PodPirate Island - Brian Van Dyck

Empowerment is an incredibly complex topic.  I was not completely satisfied with the scope of the information in the readings from my Masters program.  As an educator I wanted a much more powerful and broader definition.  The empowerment of students in academics for me needed a stronger definition.   I came across this definition from World Banks Poverty Net,   “Empowerment is the process of increasing the capacity of individuals or groups to make choices and to transform those choices into desired actions and outcomes. Central to this process are actions which both build individual and collective assets, and improve the efficiency and fairness of the organizational and institutional context which govern the use of these assets (World Bank, 2007).”  As teachers we attempt to create meaning for students.  The strategies we use, the lessons we teach, and learning opportunities we provide are all designed to develop a deeper level of understanding of the curriculum for our students.  The idea of empowering students in their learning is the process of increasing their capacity to learn.  When students take ownership of their own learning, they will increase their ability to develop deep meaning of their learning for themselves.  The ultimate outcome of empowering students in their learning would be the development of life-long learners.  For me, the essential component of the process of empowering students is to develop self-worth or a deep understanding that each student has a voice, and that voice has value, that voice can make a difference.  I try to establish personal meaning for each student before attempting to build meaning of his or her learned knowledge.  If a student is made to feel valuable, worthwhile, and important in whom they are as students, their learning will soar to new heights.

by; Brian Van Dyck 

My world as an educator changed forever after reading Marc Prensky’s article: Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants  .  That was six years ago.  Since that day I have immersed myself in Education Technology training. As a middle school teacher I have had the pleasure of watching these Digital Natives explore my classroom environment and make their mark on it.  The numbers of Natives populating my classroom have been on the rise.  At this point in time, my learning environment has been overrun by these little wired people.  It was clear upon reading the article that I must change or find a different job.  With the help of these little natives I have learned to change.  The walls of my classroom have virtually disappeared as our learning environment has become more and more connected to the outside world.  We blog, we podcast, we iMovie, we PowerPoint, we video-conference, and we create content all our own, just to name a few things.  Learning for my students and I has taken on a new dimension.  I have been to conference after conference on the subject of digital natives and have had my brain rewired by the thoughts of speakers like Marc Prensky, Hall Davidson, David Warlick, and Will Richardson.   Thank you to those that have shared their wisdom, experience, and learning with me.  It has made a difference.  I am curious what experiences other Digital Immigrant teachers have faced during these exciting times.   

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