The TEDx presentation of From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able by Michael Wesch was as well thought out as the content itself. From various visual cues: pictures, collages, videos, quick switches between two still images like an animated diptych, text projected like poetry; it was all very engaging because it further emphasized the affects of what Media could do. His reflection in regards to his adult students and their engagement, reminded me of the importance of how younger generations need even more motivation.
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One aspect to consider is in changing the space in which learning takes place. My classroom is arranged in a rectangle, where everyone sits on the exterior and faces inward, there is no assigned seating. This formation, like a circle, requires the “authority figure,” myself, to sit side by side with the students as an equal. I’ve noticed that this takes away any fear of them approaching me; and that proximity also plays a roll in engagement and interactions between my students and myself, and between themselves.
Aside from that, what I would need to reformat is how digital devices are perceived in the classroom, and that with appropriate guidance, they should be encouraged and not hidden. That’s where I struggle and because I work in the home economics division of applied skills, there just hasn’t been the need to implement technology. Despite this, I think it is even more important to show my students how it could be incorporated and that learning any topic should be taken beyond the classroom space. This was provoked by Wesch’s explanation of how “Media are not just means of communication” and it is “not just tools.” Here I was thinking of it, not only as a singular identity, but of something that could aide me in a task rather than a means of “creating meaning,” a source to “mediate relationships,” an influential conversation between a multitude, and a need to “go beyond critical thinking.”
Some possibilities that I could start using in my own classroom include streaming in guests from around the world to lead workshops, creating projects that could be sent to programs or individuals in need, having students stream live one-on-one workshops with younger students abroad, setting up a mentorship/tutoring program with their devices to answer and aide each other. Eventually, with the “practice” Welsch suggested, we could make what is hard, easier to do; which includes making the materials and skills taught in class easier to learn. Also with practice, it would be easier for myself to establish these goals into my classes.
Reference
TEDxKC – Michael Wesch – From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able. (2010, October 12). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI8
Aside from that, what I would need to reformat is how digital devices are perceived in the classroom, and that with appropriate guidance, they should be encouraged and not hidden. That’s where I struggle and because I work in the home economics division of applied skills, there just hasn’t been the need to implement technology. Despite this, I think it is even more important to show my students how it could be incorporated and that learning any topic should be taken beyond the classroom space. This was provoked by Wesch’s explanation of how “Media are not just means of communication” and it is “not just tools.” Here I was thinking of it, not only as a singular identity, but of something that could aide me in a task rather than a means of “creating meaning,” a source to “mediate relationships,” an influential conversation between a multitude, and a need to “go beyond critical thinking.”
Some possibilities that I could start using in my own classroom include streaming in guests from around the world to lead workshops, creating projects that could be sent to programs or individuals in need, having students stream live one-on-one workshops with younger students abroad, setting up a mentorship/tutoring program with their devices to answer and aide each other. Eventually, with the “practice” Welsch suggested, we could make what is hard, easier to do; which includes making the materials and skills taught in class easier to learn. Also with practice, it would be easier for myself to establish these goals into my classes.
Reference
TEDxKC – Michael Wesch – From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-Able. (2010, October 12). Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeaAHv4UTI8