Dr. Zhao was very convincing as he expressed his thoughts about the direction our educational system should be heading and changing! During his first podcast, I was particularly interested in his ideas about the need for students to be pushed towards more creative and diverse knowledge in order for them to be prepared to interact and compete in a globalized market. Our students will someday be competing within this globalized setting (possibly in jobs that do not even exist today!), and I agree with Dr. Zhao that we as teachers should be helping to prepare our students for interaction on a global level.
In his second podcast, I was struck by Dr. Zhao's points about the importance of each student being able to contribute to the environment. He pointed out that students should have the opportunity to be "powerful agents" and not just be receivers of information. When students are able to contribute, they are much more invested and more likely to become active and involved participants. Technology can help us achieve this goal!
Dr. Zhao's information about virtual learning environments in his third podcast was very interesting as well. He explained the learning of language through a virtual setting, where items objects could be touched/pronounced and the learner would be free to take risks in virtual immersion. I believe this kind of setting would be very powerful!
Many learners come to our classrooms as "digital thinkers" and I agree with Dr. Zhao that we as educators need to think more innovatively to be able to engage learners in meaningful and collaborative ways.
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I agree that students need to be contributors as well. I think students are more invested in the topic when they have something to offer. They become more active in the project or conversation when the topic is important to them.
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