Empowering Students and Teachers

According to www.dictionary.com, empower means to give power or authority to; to enable or permit. Now isn’t this exactly what we as teachers need to do for our students. Empower them to become responsible for their own learning. In my class I tell me students, if you don’t know the answers don’t feel ashamed, embarrassed, or not intelligent but feel empowered that you don’t know the answer but have the ability to learn the answer. For some reason, the more and more I keep saying this in my class, the more students are willing to share that they do not know or do not understand and this allows me to have the other students that know the answers, to teach each other.

In his book, Empowering Students with Technology, Alan November gives many suggestions on how we need to allow students to take control of their own learning through the use of technology. But in order for them to do this, they need to understand how to use the technology the proper way. One way, like Michelle – Skyping with Alan November, had stated in her blog is “that it’s so important for students to learn about validating their information through multiple reference sources.” Students do take for granted, and I am sure many adults, that what they read on-line is the truth. How many people will state to you, “I read it on-line”; As if all of a sudden this technology has come along with all the right answers to all of the worlds questions. Some of that may be true but unfortunately there is no on-line police to catch those that do not share the truth. Students are just as easily able to believe what they read on-line as anyone else, and teaching students how to do it the right way will empower them to succeed. Mr. November discuss the importance of understanding how to read a URL correctly and what you should be looking for; who wrote it, the domain name – private or commercial, and the institution it is coming from. How many students know the breakdown of a web address/url? I know I did not until I started reading books like Mr. November’s. These are the things we need to be teaching our students in our classrooms if we want them to be empowered.  I have been searching on line for more information on this but have yet to come across anything as well as Mr. November had written about.

Mr. November had so many great points in his book. There has been talk about how in the future some classes may be offered on-line. He did make some great points when he mentioned on-line learning and how peer interaction on-line becomes an even playing field for students. All the students are in there together and there are no "clicks" to join. You work on the projects either independently or collaborative. Technology helps students to take down the barriers that may otherwise hinder their collaboration in a face-to-face arena. And although this is a plus for some students there are some disadvantages toward on-line courses.

It is books like Alan November’s and sites like Aviva Dunsingers’s, that allow us as teachers to learn how to empower our students in the learning process, as well as empowering ourselves within our profession.

I unfortunately was not able to stay for the whole SKYPE session with Alan November, What were you thoughts about the SKYPE experience? What is the main point you got out of your conversation with him? Do you think technology empowers students or teachers more?