Global Digital Citizen Post #4

As educators, I think that one of the first things we are taught in courses involves the concept of diverse learners. In other words, students may learn at different paces and it is our job to give them the opportunity to be academically successful, despite their pace of learning. Obviously this can be difficult to some (many) teachers but we can't just give up on students. That is one thing that's not part of our job description at all. Enter learner-centered strategy. When I think of classroom strategies that center around the student (and after a bit of looking online), I immediately consider the types of engaging that can occur in classrooms, namely group work and promoting team work. Among other strategies could include brainstorming, the creation of a project, and in general, leaving lessons in the hands of the learner, to an extent. Now, sometimes teachers may have too much control in the classroom and students may sometimes feel really restricted in what they want to do and what they are capable of doing. In high school especially, I had several teachers who were strict on their expectations and left little to no room for creativity. This leads to, in my experience, a rather boring in-class experience that is not very hands-on nor is it fun. If it's boring, then I am less inclined to do it. This doesn't necessarily mean that the learners would abandon their work, I just think that perhaps students may be less likely to put effort into projects and assignments if they aren't able to make it their own.

To me, this is the general idea being learner-centered strategy. Consider who is learning, how they're learning, and what they are going to do next. Not one learner may have the same plan of attack with what they are expected to do but I think it's important to remember that as teachers, we should let them go about it their own way. Obviously, some supervision should be required. We can't let students run wild but instead, harness their creativity and skills in the classroom. Students should be able to develop their learning skills and practice them.

Recently, we've been doing research as a class about how to integrate technology in specific subject areas to aid in the students' learning, though many technologies may not be readily available in classrooms. In addition, technology may not be very universal in terms of who can use it and how. With technology, it's important to have the proper equipment but also the proper leadership to know how to work the machinery. Before students can learn how to use a certain technology and being able to implement it in their academics, they must learn from teachers who know how to use technology to enhance learning. That being said, equitable access in classrooms is a rather broad subject, from expenses to expertise.  However, once implemented correctly, technology can definitely be used to aid in the usage of learner-centered strategy, helping students get engaged in education as well as collaborating with other students or the teacher.

Global Digital Citizen Post #3

There's something about the Internet, I think, that is fascinating to the point it's almost scary. The ability to be constantly linked in to events in the community, around the nation, around the world is mind-boggling; I can read about something happening 5,000 miles away five minute after it happens. That being said, I would say that it's relatively easy to be informed about what's happening around the world and to understand the places in which these events are taking place. When I think of global awareness, I don't necessarily consider it being knowledgable of every culture - or even some of them - but rather an understanding of them, a recognition, of sorts. Ignorance is easy to come by, especially in today's society when cultures, religions, and race are victimized by stigmas that someone (or multiple someones) have in their head. Today, there's so much cross-cultural social interaction that I feel that there's no reason to not be globally aware.

Now, I think that a big part of global awareness is respect. As much as I hate to say it and as much as I wish it wasn't true, ignorance is hard to get rid of. It's almost like asking someone to change a habit, except most of the time, the ignorance has no intention of changing. However, there's a difference between accepting something and respecting it, and I feel as though the latter is somewhat easy to do. I say somewhat easy because I know that, depending on the scale and extremity of things, a lot of things are easier said than done. On a similar note, I think that an important factor when considering global awareness is, for those willing, is to take note of the ignorance and have the drive to do something about it. If we do not actively pursue the knowledge and understanding we lack, how can we expect others to do the same for us?

Technology makes it easy for us to do this, I think. To look up information and even tell other people about it. It's so easy to send a tweet or write up a Facebook post to share with friends, with the world, and I think people underestimate the power of digital-age communication. It's very advanced, very convenient, and very...instant. Rarely do things go under the radar, from political movements halfway around the world, to the polar vortex on the other side of the country, even to what Taylor Swift is doing at this very moment in time (not that that's important to me...really). It's very "in the moment" and better yet, it's easy. I can check the weather for a location miles away, look at movie times for a week in advance. I even saw an app this morning that would allow me to video-chat with a doctor from my iPhone and if I had discovered it sooner, would have saved me a trip to urgent care. It's amazing, the things we can do digital-age communication, but it's definitely important to remember that just because it's easy doesn't mean we shouldn't monitor ourselves and others. Once something is online, it's online. General rule of thumb? If you wouldn't want your grandmother to see it, perhaps you shouldn't be posting it online.