Building Connections- Social Networking

When thinking about this whole idea of Connectivism and what that means for teachers in the classroom today, the concept of "social networking" comes into play.  In order to build and create connections that instill and continue the process of learning, social networking is something that teachers need to consider.  I found a social networking group that I feel might be useful to me called Classroom 2.0.  This group is all about how we, as teachers, can take social media and the Web and incorporate these things into our classroom, in order to enhance the learning process.  Furthermore, you have a network of colleagues who are in the same boat as you.  We are all trying to find out new information and resources that will be something that would benefit the classroom environment, and we are all, at the same time, learning from each other.  Through digital dialogue and feedback, I could learn about resources like "Brainpop".  As Alan Levine stated in his video "New Media Consortium", establishing a network of colleagues both in and out of your field is essential because we can't know everything.  It's through these networks that we can keep on learning... obtaining knowledge that will help make us better teachers for our students.

    

A Teacher Is Like A...

A teacher is like a one-man band, in today's world.  We play so may different roles in our classrooms at once, so that it creates a melody.  We play the role of a performer, trying to engage our students to make sure that they are involved in their own learning.  Creating a spark of interest that motivates them to continue learning on a day to day basis.  What we try to instill in our students is the fact that learning isn't just about today, but it's about tomorrow.  As Siemens (2005), stresses in his article on Connectivism, "learning is a continual process, lasting for a lifetime."  The learning shouldn't stop, once the student leaves your classroom... it should keep on going.  As teachers, we need to form those connections to what lies beyond the classroom, in order to show our students the importance of what they are learning in school.  This whole idea of of learning "must be a way of being--an ongoing set of attitudes and actions by individuals and groups..." (Vaill, 1996).

 

Teachers keep the learning current (up-to-date) for their students... showing them how what they are learning is practical and meaningful.  Therefore, a teacher needs to ensure that they are constantly learning themselves, and networking, as Siemens states, is a great and easy way of doing so.  Whether through blogging or other social networks, "learning in a network creation process," as said by Siemens himself in The Network is the Learning.  As a teacher of today, you want to ensure that you are staying current and continuing to learn, so that your students receive the best and most beneficial education.  We are a network of people; it's no longer just about the individual.  Rather, it's about what we can learn from one another, and how adding "a node (person, resource, etc.) to a network increases the entire network exponentially" (Siemens).  Where one benefits, we all benefit.