#acu_comm140

[bens-tech-blog]

Why do I need to become a reflective practitioner? (reviewed and edited)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok first off this is the last of my critical reflections. I have gotten feedback from one of my fellow peers on my “WHY DO I NEED TO BECOME A REFLECTIVE PRACTITIONER?” critical reflection. Now I shall rewrite and adjust that reflection accordingly.  My major down fall according to @becca-casale is that I need to back up my points with some resources, so that is that I will do. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Reflective practitioner, just what is that? Someone who is a reflective practitioner is someone who looks back at what they do, and their work process. With this knowledge in their heads, they then can consider how they can improve.  They ‘reflect’ on work that they have previously done. Everyone should strive to become a reflective practitioner but the question is why? Before we can answer this though, we must know what a reflective practitioner looks like.

A reflective practitioner looks like… A reflective practitioner can look like anyone in the street. They must be reflecting on the work that they have completed, whether it is on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. Generally speaking, the best people in each profession are ones who are reflective practitioners, and if we are trying to be the best person in our profession we must also be a reflective practitioner. Okay, now we know what a reflective practitioner looks like, we can look at why everyone (yes, that includes you and I) should be striving to become one.

Why am I striving to become a reflective practitioner? I believe that it is important for me to strive to become a reflective practitioner because I want to learn from my previous work to become a better and more well-rounded teacher in my future profession. One of the ways to become the best teacher in my chosen school would be to become a reflective practitioner and become better at that than all the other teachers at said school. Gary Handforth states that ‘through Reflective Inquiry every teaching professional will become a reflective practitioner and, as a result, learning and pupil progress will be significantly enhanced.’ (The Reflective Practitioner, 2015) So the more reflective I can become in my practice, the better off my students will be.  Thanks for reading. Link - http://bfet.co.uk/news/the-reflective-practitioner/ 

[bens-tech-blog]

Critical Reflection #3

TOPIC: An understanding of how changes in technology impact on the way humans communicate, and the ethical issues that surround these changes. 

- How does technology, and its changes impact on the way human beings as a species talk and communicate with with each other?

Technology has developed and changed throughout history. Computers used to be the size of rooms, but now they can fit in our bags, with room to spare. This downsizing of the computer, phone and other technology, has made these devices more accessible to the everyday person. Back when phones were the size of bricks and computers the size of rooms, a small percentage of people had access to these technologies, and so they didn’t change or impact the way humans communicated. However now you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn’t have a phone, computer or tablet (in the developed world that I live in at least) it is a different story. Because there is more people using these technologies, and using them to communicate with each other, we are seeing an age where people are more confident with talking to people online rather than IRL (or in real life, for those Digital Immigrants reading this post). This change in size has allowed a lot more people to access the technology, and hence these technologies have impacted on the way humans do and continue to communicate with one-another. 

- Ethical issues that surround the changes in technology.

Now we are moving into the ethical grey area. While yes it is a good thing that everyone now, who has enough money that is, is able to get their hands on phones, computers and/or tablets, there is a trade off. Not everyone is going to be nice in the world, and while you can get some level of shelter when you are in the ‘real’ world (stranger danger, taking with friends), when you are on the internet you are on there with millions of strangers. People can be mean, nice, threatening, cool or even creepy and the internet gives them anonymity to do that whenever they please. Thanks for reading. 

[bens-tech-blog]

Do digital natives exist?

‘There are a number of labels to describe the young people currently studying at school, college and university. They include the digital natives, the net generation, the Google generation or the millennials.’ (Digital natives: where is the evidence?, 2009) 

According to this article by Ellen Helsper and Rebecca Enyon, digital natives do exist. They are seem as the ‘new kids on the block’, up and coming students of high school and university. Most of us (yes, I am a digital native too) were born into an age where technology was a new thing to everyone. Sure computers weren’t the size of a room, and humankind had already made a trip to the moon. However we were born in the bloom of the technology age, where old, slow technology was rapidly being replaced by faster and better technology. We grew up with handheld devices that developed with us. As we got smarter and smarter, our digital devices got smarter and faster along with us. Growing up with these devices and new technologies at hand, we grew and developed, learning new things about this thing called ‘technology’. While the older generations might have been scared about technology, it took the brave and bold younger generation mere moments to figure everything out and become a digital native. 

Digital natives do exist, they are in our education system, or recently out of the education system, looking for jobs, or working. Digital natives grew up with technology, but technology also grew with digital natives.

Thanks for reading.

Link - http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/27739/1/Digital_natives_(LSERO).pdf 

[bens-tech-blog]

Why do I need to become a reflective practitioner?

Reflective practitioner, just what is that? Someone who is a reflective practitioner is someone who looks back at what they do, and their work process. With this knowledge in their heads, they then can consider how they can improve.  They ‘reflect’ on work that they have previously done. Everyone should strive to become a reflective practitioner but the question is why? Before we can answer this though, we must know what a reflective practitioner looks like.

A reflective practitioner looks like... A reflective practitioner can look like anyone in the street. They must be reflecting on the work that they have completed, whether it is on a weekly, monthly or yearly basis. Generally speaking, the best people in each profession are ones who are reflective practitioners, and if we are trying to be the best person in our profession we must also be a reflective practitioner. Okay, now we know what a reflective practitioner looks like, we can look at why everyone (yes, that includes you and I) should be striving to become one.

Why am I striving to become a reflective practitioner? I believe that it is important for me to strive to become a reflective practitioner because I want to learn from my previous work to become a better and more well-rounded teacher in my future profession. One of the ways to become the best teacher in my chosen school would be to become a reflective practitioner and become better at that than all the other teachers at said school. Thanks for reading.