Video Reaction “Welcome to my PLE”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEIs3tq5wIY

The internet undoubtedly is a very dynamic, interactive, social place, where teachers and students can communicate, share information, and challenge each other's ideas. There is no doubt that Teachers can use this medium to guide student learning by posing problems, encouraging student creativity, and offering opportunities for students to find solutions to numerous problems through research and discovery. It is therefore quite evident that the Internet can assist both students and teachers in reaching their educational objectives.

In looking at the video “Welcome to my PLE” the use of technology in the teaching/learning process is impressive. In my opinion this is not the typical twelve year old student. This student is organized, her information for socializing is separate from school work and her manipulation of the internet is remarkable.

Based on the information presented, this twelve year old has utilized a number of networks in her everyday learning. She has created and publish documents using Google account, she has utilized delicious for research and book markings, created blogs, made online presentations, digital posters, sent email and videos and even web calling on Skype. This to me is outstanding work for a student at that age. She obviously enjoys learning in this setting because of what she describes as a lot of freedom. I think the feeling of being "in charge" of her own learning is what motivates her. I can’t help thinking, how many twelve year old is this verse on utilizing the internet in such a responsible organized manner.

As a teacher I am inclined to say this should be typical of the everyday classrooms, especially in an age where the use of technology is so predominant and with school administrators’ imploring teachers to include more technology in their lessons. This however, is not typical because many state laws governing the use of internet in schools are still very restrictive. For example in the county I work for, outright forbids the use of social networks like Facebook and Skype at school. Staff and students alike are blocked from accessing these sites.

I would absolutely love to have this student and thirty others like her in my class. She seems structured, responsible and very mature for her age. Each process she explained seem thoughtful and well put together and I must say this is not the average twelve year old student.

What excited me about this video was how motivated she was; she was also very pleased with her work and even commented that she enjoyed the beauty of having everything online. My concern is, how many students would be so committed and responsible; with the internet being used for so many other things. She spoke about the freedom of being able to get information from "anywhere" on the net; as an educator I would be concerned about student coming across information that they don’t need to be seeing or reading. This to me is the greatest concern. With the many student restrictions from a number of social websites at school where I now work, I have learned that the more the students learn, the more they are able to manipulate the system and view what they want. The reality is that with a lot of these new applications that gives students such freedom, also comes numerous responsibilities; this twelve year old student admits that it can often be distracting adding to my concerns as well.

While we will have a few great students, the truth is that a number of them will get bored and distracted and will stray from what they should be doing. The use of the internet by this student is exactly what web 2.0 is about; the ease to which it can be used by almost anyone. In my opinion this twelve year old has modeled how easy it is to use and manipulate this application for various purposes. However easy to use, we can’t pretend that not all student will do like they are suppose to. Think about it, if they are distracted in our daily one on one classes why then should we assume it will not be the same when given such freedom?

Web 2.0 Video from Youtube

To be honest it took me about three viewings and a lot of readings to get what this video was about. In doing that I finally got it, at least the basic concept. My understanding of the Web 2.0 web applications video on YouTube is that it highlights the main features of the application which is that it that facilitate interactive information. It gives users the open option to network or work in partnership with each other in a social media setting. The video highlighted the fact that web 2.0 is very user friendly and that it allows the user the opportunity to be “in charge”. Even amateurs can contribute to the world of technology; For me this is very important because it speaks also to the fact that one does not necessarily have to be a “computer whiz” to be a part of using and/or including technology in ones everyday life.
In reflecting on the video, it became evident that, although we often don’t think about it, we know a lot more about the web than we think. I am always, the first to say I know nothing about computers or the web but after viewing this video, the truth is I know a lot more than I thought. The technical stuff no, but the fact is I find myself on the social network site “ Facebook” almost daily, I have a “twitter” account that I use occasionally to follow my favorite movie stars and celebrities, evidence to the fact that I am a part of this big phenomenon.

The video suggests “we are the web”, and until today I never really thought about it in that regard. I have sent pictures and messages to my family and friends, posted YouTube videos, commented on blogs and various articles and it never dawned on me that “we really are the web”; that it is a collection of all our ideas with people linking and connecting all over.

Finally, another aspect of the video I found quite interesting was that it made me think about the whole concept of copyrights. On the web, articles and blogs are generally free, people write and post valuable information everyday. The question is, with all the blogging, texting and posting how do we prevent others from stealing our ideas? Ethics, governance and privacy were also a few big concerns for me as a read various articles and reflected on the message in the video. We have become so free with this application and with technology in general that anything is possible. The reality is this technology is far ahead of our legal system and it is my opinion that if we are to truly utilize all the positives we must also visit the negatives. Web 2.0 undoubtedly has numerous advantages, what about the disadvantages.