A member of my PLN Kyle Dunbar @edtechdunny invited me to participate in a virtual book study of this book with members of her school district. Several others from outside her district also took her up on her invitation. We are reading several chapters at a time and then meeting to discuss our reading via Blackboard.
After reading just the first two chapters, I am already hooked. I love that the authors have included QR codes, links to outside resources--including their NING
An important quote from the book that I am reflecting on is from Dr. Eric Brunsell, College of Wisconsin. "We need to educate the 'net generation' differently not so much because 'they' are different, but because the world is different." This made me think about another excellent book I read recently Understanding the Digital Generation.
The world is different and it continues to change at an astounding pace. My son is 25 years old; my daughter, 21. When they were starting Kindergarten the Internet was just in its infancy.My kids and I were talking recently about all the things that were invented since they entered school. We talked about the Internet and Web 2.0 tools/Social Media sites, Smartboards, iPads, Smartphones, etc… I asked my kids which of these tools they got to use in their classrooms. I was shocked at their response…”None.” They said the teachers got to use some of these, but not them. They had to wait until they got home.
I am sad to think about the lost opportunities my kids had to reach out and connect globally while they were in school. They had wonderful teachers, and while they have both grown to be very successful adults, I do wonder how much more they could have grown with these opportunities.
I am looking forward to reading more, participating in the challenges in the upcoming chapters, and collaborating with my colleagues through our weekly book chat. I will continue to blog through the process.
This book is part of my Book a Month Challenge.
So glad you joined the club Lesa! Looking forward to many more rich conversations, posts and tweets about how we can break down classroom walls and get students using and thinking about the tools most of us use every day!
ReplyDeleteLesa, I hope to connect with you during the virtual book club sessions. Thank you for your positive comments about our book so far! Don't forget to join our educators Ning http://flatclassrooms.ning.com/ where you can interact with others and share your thoughts about flattening the classrooms walls.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Julie Lindsay