As a teacher I am a chameleon, adapting to the learning styles, personalities and cognitive levels of each individual student, allowing the contextual environment to shape the method, resources or process used to aid cognition. Teaching is not bound by the classroom, lecture hall or workshop, but possesses the potential to require us all. It also operates conversely inferring that we each require teaching.
My role as a teacher is to realise who wants to be taught and provide information in the manner that resonates with him/her/it making note of a context relevant to the learner(s) as well!
The beauty of NGL is that should a situation arise in which I am at a loss for how to teach, or I simply lack the knowledge I can call upon additional resources to increase my knowledge and also introduce those resources to my learner. Hence, I need not be the master of all, but a facilitator of information and also become the student who needs teaching as with the Confucian comment above.
Of course, a difficulty may lie in the immediacy of the information. Perhaps I am unable to access the correct network to increase my knowledge, or perhaps the network provides me with incorrect knowledge from which to learn. The effect of this may be catastrophic, or simply make me look incompetent! Also, as with all new technology and communication networks, possessing something early on may not benefit those who have not caught up with the advancement, nor would using technology that has become obsolete. However, one could assume an intelligent person would gather information from a number of resources, which in turn should lead to identifying any incorrect information.
The challenge for us networked learners is to constantly test the environment to discover emerging resources and learn what to discard, whilst at the same time continuously being on the lookout for students who expect to be taught.
My role as a teacher is to realise who wants to be taught and provide information in the manner that resonates with him/her/it making note of a context relevant to the learner(s) as well!
The beauty of NGL is that should a situation arise in which I am at a loss for how to teach, or I simply lack the knowledge I can call upon additional resources to increase my knowledge and also introduce those resources to my learner. Hence, I need not be the master of all, but a facilitator of information and also become the student who needs teaching as with the Confucian comment above.
Of course, a difficulty may lie in the immediacy of the information. Perhaps I am unable to access the correct network to increase my knowledge, or perhaps the network provides me with incorrect knowledge from which to learn. The effect of this may be catastrophic, or simply make me look incompetent! Also, as with all new technology and communication networks, possessing something early on may not benefit those who have not caught up with the advancement, nor would using technology that has become obsolete. However, one could assume an intelligent person would gather information from a number of resources, which in turn should lead to identifying any incorrect information.
The challenge for us networked learners is to constantly test the environment to discover emerging resources and learn what to discard, whilst at the same time continuously being on the lookout for students who expect to be taught.
- Al