Blog Post #6

This Is How We Dream
I thought that Dr. Miller did an excellent job with his videos. I thought that it was necessary for him to begin my talking about how we all dream of one day having a job that requires us to use books. I found it a little humerus in his video when he talked about the book that he has written about learning and how it is no longer being printed you can now purchase it for less than a dollar on Amazon.com. I like how he did not video himself, but showed video of different ways to use the internet to connect people and resources.
Dr. Miller made great points about the importance and access of teachers sharing information by use of the internet. I really like that he admitted that he knew there would be some complications and that he did not know how it would begin to work to the extent he was talking about. Books and reading are quickly changing. I think that with Kindle Readers and the iPad the number of books and the necessity of books is only going to decline. I have been flying every couple of months for the past year or so. Every flight that I am on multiple people on the plane have Kindles or iPads that they use to read books. I know that Dr. Miller was referring more towards newspapers, reference books and texts books, but I have been thinking a lot lately about the decline in the amount of leisure books I have seen.
I do not believe that I am ready to write with multimedia to the extent that Dr. Miller described. I feel confident in many areas of online research and sharing ideas; however, I do not think that I would be able to survive if that were my only means of writing. I am sure that with more understanding and help then I would be able to exceed. I hope that by the time writing solely with multimedia that I will be able to as well as teach my students.

The Networked Student
I do not know if I am prepared to be a teacher of a networked student. I think that this is a great idea and can work very well. I believe that it is teaching students at an earlier age how to find an implement great research that is available to them. I am curious as to what the students would do the 3 days that they are in the classroom. Do they talk about the research or lectures that they have found? Or does the teacher teach?
The question "why does the networked student even need a teacher?" really caught my attention because I had been wondering that same question earlier in the video. Once the video explained the teacher is there to help the students know where to find good research and to guide them more than just teach them I was better able to understand the teacher's role. Many students, especially middle school students, would not always know where to or how to ask for the information that they need. It can also very difficult at time to decipher between true research and fact and opinions.
I can definitely see the benefits of networked students. When I came to college I slowly realized that I had never been taught how to fully research something. As helpful and amazing as Google is, it does not always show you everything you need and it does not teach you what to do with the information that it gives you; however, the networked student is taught early on the proper ways and places to find good research. I love that iTunesU is incorporated into the learning process as well. I am very interested to see the outcome of the networked student.

Michael Wesch
I could relate to a lot of what Dr. Wesch said. It is evident that media has changed the way that people interact and communicate. I have also come to realize that through the use of media, people are becoming more socially connected yet they are not becoming more social. For example, I do no longer have facebook; however, when I did I stayed very connected and in touch with a lot of my friends. Now that I have deleted facebook, I can not recall the last time I talked to most of them. I also think about how many conversations I have with people through texting, but I can not remember the last time we spoke on the phone.
It is amazing to me how Youtube and other forms of media have created their own communities. It was evident in Dr. Wesch's video that people are more open and honest about themselves and their opinions on Youtube and to a webcam than they are having a conversation with someone. I know that I am more comfortable using text messaging, email and facebook to express my opinions than verbalizing them to someone.