Week 6 Reflection

The reality is the internet and web has an impact on education now and into the future. While it is not entirely integrated into a student’s school day now it may soon be. Let’s think about the school media center and/or learning commons.  The library card catalog is non-existent to today’s student and most if not all don’t even know what one is. They have never experienced it much like many of the students in elementary school now may rarely experience a video tape.  Many schools now have virtual libraries that allow students access too many resources.  The other reality we have to move away from the concept of competing with all the technology kids have and learn how to incorporate it. I currently have students turn in work online through my email. This is a win for both me and the students. For me it makes their assignments extremely portable and gives me access wherever there is internet. It also gives students an extension on the due time, so they have some additional time to submit from home. In many schools students have access to an eboard. Student’s have access to all of the materials used in class including video links and all classroom materials. Students who are out have access to the same material being use in the room while they are gone. This again saves me time having to assemble materials for students when they are absent.  I can now also access my gradebook and school email from my phone.  Everything involved in my teaching practice is highly portable. These are just a few ways the internet is being used currently and will only be built on in the future. In reflection of the Reiser chapter these all also work to solve instructional problems.

As cited by Reiser the constructivists emphasize an authentic learning design.  The internet allows this to happen. The amount of educational information including video, pictures, and literature available today already exceeds the capacity of educators to use it. That is not saying it is all good, but as the craft is refined it really will allow teaching and learning to advance beyond what was considered possible 20 years ago.  Gutenbergs printing press was a technological breakthrough that changed the world because it made text portable and accessible to large numbers of people. It also changed the way people taught and learned. I am sure that it was a scary time for teachers. The internet has sent these same ripples through the educational field today. Online courses are being used and expanding in both the workplace and schools.  It is a time of uncertainty about whether we will take a path of learning with the internet or from it. The balance moving forward will be that between humanity and technology.