As a future science educator who believes in project-based learning, I want my students' work to be published and shared with a wide audience. Doing so will allow the students to experience the feeling that their work is actually reaching people and making an impact which can help drive them to do more and, as a result, learn more. I would love to implement a long-term project where groups of students work together to explore topics that they select themselves.
I have come to more acutely realize the power of having an authentic audience review and comment on the works I produce. Admittedly, there is a bit of strange sense of exhibitionism in seeking views, comments, and responses from people; however, I am beginning to shift my mindset of discomfort into realizing that this is just another form of human connection. We seek connection everyday by talking and sharing our thoughts and feelings with others. This is a powerful human drive that should not be relegated between only a student and teacher but with peers, the community, and the rest of the world. No other time in the history of humanity can we so easily create, publish, and respond to each other with such immediacy, and we should take advantage of it.
Jakob, J. [JTHS EdTech]. (2013, June 6). Transforming Teaching and Learning with an Authentic Audience. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/kq9_Z8crD-4?list=PLbRLdW37G3oMquOaC-HeUIt6CWk-FzaGp