C4T #1

I was assigned to Dean Shareski's Blog for my EDM 310 C4T assignment. Here are two of Deans blog posts that I commented on.

C4T#1 Post#1

Should Teachers Own Their Learning

I commented first on Dean's post that was titled, Should Teachers Own Their Learning. The main emphasis of Dean's post was directed toward the idea that school districts and school administrators should trust teachers to direct there own PD. Dean made the case that teachers are constantly put under far too much stress, and have to deal with far too many issues that are not necessarily productive ways of allowing their students to freely learn. Students are slammed to a schedule and constantly forced to learn material that will be on a subject area test, and the students are never encouraged to LEARN freely.
In my comment on this post I ensured Dean Shareski that I agree with Him. I told him my reason for commenting on his blog and my aim to one day become an educator. I included the testimony of personal teachers that I come in contact with regularly and there experiences on this area. I added a link to my personal blog and informed him that I really enjoyed His blog post.Here is my comment...

Hello Dean, my name is Keeley Bryan. I am a student at the University of
South Alabama, and I am preparing to become a high school history
teacher. I came across your blog because of an assignment in my
EDM310 class at the University. I appreciate and agree with the
points that you made in this blog post. I believe that school
districts and school administrators should allow teachers to direct
their own PD. Friends of mine that are teachers attest to the fact
that school districts place way too much stress on teachers and do
not allow them to own their own learning. I gathered some great
information from your blog post and I look forward to reading more of
your blog posts. Feel free to check out my blog at this link

C4T#1 Post#2

Understanding the Digital Divide

Dean started this blog post by stating his love for writing, and how writing and blogging have become a critical part of his growth. In this post he goes on to describe the confrence FETC that he attended last week. He made the comment that over the years this conference has dwendled down in attendence. In previous years he has been in awe at the conference because of the emerging hardware and software that offered some new possibilities, but he went on to say that the most recent conferences were not enjoyable and did not benefit him in the areas that an education conference should. Dean went on to speak about the Educon conference in Philadelphia. Dean says that It's not a perfect conference but it serves the needs of many who are looking to connect deeply with people and ideas. Dean wanted to make it clear in his blog post that just because he found the format and style of Educon more to his liking doesn't mean that FETC conference doesn't have value. He stated also that his role of discovery needs to find more ways to reach diverse groups. Dean added that all of that was to say that the digital divide is vast. Dean went on to say “Somehow I need to prepare myself to address that and it begins with a more sympathetic attitude towards those just beginning to see that things could be different”.

My comment on Dean's blog post attested to the fact that I agreed with him concerning the goal of these technology centered education conferences, but I went on to add my opinion of education when it comes to technology. I went a little further into the subject than Dean did. Here is what I commented...

Like your last post that I commented on, concerning teachers owning their own learning, I completely enjoyed this blog post. I admire your passion to attend and uplift a conference that emphasize educators connecting deeply with people and ideas. Coming from a rural high school in Mississippi, I agree that there are schools that have minimum access to new technology that would aid in student learning. I personally feel that technology should be included into the class room within reason. I feel that there should be a balance between lecture, discussion, and technology. In my opinion there is not an adequate balance of all three aspects in the class room, and generally across America technology is the element lacking.

best,
Keeley Bryan

Here is a link to my blog