Twitter is a type of social media that allows users to post their thoughts and ideas in 140 words or less. I believe this can be a very beneficial tool if used correctly. I am also a very big fan of the word limitation. No one really wants to search through different blogs and read content after content. Twitter is a great way to get the point across in very few words. It is also beneficial because if someone may be interested in a certain topic or "tweet"they can either "retweet" based on what was originally said or look up more tweets to satisfy their needs. This can be a very beneficial tool for educators. As long as they stick to certain guidelines and are all following the same people and providing the same hashtags then it could really create a lot of discussions. People can view different ideas based on specific hashtags which helps to sort all the many thoughts out.
One downfall about Twitter is the idea that people tend to put ALL of their thoughts, rather than just key ideas. Based on the article, a good example was that people are Tweeting things like "I'm eating pickles", or "Really tired today". This does not do any good in the educator realm or really in life. People are just posting random thoughts rather than ideas that may be beneficial to others. This may also be a distracting tool for some, as some students or teachers may be following inappropriate people or ideas and some students may get caught up in all of the "drama" rather than learning based on what others tweeted.
Educause Learning Initiative
7 Things You Should Know about Twitter
https://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7027.pdf
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
RSS Feed - Edudemic
This week I am staying with the focus of technology in the classroom. I discovered an interesting article from "Edudemic". This article talks about the use of technology and smartphones in the classroom and some positive ways teachers can incorporate those devices into the classroom setting. The three main ideas that people are using with their smartphones are texting, social networking, and playing games. The article gives a great deal of examples where teachers can use these different ideas to their advantage and create many great classroom activities.
The first idea I thought was pretty interesting was the idea of having teachers allow the students 1 hour after school that is open for them to text the teacher with any questions from the homework or anything school related. This could be any time throughout the evening where the teacher is prepared to receive classroom help messages from their students. Now, I look at this in a couple different ways. I really believe that this could answer some smaller confusion problems between the teacher and student and could help eliminate going over so many homework problems the next day in class and getting right to actually learning new material. At the same time, I do not know how all teachers feel about giving their number out to the students and finding another hour of their day to sit down and help students with their math homework outside of all of the work they do at the school.
The second idea that came to my attention was the part about games. When we all think of playing games, it usually is not beneficial and just for the students own good. However, the article brought up a good point about making the classroom a little more competitive. Try to get students to succeed and compete against others, in a positive way, to make themselves better and the rest of their classmates better. This would prepare the students to give it their all and work to their full potential to try and compete with the people around them.
Edudemic
"3 Simple Ways to Start Using Smartphones in the Classroom"
By: Katie Lepi
http://www.edudemic.com/using-smartphones-classroom/
The first idea I thought was pretty interesting was the idea of having teachers allow the students 1 hour after school that is open for them to text the teacher with any questions from the homework or anything school related. This could be any time throughout the evening where the teacher is prepared to receive classroom help messages from their students. Now, I look at this in a couple different ways. I really believe that this could answer some smaller confusion problems between the teacher and student and could help eliminate going over so many homework problems the next day in class and getting right to actually learning new material. At the same time, I do not know how all teachers feel about giving their number out to the students and finding another hour of their day to sit down and help students with their math homework outside of all of the work they do at the school.
The second idea that came to my attention was the part about games. When we all think of playing games, it usually is not beneficial and just for the students own good. However, the article brought up a good point about making the classroom a little more competitive. Try to get students to succeed and compete against others, in a positive way, to make themselves better and the rest of their classmates better. This would prepare the students to give it their all and work to their full potential to try and compete with the people around them.
Edudemic
"3 Simple Ways to Start Using Smartphones in the Classroom"
By: Katie Lepi
http://www.edudemic.com/using-smartphones-classroom/
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Week 1 - Creative Commons Video
After watching the video and reading the article on Creative Commons, I thought that the video put a nice twist on presenting the information which was easier to understand. They provided many great examples and gave the background information on how the Creative Commons got introduced and developed. Creative Commons acts as a partner to the copyright laws and allows individuals to use specific items and idea from the internet or other sources. It allows people to get "creative" with their work and incorporate the ideas of others into their own documents or ideas. Although there are still many legal copyright laws out there, Creative Commons is used to allow people to take the work of others, that may not be copy written or legal documents, and use them based on their own ideas or findings. The ideas of the Creative Commons are very beneficial for educators as they are able to quickly see what can be shared and offered to their students. Teachers do not always want to worry about the copyright laws and make sure that they are "legally" sharing information to their students. Being able to use the ideas of the Creative Commons makes it easier for teacher to provide students with a wealth of knowledge and allow them, in turn, to share out the same information to others.
RSS Feed - Edutopia
As I was looking through the website, "Edutopia", throughout my feed, I came across an interesting article dealing with iPads. This caught my attention right away because the current district I teach at (Fraser), currently has a 1 to 1 ratio of iPads with all of their students at the middle and high school level. As I was reading through the article, the main idea of the article was dealing with technology and the specific changes the iPad will bring to schools. The main thing was that teachers need to understand that it is a big change and there is a lot that goes in to the iPad distribution. Teachers need to understand that the pacing will slow down within the lessons and they need to be able to embrace the change. Not everything is always going to go as planned with technology, so the time needed to adjust to this idea may be some time but in the end it will result in positive changes for all. Finally, with the distribution of the iPad it will provide teachers with a great deal of creativity within their lessons and provide many opportunities for teachers to collaborate more based on positives and negatives that may have happened throughout any given lesson. Although content may be different, there are a lot of similar things that can be done and shared with the use of the iPad that will be beneficial for all teachers.
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