Dr. Richard Miller's "Is This How We Dream"
See Video Here: Part 1, Part 2


Dr. Richard E. Miller of Rutgers University Department of English talks about moving away from solely print documents and books to multimedia literature. Miller talks about how he used online literature to create a document about Virginia Tech. The idea of using library research has been incrementally changed. Collaboration and web based documents give a wellspring of knowledge in just a few seconds. Web based documents give us the possibility of sharing knowledge with having to search and sometimes wait for a copy of a book at library. Documents can now be composed with images, visuals, and sounds.These documents composed with information on the web are readily circulated as seen in the example Martin Luther King Jr. document. NY Times uses an online document as a source to share information about the last presidential election. Miller describes this as an incremental change, not fundamental change in the way literature is changing.

Materials online are changing instantly. Documents with visual representations can be accessed by anyone. Educators are beginning to use iTunes U to share their academic lectures. Part of these ideas being shared is becoming our culture. Miller suggests that as educators, we should want to share ideas freely and use these materials to produce alternative ones. The only limits and restrictions that are placed on this is ones we put on ourselves. The only real difficulty would be in accessibility. The emerging changes in the classroom will be new ways to form compositions. Students will have to pay attention to auditory aspects of compositions. The beauty of how things are read and compelling ideas will be of importance.

There are now new forms of publications. The pushing of new ideas has become part of the culture. Composing with the web itself is the new trend. Blog sharing is a new way to share ideas. This is a new attempt to share our thoughts and feelings will trying to understand visual literacy. The future will be a blend of humanities and the sciences. The idea of the university is sharing of ideas that belong to know one, but are for everyone.



Networked Student


Learning through 'connectivism' can be done through tools of technology. This 21st century student" is in a class with no textbook. The student is taking control of his learning. He is building a Personal Learning Network. By researching credible sources and bookmarking sites on his topic of interest. He also is searching blogs, which usually reflect opinions rather than facts, but can comment on those that interest him. By managing the blogs that he comments on, he will be notified when they are updated. The 21st century student also uses his ipod to learn. Through audio and video podcasts on iTunes U, he can continue to learn. With iTunes U, he has access to the best professors in the world, like those at Berkley.

Asking others about a topic is good and in the video, it says people love sharing their knowledge and expertise. Utilizing the RSS Reader will also keep you updated on a topic. By posting finding in a blog, someone else can learn from your work. I really enjoyed this video. I liked the simple animations and concept. The idea of learning effectively through the PLN is a great concept to take away from this video. How to ask questions and use technology effectively is an important concept as a student of connectivism.

The idea of using technology to continue learning outside of the classroom is great. I'm not sure how well it will work with young students because I fear they won't want to take the initiative to learn. As a future English teacher, I really want to instill the longing for more knowledge, but the rest will be up to students. Providing the tools and skills of how to get this knowledge is just one step in the process of connectivism. As educators, I think it is really important to encourage students to seek out new knowledge for themselves, just as educators should as in the PLN.

Michael Wesch

"The Machine is (Changing)Us"

Media is affecting our life and changing our culture. The impact of television affects us 30 seconds at time. Planning ahead is critical especially in education. Teachers have "a front row seat" in the classroom and it is a discouraging atmosphere. Students are being lost in this mass. How do we reach these one-in-a-millions? By making the making the classroom more engaging, right? But how? The structure of classrooms isn't exactly friendly to conversation in the typical lecture setting especially if you are one of 200 students. The most engaging classroom that I've been in was a small class of 16, and we would move into a circle and talk about the topic of the day--including the teacher.