The Digital Farm

I recently read the "Student as Contributor- The Digital Farm" by Alan November. The piece opens with a very good historical overview. In the years past, everyone from small child, to pre-teen to teenager had rolls and duties that were necessary to make the farm successful. As we industrialized as a nation, farming gave way to factory and this work ethic was lost. However, today with technology it is coming back. Once again, with the use of technology, everyone has a roll to play.
Mr. November's article takes a look at six different types of programs that are being utilized at different schools across the country and around the world.
These programs are:

• Tutorial Designers
• Official Scribes
• Researchers
• Collaboration Coordinators
• Contributing to Society
• Curriculum Reviewers

Tutorial Designers- Students screen casted tutorials and have begun documenting their learning by recording themselves solving problems based on material discussed in class.

Official Scribes- Offers online collaboration tools that would allow your class the opportunity to collaboratively build one set of perfect notes.

Researchers- Students are assigned to become the official researcher for the class. Most classrooms have one computer. Thus, on a rotating basis, students are assigned the duty to do all research for a particular day.

Collaboration Coordinators- We now have the technology to communicate globally via the Internet. This is no longer cost prohibitive. Having a classroom of students in America, debate a classroom of students in England, is no longer science fiction.

Contributing to Society- Technology has made the world a smaller place. Students can now contribute and help in parts of the world that were very distant a few short years ago.

Curriculum Reviewers- We now have the ability to create material for continuous review. Technology allows this to be a collaborative effort and fun as well.

Once again, it seems as though we have come full circle. Todays plow is now a keyboard, the scylte a moniter, and the milking pail a MP3 player. Everyone has a role to play on the Digital Farm. We as educators need to present and give students the tools and opportunities necessary to make the farm prosper and grow.