Living online

We live more and more of our lives online. Case in point, I'm writing this blog for class instead of handing in reflections or notes. There's nothing wrong with this. It actually fits well with many of the things I have been talking about in other classes. Students need to know that what they are doing is relevant and relates the the world outside the classroom. It's also important to give students an audience other than just the teacher. They will put one level of work into what is to be read only by the teacher, and another level if it is to be read by their peers or strangers. Of course, some students will put their best efforts into an assignment read only by their teachers, but they will need to alter what they say and how they say it if their audience changes. By writing a blog, I have this outside audience. My peers are going to see this, and it is open to anyone else who is interested. Of course, this does not necessarily mean it is relevant or meaningful, but it is definitely more so than an assignment I would write just for my teacher.

There are obviously also downsides to living online. It can be very distracting to be constantly plugged in. If you always need to check your e-mail or your texts it can be very distracting. It's hard to focus on homework when you have access to so many forms of communication and entertainment. But our students are becoming more and more familiar with this world. I have to admit, I have some familiarity with it. While I'm typing this, I'm also having a conversation by IM. As a student, a would do math homework while watching TV, admittedly mostly during commercials. I can't say I do this a lot, but I feel like I've done enough to have some understanding of the world our students are now growing up in.

Living online has so many opportunities and dangers, but this seems to be they way we are going. Let's take advantage of as many opportunities as we can in our teaching. At the same time, in our classrooms, we need to teach our students to navigate the dangers.