Journal #5 Extra Credit Let the Kids Do the Work NETS-T# 2,3,4,5

Lawlor, J.(2010). Let the Kids Do the Work. Learning and Leading with Technology 37(6) Retrived from http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Publications/LL/LLIssues/Volume3720092010/MarchAprilNo6/Let_the_Kids_Do_the_Work.htm
Isn’t it funny that the student taught the teacher? I found it interesting that a program like Wiki empowered one student to help a hundred others get their homework done. How often does that happen? The homework assignment was simple: Log on to the wiki, read a poem, and answer an essay question. As an afterthought, I asked students to respond to at least one other student's essay. The teacher had about 25 students in each class, so it would be reasonable to expect approximately 50 replies. When the next morning he was shocked to discover 472 replies from a single class! The teacher was successful because he got the students to engage in a different learning style. Many of these replies lacked attention to grammar, but buried beneath the Internet slang were interesting thoughts and ideas.
Interaction with the students will show them that you are ready to invest in a variety of learning in ways I never could have with a traditional homework assignment. In turn, they were more willing to participate in the classroom discussions that followed. This is also a great way to assign task because students who are less likely to participate in class feel comfortable in this particular setting. There was a young girl in this article who never raised her hand in class, very shy. When this assignment was Online she found her voice. And for once, this soft-spoken student did not have her words drowned out by her louder classmates. In cyberspace, everyone's voice carries equal weight. In this situation, the normal dynamics of the classroom were reversed: The students taught, and the teacher learned. What's important, however, was that everyone took greater ownership of the final product. Let the kids do the work. We may find that they learn more as a result.