The week on basic tools is winding down but it’s not over yet. This post from 2006 is, amazingly, still current.
Personal Learning Environments.
As we talk about tools and as we think about the issues many of you face in rural and poor communities, remember that tools alone — no matter how good — are useless. Your stove will not cook dinner by itself. Your computer will not learn anything. A personal learning environment may be no more complex than a spiral binder and a library card. As you construct your basic tool box lists, don’t overlook simple tools because they don’t require electricity.
Personal learning environments (now sometimes called Personal Learning Networks) are still a hot topic in the Edublogosphere. There are some questions at the end you might consider as you’re trying to find things to write about.
September 11th, 2008 at 9:47 AM
“Are there things that a teacher needs that a learner doesn’t? What about the reverse? How can you – as learner – take advantage of teachers’ toolboxes and vice versa as teacher?”
I have thought about this, and actually blogged about it more in my own personal blog. I think that a teacher and student can have similar toolboxes. I think a teacher has to have a more complex toolbox, because they have to learn and assist others in their learning. As a student, your toolbox needs to suit your personal learning needs. A student can use a teacher’s toolbox, but they only need to take out of it what is beneficial to them. A teacher’s toolbox must have tools to help every student be successful.
September 12th, 2008 at 8:14 AM
I posted about the tools that I use in my classroom and for this class. Basically the same set of tools. Some have dust collecting on them, they may or may not get used at the others. Pencil and paper seem to be the recurring tool that is used the most. For obvious reasons. I am not a fan of power points. The Army has causes death by power point. I have never used it in my classroom, for that very reason. I know that some teachers think that power points are great tools, I just don’t agree with that. Especially for the classes that I have taught, just never found an appropriate use for them.