The Current World Of The Typical Student

Welcome back readers,

     For this Blog post, I will breakdown and discuss the implications and tools that create the networks for a current student within today's education system, and how this world ever changing will possibly affect the system students are apart of in the future. Before we talk about the student we first need to understand how a teachers network will look and how their network will effect the way they interact and communicate with others to utilize and gather resources. 

     Take a look at the diagram below created by A. Couros that depicts a "Typical Teacher" and their network. 

 (diagram by A. Couros: http://www.flickr.com/photos/courosa/344832659/) 

      From what you can see this is a very basic network, composed of a few   one-way streams and a couple two-way streams. The way this teacher gathers their resources, documents and popular media is a one-way route with no input from the user back to the sources. This method lacks creativity and anyway for the teacher to create and share their own thought or idea in the process. The teacher can only do this with fellow teachers or family as they are local and already known to the teacher. From here if they want, the teacher can share ideas or have input toward issues or topics the typical teacher is related to with others. They are unable to share insight to others outside of their group. There is nothing necessarily wrong with this network but it is a old method compared to the tools and resources available this day and age as another Diagram below from A. Couros shows what a networked teacher would look like. 

(diagram by A. Couros:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/courosa/2922421696/) 

     What can we notice that is different with this diagram? Well for starters almost all links are two-way streams allowing for input from the teacher to offer their personal feedback or thoughts toward any link. Additionally you can notice all links are connected together with the circle rotating around. This is to emphasize the connectedness's of the modern world and the networked teacher. Lastly, the networked teacher offers more connections to tools such as blogs, video conferencing, social networking that allow this teacher to learn and collaborate with individuals around the world to share insight, ideas and discussion that these teachers regularly would not have the opportunity to connect to. 

     Typically people refer to "The Networked Teacher" to be the modern teacher or a teacher looking to progress constantly developing as an individual and the "Typical Teacher" to be a teacher stuck in the past or someone stuck in their ways not looking to develop new methods or ideas. So with that being said.......

What would a network diagram look like for a typical student this day and age? 

      The world today at least for a student, their network could be defined as connected and endless. I say this because the world has become a global village within the digital age. Students have endless information at their fingertips and more available documented information then any other time in history. If a student was to fully engage them self into using accessible applications and tools, their network would look just like "The Networked Teacher" full of opportunity to connect, share, and collaborate at any moment. Different from the past where students were stuck with the resources given to them at school, textbooks out of date, and collaboration with only the students and staff of the institution. If a student chooses not to use the available resources of this day and age their network will still be more connected then the diagram of the "Typical Teacher" just based on the digital age we have entered. Overall the network for a typical student at this time would be somewhere between "The Typical Teacher" and "The Networked Teacher" based on the condition of how much they want to apply them self to connect and collaborate with others in a productive way!

How does the current world and future world shape this network?

     Like I have stated above due to the world becoming a global village and becoming more and more connected everyday a students network today will be completely different from a students network even five years in the past. With the creation of different networking applications and tools and the accessibility of tech within the classroom it has become easier and easier for teachers and schools to create the classroom to be centered around tech led teaching. Students can develop more self direction with inquiry and research, as well teachers are able to relate material that usually tends to be dry and convert it into a method that relates with students in a way they understand. As the world develops and tech becomes more accessible to more and more individuals I can only see the world become more and more connected. It can change from a global "Village" to a global "Home". The sky is the limit for how much more connected the modern students network can become. 

What implications of the modern digital world will effect the  the modern student and teacher?

      With all the upside of the world becoming more and more connected, there always has to be some drawback or implication indicating there could be a problem, right? Exactly, with new technologies being implemented constantly do we actually know what implications or problems they might bring with them? No, we don't as we can't predict the future but we can predict based off the past.  As students and teachers become more connected through the digital world the disconnect to the real world tends to increase. This could include social interaction, public speaking, and real life tasks that once were to be the norm now become a challenge. 
     The next implication refers around safety. As students use tech at younger and younger ages its near impossible for them to all understand the dangers on the Internet and the problems that come with the online world. Educating students as teachers is important, we cant be their to protect them 24/7, but being there to give them the advice and guidance to make smart choices is the best we can do. 

     I hope after reading my post you are able to gather a better understanding of what a personal network can look like for any individual, and how as the world is growing and becoming more connected individuals networks have developed to become more intertwined within itself. The modern world and the future have endless possibility for growth and benefit but at the same time have many complicated implications to be aware of. 

Thanks for the read, feel free to leave any suggestions or thoughts in the comments and feel free to start a conversation on Twitter!

BK
@MrKeilback