Throughout my journey of higher education, I have consistently completed task that were required. As I entered my PLE, I decided to complete a topic that I was going to be teaching to my sixth grade class. I figured this would be a great way for me to learn more about a topic, and in turn pass it onto my students. However, as I reviewed the syllabus, I realized that I am able to complete a PLE on any topic of interest, so officially I am changing my topic. My new topic is going to be "Wine Making", which is one of my biggest hobbies as a young professional.
As I was pondering the requirements of this course, I gazed across my basement and saw my carboy full of six gallons of Cabernet Sauvignon, which I am allowing to age before bottling. Over the course of my exploration of a vintner, I have had some really well formed wines, and some that leave much to be desired. Therefore, I am going to utilize this PLE to explore learning environments, while enhancing my knowledge and skills regarding wine making.
Truly, I can openly state that I am very excited to begin my exploration of the strategies, collaboration, and information to enhance my effectiveness in this hobby.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Week Three- Digital Responsibility
As our world becomes more competitive and intellectually advanced, the key to success will be based on a foundation of specialized knowledge in given subject areas. This is the beauty of this PLE and scientific inquiry, where the learner is the center of learning, with the focus being on the depth and breadth of their knowledge in a specialized area. This specialized knowledge is what will drive innovation, creativity, and success in the 21st century .
The tools listed inside this module are fantastic examples of the driving factor of inquiry. Inquiry is most successful when the user has an interest and feels ownership of knowledge. The listed websites allow for efficient and effective growth in knowledge, regarding particular topics. Collecting information and organizing it online, is the beauty behind the social bookmarking, digital note taking, and web clipping.
Personally, I find the social bookmarking feature to be the most beneficial to me within my current setting. By establishing an account in Google Reader, the RSS feeds are constantly incoming to keep me up to date on the most current happenings in my fields of interest. Along with allowing for instantaneous updates, social bookmarking provides an organizational structure for said information. I think digital note taking and web clipping serve a beneficial means by emphasizing the most salient points within a given article. This ability to highlight the salient points in each article provides the ability to specialize on subtopics within each broader topic.
This was the first time I have experienced the site Diigo, which I found to be fascinating. Sites like Diigo, will greatly increase digital literacy and learning in future generations of students. As the wave of the educational future follows the path of digitized text and open source forums, it will be crucial for students to be able to read and comprehend materials they find online. Diigo allows users to highlight, "snap shot", outline, organize, and place "post it notes" on key ideas within the text. As mentioned, this only begins to scratch the true surface of Diigo. All of the information you store within this program is stored in the "cloud", which makes it accessible from any location with internet access: including mobile phones.
The tools listed inside this module are fantastic examples of the driving factor of inquiry. Inquiry is most successful when the user has an interest and feels ownership of knowledge. The listed websites allow for efficient and effective growth in knowledge, regarding particular topics. Collecting information and organizing it online, is the beauty behind the social bookmarking, digital note taking, and web clipping.
Personally, I find the social bookmarking feature to be the most beneficial to me within my current setting. By establishing an account in Google Reader, the RSS feeds are constantly incoming to keep me up to date on the most current happenings in my fields of interest. Along with allowing for instantaneous updates, social bookmarking provides an organizational structure for said information. I think digital note taking and web clipping serve a beneficial means by emphasizing the most salient points within a given article. This ability to highlight the salient points in each article provides the ability to specialize on subtopics within each broader topic.
This was the first time I have experienced the site Diigo, which I found to be fascinating. Sites like Diigo, will greatly increase digital literacy and learning in future generations of students. As the wave of the educational future follows the path of digitized text and open source forums, it will be crucial for students to be able to read and comprehend materials they find online. Diigo allows users to highlight, "snap shot", outline, organize, and place "post it notes" on key ideas within the text. As mentioned, this only begins to scratch the true surface of Diigo. All of the information you store within this program is stored in the "cloud", which makes it accessible from any location with internet access: including mobile phones.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Wharton Topic 2- Personal Learning Environment
Nathaniel Wharton
EDG6931
Topic #2
To provide a valid explanation of my personal learning environment, I feel obliged to preface this choice with a brief description of the community in which I teach. According to the latest census, the median family income is approximately $35,000. Along with being economically depressed, it is estimated that only 13% of the population has obtained a college degree. Due to the lack of economic and educational opportunities for residents, much of the most current information is not acquired by residents. Within my science curriculum, I try to build upon action projects to assist students in learning, while passing the information to their guardians.
One of the largest issues our country is facing is the “energy crisis”, which will only grow exponentially over the next decade. This exponential growth in demand for energy will result in higher energy prices. In an already financially disadvantaged area, family budgets will continue to decrease to meet the increasing energy cost. To help prepare my students and their families for the future, I decided to purse Increasing the Energy Efficiency of Homes as my topic of inquiry upon which I hope to build a personal learning environment.
Upon looking over this coursework, I decided to undertake a project that will prove to be educational, interesting, and beneficial to the students and residents of my district. This information will prove beneficial to my family, my fellow residents, and ultimately the environment as a whole. To begin this project, I have issued an “Energy Inventory”, where students interview and collect data about their energy usage. As an example of the need for this project in my ninth period class, there are 624 light bulbs in 22 student homes, which are incandescent versus the energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs. Personally, I am hoping that this PLE will assist me in creating a learning environment for myself, along with members of the community for saving energy.
EDG6931
Topic #2
To provide a valid explanation of my personal learning environment, I feel obliged to preface this choice with a brief description of the community in which I teach. According to the latest census, the median family income is approximately $35,000. Along with being economically depressed, it is estimated that only 13% of the population has obtained a college degree. Due to the lack of economic and educational opportunities for residents, much of the most current information is not acquired by residents. Within my science curriculum, I try to build upon action projects to assist students in learning, while passing the information to their guardians.
One of the largest issues our country is facing is the “energy crisis”, which will only grow exponentially over the next decade. This exponential growth in demand for energy will result in higher energy prices. In an already financially disadvantaged area, family budgets will continue to decrease to meet the increasing energy cost. To help prepare my students and their families for the future, I decided to purse Increasing the Energy Efficiency of Homes as my topic of inquiry upon which I hope to build a personal learning environment.
Upon looking over this coursework, I decided to undertake a project that will prove to be educational, interesting, and beneficial to the students and residents of my district. This information will prove beneficial to my family, my fellow residents, and ultimately the environment as a whole. To begin this project, I have issued an “Energy Inventory”, where students interview and collect data about their energy usage. As an example of the need for this project in my ninth period class, there are 624 light bulbs in 22 student homes, which are incandescent versus the energy saving compact fluorescent bulbs. Personally, I am hoping that this PLE will assist me in creating a learning environment for myself, along with members of the community for saving energy.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
N. Wharton edg6931- Week One Reflections!
- What are your learning goals for this course?
- In what ways are you hoping to connect what you learn here with your own practice?
(1) Initially, the goal of this course will be to provide me with a more current approach to teaching methodology and in facilitating the learning process. Despite graduating seven years ago, it is obvious that technology is modifying and advancing the learning process. I know this is an area of weakness for me, which is why I enrolled in this program- to enhance my educational skills. Personally, I am hoping this class will teach me strategies along with ways of educating that will prepare my students for the 21st century job market. Lastly, I would like how to effectively transfer ownership of the learning process to the students in a motivating, effective, and engaging way. Personally, the last is the most relevant to my reason for enrolling in this course. As an educator, I want students to explore, expand, and create their own knowledge, with the intention that it will foster and encourage innovative thinking.
(2) As the course is titled “Personal Learning Environments for Inquiry K-12”, I am hoping to have students’ create/utilize/explore digital learning environments that encourage their interest, knowledge, and collaboration in regards to topics of interest. While working on the aforementioned topic, I hope to directly implement what I learn to improve my current curriculum. One of my hopes is that this course serves as a “Make and Take” course, where it provides me with educationally relevant ideas and concepts to enrich my current teaching environment.
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