I just wanted to show you the power of the Internet.I am the real brian dvorak…I would like to thank Gordon for inviting to this event. He didn’t invite me because I’m buddist, but rather because I’m a self-proclaimed geek.Let me tell you what my passion is - it’s working with teachers to help them make use of the amazing instructional tools available to us thanks to modern technology. It’s really about helping teachers make the instructional shift. And that is what I’m here to talk about today. Because it really is an instructional paradigm shift that we as educators must adapt to.
So many things have changed and advanced since this scenario…Traditional - Lecturing, desks face instructor, learning takes place in classroom or from reading a book
21st century classroom – We should be using different environments for instruction. ebooks, Multimedia,anytime learning via computer and mobile devices, teacher is facilitator – students do not face teacher
I think this video illustrates well how classroom technologies have changed…Its all about how you access information…
Student makeup is... Listen, Read, Take Notes, Memorize, Wait to be taught, a sponge we threw information at.
21st century learners have a different mind set. Collaborative, Investigative, Instantaneous, global, connected, creative, innovative, self directed – notice that I used the term learner instead of student.
This is one of my favorite videos that Illustrates this change… Video on modern learner – Student/Learner 3.0
(give a man a fish and you have fed him for today; teach a man to fish - you have fed him for a lifetime)Chinese proverb
Mark Prensky coined the phrase Digital Natives to describe today’s students… Digital natives spend most of their free time staring at screens, such as computers, smart phones, video cameras, portable media players, and TVs. They spend this time playing video games, watching short video clips, emailing, texting, capturing video and images – all of which are interactive. According to Prensky(2001), as a result of this modern behavior, “today’s students think and process information fundamentally differently than their predecessors” This makes me think of my 6 year old daughter…
Let’s look at some statistics - On average, children ages 8 to 18 spend 4.5 hours a day watching video content, 90 minutes a day on a computer, over 2.5 hours a day listening to audio, and over 70 minutes a day playing video games (Kaiser Family Foundation). Almost 11 hours of total media exposure. 30% of the time they are multitasking.
Top three are significant.Last item is old technology.
Part of their day is spent using social networking applications. Among teenagers, 73 percent use social networking sites. By a show of hands, how many of you use facebook? Here we also see that 82% of 14-17 year olds use social networking sites.
Now, what about the teachers. Are they digital natives? Maybe not, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t adapt. Let’s consider this short video if you will…So this is a great example of a 20th cent. Educator vs. a 21st cent. Educator. And I think the key difference is that educators need to become learners also. Many colleagues I work with are afraid to admit that their students know more than they do.
So students have become learners. But have instructors changed with them? Has the instructional process changed with them? I ask of you, in general has the instructional process changed to keep up with the ever-changing student?Start Poll Everywhere.
Some institutions have really made radical changes to keep up… (online degree)instructors have also changed but not as readily as the generation they teach. Why is this? This is because technology moves too fast. I personally make great efforts to keep up with technology - I spend an hour a day listening to technology podcasts and about 30 minutes a day reading blog posts that I get through Twitter. Yet I still feel like I’m behind the curve. I didn’t grow up with the Internet. I was born in 1968.I believe that there are two key inventions that have really excellerated technology.
handheld devices and broadband InternetBroadband Internet and mobile devices have provided us with the ability to be constantly connected, get instant answers, collaborate, attend webinars, shop on amazon, bid on items on ebay, and the list goes on. – How many of you have a phone that allows you to browse the internet? - talk about smart phones (who was that actor) , earthquake and twitter
With these current technologies in place we have the power to..Communicate
Connect
Collaborate
And Create
Globally
Example of all these concepts rolled into one… VoicethreadThis combines all the four CsCommunicateConnectCollaborateCreate
So what can we do to change with the instructional shift?All we have to do is embrace the new order by becoming learners. We need to let go of the fact that digital natives pick up technology faster than we do. Once you become a learner you instantly loose that insecurity.
So what’s the best way to learn? Attending conferences, Reading journals, blogs, newsletters, subscribing to blogs through RSS, etc.Bring it all together with one tool and receive 24/7 professional learning
When I first signed up on Twitter…As time went on I saw Twitter follow icons on my favorite blog sites.I followed tech journalists and followed some of their twitter faves.All of my resources pulled into one stream[Provide Demo]