A New Age of Learning...

It's All about Paying Attention... These days we can all say that technology plays a big part in our daily lives. Whether it is for personal use or academic use we're constantly connected to the rest of the world. Whether we realize it or not technology is only seeping into our lives more and more every day. So why not take the time and use it to our advantage??? In the past couple days I've watched several of the videos that were suggested on the syllabus and about three videos really jumped out at me. It's not everyday that you fully realize that; wow look how far I've come in using technology!! But today seems to be one of those days that really made me think how much I use my phone and computer and boy do I use it a lot! I use to research and read my news online, watch videos, and connect with loved ones overseas. It's fascinating and exciting to think how many ways that it can affect our lives. In some ways it also brings a shiver down my spine because we seem to depend on it so much. All these videos  aim at the idea that we're entering or at least have entered an age of digital learners.  We have these powerful tools but don't necessarily use them to the full extent that they should be used. In Pay Attention its a message that is directed to motivate teachers to use technology to engage students in a class subject. It asks the questions of how can we use technology to help students create? How can we engage them in being motivated to learn. For them its about giving students and teachers the opportunity to learn to understand ,and analyze and create new ideas every day by using technology. And why not use these amazing and powerful tools as teachers to our advantage?

 Everyone has a different style of learning...  I can say for myself I'm definitely a visual learner, which is why I think for me technology has become a big part of my learning. There are plenty of students who are Visual learners, Auditory learners,  Read and Write learners and Kinesthetic learners. Technology can satisfy all of these learning styles. There are so many tools that we can use to learn from and we can teach students how to effectively use google,youtube, podcasts, itunesU, etc to research and gain knowledge on a subject. They can connect with other students around the world and discuss with them a particular subject they're learning in class just as in the Networked Student we are creating this community of connectivism. We are here to teach students to learn to differentiate between scholarly articles and facts against what is pure opinion. And that they someday can take all that they've learned and apply to the real world one day. I like the idea that we can create this anytime learning, where we can gain access to lectures and articles by some of the best professors in the world. I think that we shouldn't take these learning opportunities for granted. It is our job to create a balance in the use of technology in class and traditional teaching methods as well. I think as long as there is balance students will always have the opportunity to become well rounded individuals!

The Big Wake Up Call...Some may call this a social media revolution, and I guess in some ways it is. Anyone, anywhere can use their cellphones, ipods, ipads, laptop and create a blog, join a group, use the search engine, and connect with others worldwide.  And that is the beauty of technology, we can embark on new learning adventures everyday from wherever we are in the this world. The wake up call in this really, is that it affects our lives in so many ways, and we have to know that it can either be good or bad. It's our choice to take action and create an environment where we can use technology without having to completely and totally be dependent on it and learn to think for ourselves and use our imagination.