Quote- “They are homo sapiens, homo faber, and homo ludens-or humans who know, humans who make(things), and humans who play.” pg90 This chapter is all about these three types of humans and how they are evolving through technology. People are not simply learning facts anymore but they are learning where to find information and how to use it to make new things.
Question- Is knowing where information can be found, as good as knowing the information itself?
Connection- I have been thinking about the concept of knowing facts versus being able to find out information quickly and easily for a while now. My parents are always saying how kids do not know anything about history, or other topics anymore because they cannot recall the information when asked a random question. I have always thought that if they could just find the information just as easily then it would be as good as knowing it off of the top of their head. I am still trying to figure out if that is just as useful.
Epiphany- Just knowing information is not enough to be considered an educated person. People are capable of so much more when they learn how to ask questions and problem solve on their own to create new things.
Chapter 8
Quote- “The richness of experience and social agency produced by hanging out and the sense of embodiment and personal agency created by messing around, combined with the sense of making, produces what we think is the ultimate goal of indwelling, learning.” pg 104 This quote demonstrate how learning is taking place with little to no effort from the individual. Learning is a natural human process and we as future educators need to learn how to use the skills that students already have to allow them to learn in a guided but still creative fashion.
Question- Does everyone use technology to “geek out” on topics they find interesting?
Connection- This chapter obviously makes me think about the names of the badges that we have to complete in this course and they make a lot more sense to me know. I can see that they are not random but have to do with our familiarity of the subject matter of the course.
Epiphany- Technology is allowing individuals to research and learn about subjects that were previously unavailable to the general public. Personally, I am interested in medical and dietary research and I realize now that if it were not for technology I would not be able to learn about those topics unless I was taking courses on it.
Chapter 9
Quote- “Only when we care about experimentation, play, and questions more than efficiency, outcomes, and answers do we have a space that is truly open to the imagination. And where imaginations play, learning happens.” pg 118 This chapter talks about the need for imagination and play in children as well as adults. We need to start focusing less on recalling the correct answer and start moving towards asking the right questions and experimenting with how to find the answer.
Question- How do we transfer the large body of information found online to real world application and day to day interactions?
Connection- In my classroom experience as both the teacher and the student, everyone loves games. This chapter goes into detail about how play can help students learn and I have to agree that it is one of the best ways to engage students in effortless learning.
Epiphany- The future of learning is not necessarily all technology based but it is about letting students play, create and design new things. By doing this in the classroom, students will become engaged in the topic and be more willing to participate in subjects that they previously did not enjoy.