In terms of teaching "outside of the box", I am implying both the classroom environment and the overemphasized regurgitation of standards using obsolete tools and applications (the sole use of a textbook).
In this day and age, being able to teach and learn outside of the classroom environment is becoming more evident than ever before. Teachers and students not only have the educational benefits of blogging and podcasting at their fingertips, they also have the ability to use other web-based media - such as Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube.
By using Twitter, educators have the ability to share with other educators their educational experiences and techniques. In this way, improvements and strategies for better education can be realized and implemented by teachers seeking inspired, lasting applied knowledge to enhance mundane, outdated forms of pedagogy.
By adding a classroom to Facebook, teachers are establishing a global network of communication to other educational institutions. The site also provides classrooms the ability to make known to such institutions, the existence of their classroom in support of the emergence of education within technology. In addition to these possibilities, Facebook can also serve as a valuable reference/resume' tool for educators and students alike.
Other web-based media sites, such as Youtube, can also be used to encourage learning outside of the classroom environment. Video documentaries and "beyond the classroom" projects and activities can give students of glimpse of how the fundamentals of learning can apply to our everyday lives. Educators can also use this site (as well as the others mentioned) to take advantage of accessibility ( in terms of giving the students who are physically outside of the classroom environment the opportunity to learn).
Not only do these forms web-based media provide entertainment and technological recreation for the masses, they provide a new way of approaching education - as a means of teaching "outside of the box/classroom/old methods, tools and standards.
About me...
My name is Jonas Lawrence Cockson. I am a student of the College of Education at the University of South Alabama (both the main campus in Mobile and the Baldwin County campus). My declared major is in Secondary English Education. Once I have received my bachelor's degree from the University of South Alabama, I plan to attend the University of Southern Mississippi ( in Hattiesburg, Miss.) to work toward a master's degree in TESOL (teaching English as a second language). My ultimate goal is to teach the English to students residing in a Third World nation -- such as Africa. I feel that the need for global education far surpasses the desire to teach within one's homeland. I also feel that by teaching in a Third World country, I will have the ability to expose and immerse myself in cultures other than my own -- thereby giving me the ability to see and convey information, ideas, and practices from a different perspective, rather than a singular one (especially to students from a different cultural background than my own). With this in mind, I feel that the profession I have chosen for myself is a perfect fit for my abilities and motivations.
My name is Jonas Lawrence Cockson. I am a student of the College of Education at the University of South Alabama (both the main campus in Mobile and the Baldwin County campus). My declared major is in Secondary English Education. Once I have received my bachelor's degree from the University of South Alabama, I plan to attend the University of Southern Mississippi ( in Hattiesburg, Miss.) to work toward a master's degree in TESOL (teaching English as a second language). My ultimate goal is to teach the English to students residing in a Third World nation -- such as Africa. I feel that the need for global education far surpasses the desire to teach within one's homeland. I also feel that by teaching in a Third World country, I will have the ability to expose and immerse myself in cultures other than my own -- thereby giving me the ability to see and convey information, ideas, and practices from a different perspective, rather than a singular one (especially to students from a different cultural background than my own). With this in mind, I feel that the profession I have chosen for myself is a perfect fit for my abilities and motivations.