Blog 6: Using Twitter, Blogs, and Websites in the Classroom

In the article 50 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom, there are concepts that I believe would be prove to be effective if integrated in the classroom. Twitter would be very useful in reminding students about due dates for assignments or upcoming tests. It would also be a good way to end a discussion or lecture. Students could summarize the information in a tweet and/or ask a question that they had concerning the lesson. A couple ideas for using Twitter in the classroom that I do not think would work in my classroom would be using it as a tool for collaboration among students for group projects. Students need that face-to-face time to brainstorm ideas and discuss group projects. Also, I do not think that using Twitter as a way to plan field trips would be a good idea. There are many opinions that teachers need to take into careful consideration; however, the field trips should be predetermined and organized before the year begins. Although Twitter is most often seen as a source of social media, it can change the environment of the classroom. By using Twitter, students will be engaged in lecture and even find enjoyment at the opportunity to implement technology into the classroom.

Blogs are also a fun tool to use in the classroom. The article, 15 Awesome Ways to Use Blogs in Your Classroom, lives up to its title! One idea that I want to use in my classroom includes blogging about classroom news. This would be a way for students to collaborate about what they would like their parents to know about our class. They could even be involved in the process of writing the posts! A second use for blogs that I would like to use in my classroom is posting online surveys to involve parents. It would provide a way for me to receive feedback and suggestions about a past or future class event.

My classroom website is another way that I can communicate with parents and students. I will continue to use my website in the classroom to keep families informed, to provide educational links, and to create  new, fun WebQuests for my students to use. One improvement I can make to my website would be to create a page for assignments. On this page, parents could check what work their student missed from being absent and have additional information to help complete the assignments. Another improvement that I could make to my website would be to create a page about the school itself. Although it is possible that this information could change, it would be beneficial for parents to be able to easily find facts about school policies, events, dress code, or even the lunch menu. This could reduce stress for some parents by creating easy access to important school information.

Blog 5: Technology Action Plan

Technology is an emerging force in education. Within this article, there were six aspects of technology usage that teachers can use to evaluate themselves. Of these aspects, I found three that I need to grow in and three and I am already seeing signs of competency in (although there is always room for growth!). The first area I need to grow in is being able to effectively utilize the countless types of productivity tools, such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Next, I need to become familiar with troubleshooting. I am good at seeking technical assistance, but I can rarely find the source of a computer problem myself. I would also like to devote more time to the process of finding credible, informational, and fun web resources for my students to use. As I already mentioned, I find myself to be good at seeking technical assistance. I also am proficient in using effective search skills. Last, I have an interest and flexibility when it comes to technology. It is a goal of mine to continue seeking out sources that will contribute the effective teaching and learning in the classroom.

There are many ways to use technology outside the classroom to enhance dialogue with students in the classroom as described in this video by Jose Bowen. The first way to do this is to create a classroom twitter account. At first, I was skeptical of using social media in order to reach my students, however, I am beginning to see the benefits. If I, as a teacher, see something throughout my day that relates to what my students learned in the classroom, then I can tweet about it. It creates a discussion board of sorts for my student. Bowen describes the process as “modeling what it means to be a scholar” by making connections between what you are doing in class with what is happening in the world today. The students’ attitudes for learning shift positively when they are able to see that what they are learning has relevance. Another way to enhance dialogue is by assigning a podcast for students to listen to at home. This allows the students to come to class the next day already familiar a topic of study. It frees up class time to be used for more interactive opportunities. These ways of teaching students outside of the classroom setting change my teaching method by allowing for demonstration, discussion, and cooperative learning. I can demonstrate that what we are studying holds relevance today, promote discussion of why and how it holds relevance, and use class time as a place for cooperative learning instead of only lecturing.

When Bowen talks about “teaching naked” in the video, he means that if teachers have nothing new to say about a given topic, then they should use a podcast or video to engage the students in teaching the information. He encouraged teachers to play to their strengths! If lecturing is not a teacher’s strong suit, then they should leave the lecturing to someone else and focus on the way they can best teach information. This may include creating interactive lesson applications or organizing group collaboration projects to discuss what students learned in the lesson. When teachers “teach naked,” students should be interacting with both the teacher and the other students. During the learning process, they should be continually challenged to think about the real-world application of what they are learning. In addition, students will not just learn knowledge and content, but they will learn how to analyze knowledge and content.

Blog 4: Responding to Changes

Flexibility is a crucial aspect of being a teacher in our world today. As a teacher, I will need to notice and respond to the changing nature of education.

Free Online Instructional Videos K-12

The first way education is changing is through free, online instructional videos for grades K-12.  Khan Academy is an organization that provides free ten minute lessons in physics, biology, history, astronomy, and medicine. Students hear the voice of the teacher, Sal Khan, while they see his colorful writing on the screen to guide them in learning. This format allows students to work at their own pace and gain mastery over subjects before moving to the next subject. It also allows teachers to monitor progress of each student throughout the learning process.

Free Online University Classes and MOOCs

The second change in education deals with the free, online university classes and MOOCs. As I researched these things, I realized that there are so many online learning opportunities for upper level studies! The springboard for this idea was from a professor of computer science at Stanford who offered a free, online course, paralleling the one he taught at the university. This was so popular that he created Udacity (described in this video) which is an online engineering and science curriculum.  The University of Virginia is also offering courses online for free along with eleven other universities through an online learning system. In addition, there are MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, which provide a myriad of free online courses for anyone to would like to use them.

Plans for Free Online Degrees

Third, there are plans for free online degrees. Daphne Koller on TED Talks noted that high quality education is not always readily accessible and/or affordable to the general public. She and one of her colleagues founded Coursera, which takes the best courses taught by the best professors at the best universities, and provides them to everyone around the world for free. This is such a large step in promoting universal access to education.

New Writers/Sources of Textbooks

Last, there are new writers and sources of textbooks. iTunes U provides all the content of one course in a single app for iPad! Creating and sharing the course with students is a simple process with the help of this app. In addition, OpenStax is in the process of creating 25 online textbooks on the most popular college courses. Other benefits of open source textbooks are the fact that they are digital textbooks complete with relevant content, videos, visuals, and study aids. The amount of change occurring in education is tremendous and will continue to impact our world as new trends grow and gain popularity.

Blog 3: Message and Copyright Info

What is taught in the classroom is ever changing. As stated in the K-12 Horizon Report (2013), our roles as educators are challenged because of these changes. The common trend today is that information is all around us. We do not have to look far for free information. Because of this easy accessibility, we must be able to determine the credibility of sources and teach our students to do the same. One challenge that was presented in this report is the the huge demand for adjusting what we teach to meet where each child is in his or her development. This is such an important part of being an educator, and technology would seem to be the perfect way to ensure that each child’s needs are met on an individual level. However, the tools for a technology that allows more opportunities for individualized instruction are not where they need to be yet in order to prove effective in the classroom. 

As I was investigating more about the role of the copyright in my classroom, I discovered several things. The first thing I learned from What is Copyright Protection? is that a copyright lasts 50 years after the author’s death.  This means that a copyrighted work still remains intact if the author is no longer living. My next discovery from 10 Big Myths about Copyright was that making up a story that is based on another story is an infringement upon the copyright of the original work. Although some authors do not mind the extra attention it brings to their works, a person must first gain permission to use the concepts from the original work.  The last thing I learned about copyrights was also from 10 Big Myths about Copyright . All emails that a person composes are copyrighted! This means that although quoting a line or two may not cause harm, emails are protected by copyright. Whoever composed the email should be contacted for permission to use the words in the message.

The importance of abiding by copyright laws is huge! As a teacher, I want to model for my students what is means to be a good steward of the information that is available for us to use.  My students will be taught to value and show respect for the works of others. When I model and encourage the obeying of copyrights laws, it can teach my students that integrity and honesty are important. It also teaches them that laws are in place for a reason, and by following them, we are being good citizens.

Blog 2: Content Curation

An article from The Journal discussed the many benefits of content curation in the classroom. If you are like me, you are wondering what content curation is. It is the process of using the Internet to find a variety of relevant sources that pertain to a particular topic, to organize that information into a logical system, and to share that information online with others. The teacher that this article highlighted as being an avid supported and user of content curation described how she uses it in her classroom. First, she finds informational sources on the Internet that pertain to what her class is learning such as handouts, lessons, tutorials, and music videos. She then posts the resources online for her students to use in and out of the classroom setting. She uses this method to allows students to have the responsibility of additional learning outside the classroom in a convenient format. She states that content curation is way to combine content and technology is a purposeful manner.

There are a couple ways that I want to utilize content curation in my classroom.  LiveBinders will prove to be a great tool in this endeavor. First, I think it would be beneficial to create collections of information for each subject area. All students have areas they excel at, just as all students have areas in which they could use some extra practice. The individual collections can hold handouts, power points  games, and videos that my students will be able to easily access in a central web location for studying and learning outside of the classroom. Second, using LiveBinders provides an opportunity for students to learn responsibility in a way that is achievable, not overwhelming.

I plan to use interactive content forms on a regular basis in my classroom. I believe that this is perhaps the best way to communicate subject matter to students in a way that will be meaningful to their individual learning experiences. If students are taught through exploration of content, they are more likely to remember and correctly apply that information throughout their lives. The Rosetta Stone demo was fascinating to me in the way that it taught languages. It provided for all types of learners through a single activity that included written words, spoken language, pictures, and matching games.

The 2013 K-12 Horizon Report notes the impact that technology continues to have on our schools, our society, and our world. Since social media is such a crucial aspect of communication, information, and discovery, it is all the more important that it be utilized effectively in the classroom.  Although the availability of content can provide a challenge in discerning the credibility of sources, there are also many positive aspects of technology today. A new trend specifically to incorporate in the classroom is BYOD, Bring Your Own Device. This is an excellent means to allow students to further engage individually within the content area. Globally, technology is making its impact as well. Those teachers around the world who live in remote areas now have the opportunity to use cell phones to access online information to teach their students in a whole new way. It is exciting to realize all the ways that technology is positively changing education not only in the United States but also all around the world!

Blog 1: Visual Literacy

I read an interesting article on the importance of visual literacy in the classroom. It not only reminded me of the benefits that come from incorporating it in my classroom, but it also caused me to think about how I can best use visual literacy in my reading curriculum. My first idea for using visual literacy would be a fun addition to the unit highlighting our favorite authors and the books they have each written. I would love to have an afternoon where the students could Skype with one of the authors. This usage of visual literacy would touch on two methods: presentation, a behavioral method, and discussion, a constructivist method. The author could speak with the students about the book and read one of his or her books to them. Afterwards, the children would have an opportunity to engage with the author by asking questions.

My second idea for incorporating visual literacy would be a practical method to integrate into lessons. I can preview the text we will be reading that day and create a power point slide that contains pictures that are representative of the more difficult words from the reading. The behavioral method I would be using with these slides is demonstration. I am providing a way for our learners to view a real-life example of the words they are reading. By providing these pictures, students will form a connection between what they already know and what they are learning. In addition, this will help them associate the letters of the word with a picture, causing them to remember it for the next time they see it.

My last idea for using visual literacy is my favorite of the three I have discovered, and it would capitalize on all the resources that are available online for educational use! Wouldn’t it be fun for students to be able to take a virtual trip to places that they have read about in their books? Whether it is the tropical rainforest, a garden, or Hawaii, students will be able to see and explore real-life representations of the information they have read about. My constructivist methods for this activity would be simulation, which allows for real-world experiences, and cooperative learning through discussion. After reading a book in small groups, the children would (as a group) travel to their book destination online. They would discuss their book as they explore its setting. As we are realizing, media has changed the teaching methods of today, and visual literacy is just one of many ways to get the full advantages of all that technology has to offer. Visual literacy will foster an effective learning community in our classroom!