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.