Do As I Say - Not As I Was Taught - CCK08
This week started off as any other week, get up, make breakfast and check my e-mail while eating...
However this week I was forced into a Moodle Forum beyond my control. Before I rant and rave like many before me I must say that I usually follow the current week and unsubscribe to past weeks to ensure that I am staying current, as well as filtering many many messages that would enter my in box. In the short time that everyone still in the course was forced to participate, I like many others became upset at being manhandled into something that was not our choice, that was not our network, to have had our own limited power taken away from us. We started wide eyed, and fancy free, then bam.. pillow sack over the head and taken to a dark room to sweat it out... I understand why the approach was taken, however that does not leave the bitter taste in my mouth turning into sweet gumballs of heaven. An Open Course is well supposed to be Open, regardless of the lessons supposedly taught. So I wonder, how many of the lurkers, the looky-loos the passer-by's have stopped coming at all... Was this lesson more important than the learning of others, was it more important than each of our own learning techniques, which I have heard repeatedly should be thought of first. So how can I apply this lesson to my class. Am I supposed to feel sorry for my students that they do not have control over their own learning. My Answer at this time is NO. They are 12 years old, to them the power is on because they can plug something into the wall and it works... They have no conceptual understanding of much of anything other than their own limited space... Now before I get comments galore on this, think about it, how many times do you see teenagers in an open space, acting wild, talking loudly, being exaggerated versions of themselves... ALL THE TIME... why.... BECAUSE THEY THINK THEY ARE THE CENTER OF THE WORLD AND WE ACTUALLY CARE WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT... Now not to hurt their's or your delicate feelings ...I DON'T CARE...
These are
the people you want to guide their own learning, they cannot even dress
themselves most of the time... And no I am not talking pre-school I am
talking Teenagers... The Average North American Teenager....
I have heard through the grape vine that Connectivism will not work at
a K-12 level, pure connectivism, not groups, no teacher guidance, just
students forming connections and knowledge run freeth... I agree...
At this time I feel this is an excellent learning theory for Adult
Education, for Individuals with Professional Development goals, not my
students, who have a hard time remembering their homework when it is
both posted in the classroom, and online...
Please someone PROVE ME WRONG....
Posted by Tom Whyte
