Blog Reflection # 7 Educational Philosophy Revisited

The purpose of education is to enable the children of today to evolve into the adults of tomorrow who are capable of utilizing the broad foundation of knowledge they have acquired to analyze the ever-changing world around them, evaluate their interaction within it, and create advances for the improvement of human life.   As a realist, I believe that the strong foundation on which students build their own educational background should be an amalgamation of concrete basic knowledge, philosophical constructs, and practical applications.  Knowledge with no true real world application is knowledge easily forgotten and dismissed.

Learners must be empowered. As a constructivist, I believe learners must take their personal education into their own hands and, much like a blacksmith, forge and shape it to fit their unique individuality. Every child has the possibility to fashion an education that is uniquely individualized for only them.  Consciousness of others and a regard for the precious individuality of all should be developed throughout the life of a learner.  Learners must also be aware of the serious, complex, tension-filled global world in which all humans live.

Teachers should be leading learners, challengers, coaches, mentors, enablers, and energizers.  Teachers must engage students and foster a desire and love not only of learning knowledge, but also learning through experiences.  Teachers must ensure that students feel they are unique and special and that their communication sharing how they see and interpret the world around them is deeply valued. 

Teachers should be lifelong learners.  Continually improving one’s self personally and professionally sets an example for today’s students to follow as they become the next generation of educators, policy makers, and parents.  Teachers must be open and ready to try new methods, practices, and ideas.  Educational stagnation cripples innate curiosity and the spirit of learning and education.

Teachers should enjoy sharing knowledge not only about subject matter but also how it relates to many aspects in real, everyday life.  Teaching should include interwoven technology and communication relationships.  Students today function in a global world that has technology enmeshed into almost every aspect of life and these children must be prepared to live in a digital world where they will be required to function intimately with some form of technology communication relationships every day.  It must become second nature to them.

Education is the one aspect of life that has the greatest positive and long-lasting benefits for a civilization as a whole.  No other single social endeavor can produce the greatest amount of benefits for a civilization as that of carefully, thoroughly, and continually educating its population.

Blog Reflection #6: Podcasting

What are your thoughts on the future of podcasting in education?

cs.sru.edu

I believe that podcasting has strong future in the field of education.  Teachers on my campus are recording lessons to be accessed on the school’s webpage so kids can review lessons at home as a refresher or view  for the first time if they were at home sick and missed the initial lesson.  This ability really helps those students who are absent from school quite often for various reasons to stay current with the rest of their classmates.  It also benefits those students who need a review of the lesson (from their actual teacher) when they get ready to do their homework.  We have also had a teacher record her lesson when she knew she was going to be out for an extended time.  That way her students would not miss out on valuable instruction while the substitute was there.  The only problem we have encountered is that there are many students who do not have access to the internet at home and cannot make use of this extra resource.  As the article mentioned, teachers could use only an audio podcast which would allow more students accessibility since iPods and mp3 players are much less expensive and consequently more available to some students than computers are.

This application of podcasts does not have the negative aspect of contributing to students cutting class.  In middle school, our students are still required to be present a certain percentage of class time.  Our educational podcasts fall more into the categorization of supplemental or review material.  “Supplemental materials have a much better track record of positively influencing learning outcomes and stu­dent performance” (Deal, 2007, p. 8).

How will you integrate podcasting in your current classroom?

I must admit that I am not one of the technological leaders within my campus yet.  I stress yet, because my lack of technology knowledge is one of the reasons I am taking this class.  I am all for making podcasts of English and Reading classroom lessons for my students who are absent.  I also plan on using podcasts with students as a cross curricular activity with the computer teacher.  She has the capability for students to create their own podcasts of characters and books they have read while in my class.  This would be a great alternative to the traditional written book report.  This idea will also help with some of my students that are limited English proficient.   Having them turn their work in as an audio podcast would allow for easier sharing with and translation by bilingual faculty members.  

Deal, A. (2007). Podcasting. Teaching With Technology, June, 1-15.