008), the metaphor that best describes the role I believe an instructor should take in a digital classroom workplace is that of a Master Artist. In these technological times, our students’ expertise is usually more advanced than that of most instructors. If we continue to expect for students to await the direction of a knowledgeable leader, they may never learn a skill, program, or course objective! We should teach students to be resourceful and teach them how to learn what they need or want to know. To expect for them to await instruction before learning takes place is a hindrance to the education process and a working example of educators having low learning expectations.
Although students should be allowed to take the leadership role in learning and use their resources to learn, I believe the role of teachers is to direct, correct misconceptions, and offer “’soft’ guidance” (as is detailed in Siemens’ description of the Educator as Concierge, p. 16).
Siemens’ question regarding “who is an expert” in his discussion of the changing roles of educators really made me think. We surf the web daily in search of helpful, insightful information and often do not know from whence the information originated, nor its worthiness of belief. I suppose this is why - as doctoral students - we are required to cite only peer reviewed scholarly sources. Resources such as blogs, wikis, podcasts and YouTube are extremely helpful and accessible for providing quick information; however, no one is held accountable when the information is erroneous or harmful.
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ReplyDeleteYes, it is true regarding students in this technological era. Students are often more resourceful than their instructors which I believe has “caused a power shift in classrooms” (Siemens, 2008, p. 19). You mentioned that as educators, we should teach students what they need or want to learn. This makes me think about behaviorism in respect to whether behaviorists learning theories seek to motivate students. Thankfully, Dr. Moller most recent post in the shell elaborated on this issue. Dr. Moller pointed out that behaviorists do not consider motivation since they are concerned with programming students to respond in a certain predetermined manner. He went further, by mentioning that in behaviorism there is reward or some extrinsic motivation.
ReplyDeleteNow, I would say that students do not need extrinsic motivation, they need internal motivation. Yes, behaviorism has it benefits in terms of “…..producing observable and measurable outcomes in students” (Ertmer & Newby, 1993, p. 56). However, I am now considering if school in general had placed too much emphasis on elements related to behaviorism. What are your thoughts on lack of internal motivation in learning theories?
References
Ertmer, P. and Newby, T. (1993). Behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism: Comparing critical features from an instructional design perspective. Performance Improvement Quarterly, 6 (4), 50-72.
Siemens, G. (2008). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf
Ena Smith-Goddard
Blog URL: http://ena-spoonfulofsugar.blogspot.com/
I have one question. Do we yield to the students' experience because of our inexperience and fear or because of our resistance to change? I ask because it often seems that many of my colleuges in education tend to yield to the students' experience with technology because of their own resistance, and fear of failure when dealing with technology. I have worked with teachers who will go skydiving in a given weekend, but then are afraid press a few keys to play around with a program and potentially understand how it works.
ReplyDeleteIn this information age, I think that it is important that educators continue to train and learn to be just as tech savvy as the students they teach. I don't use Facebook or MySpace, but I am aware of how to use these sites. I teach Architectural Drawing. As you know, this can be completely done using software programs, but I teach it initally using board drafting techniques, because this method actually teaches students to understand what they are designing. Learning the software is easy once they know what they are actually doing and why.
ReplyDeleteIn this digital technology age, I believe students will learn what they need with or without guided instructions. An example can be found in the experiment that Mitra (2007) conducted in India (hole-in-the-wall). He placed a computer with an internet connection in a wall facing a ghetto. Children aged 6-12 with minimal education and limited English, were able to browse the Web and perform task on the computer. This self-taught minimally quided experiment is reminiscent of how many students acquire basic computer literacy skills. But as you stated, knowing what information is credible, and what information is not credible is ways in which educators role in the digital world is vital to the learning process.
ReplyDeleteSarah Dillahunt EDUC 8845-1
Yes Sarah, students will learn what they need with or without their instructors’ assistance. Students in this digital age are often more resourceful than their instructors which I believe has “caused a power shift in classrooms” (Siemens, 2008, p. 19).
ReplyDeleteReference
Siemens, G. (2008). Learning and knowing in networks: Changing roles for educators and designers Retrieved from http://it.coe.uga.edu/itforum/Paper105/Siemens.pdf