Week 4

This weeks blog post asked to discuss networked classrooms. I found this statement from the book PLN by Richardson and Mancabelli to be very powerful. " Learning is only as powerful as the network it occurs in." This statement still has be thinking that maybe this is the reason why the MOBAP MET program is the right fit for me and all of those years of classroom education is kinda meaning less to some extent.  I was not able to make those "network" connects as they are referred to.  Thanks to this online class and others in the program I feel I have made excellent networks to work within.

The one question to answer is advantages and disadvantages of a networked classroom.  Well there are some many advantages and disadvantages to everything.  Who is really to say an advantage to one persons is not a disadvantage to another. According to PLN the benefits of a networked classroom are; transparent, collaborative, learning centered, accessible, communication based, supportive of problem or inquiry-based learning and driven by authentic assessment.  Those excellent strategies for networked classroom working really well also lead us to some challenges as well.  PLN states safety and ethical use is number one.  Then goes on to list transparency, assessment, ownership/rights and parents as the other challenges or disadvantages of a networked classroom.   While reading about each individual advantage and disadvantage I could really see how some could fall on both sides like transparency.  I see this daily not even at my own school but I hear from other teacher friends just how afraid teachers are to open their students up to the internet and kinda not play an active role in their learning environment.  Some schools are not very open to the idea of Social Media and ban it from school, so therefore you as a teacher who see the advantages of it, are not able to use these methods in your classroom.  

The video below shares some ideas on networked classrooms and diversity.

How to slowly change your classroom into a networked classroom.  I really think no matter what you have to have a faculty and principal who will support these methods, otherwise you can talk till your blue in the face nothing is going to change.  You as the educator need to personally know the ins and outs of all the programs you want to introduce to your students otherwise it will be a learning experience for the both and not really take of as a network in the classroom, but rather a dud.  Start small and make little connections inside the school between the students and the different classrooms. When starting small you allow to have failures but also you allow for the students to model what you are doing and learn from the good and the bad.  You do not just want to let the students have free range of some of the programs, you need to set boundaries. 

The YouTube video was created ACEdotedu and posted to the page on Feb.19 2010

Twitter Wk 3 blog

Twitter and my thoughts about using Twitter.  I have been using Twitter long before Twitter and Tweeting was cool. I will say I'm not into hashtags, but once in a while they are necessary.  I do not have a whole lot of time to Tweet like I do over the summer, but mostly I have an account to see what other teachers and celebrities are posting.  I rather keep what I'm doing private unless it's something to really share via a Tweet.  

There are tons of cool things Twitter can be used for besides sharing personal Tweets you can Tweet about movies or shows your watching, take pictures and hashtag them to locate other photos or similar posts.  The possibilities are endless on what Twitter can be used for.

I found on fluency21.com a submission on 60 ways to use Twitter in the classroom.  This post was submitted by Ian Jukes via TeachThought.  I liked how there was categories to show how Twitter can be used in the different areas of the classroom.  You can use it to send class announcements out to inform stud ets of what they need to bring to class.  It can also be used as a summary tool to recap what was taught in class. Playing word games with others sending out clues about what the word could be.  This next one I found to be funny but so true because we all have at least one the the classroom a blurter... This person can now Tweet the answer in and stop blurting out the answers... Now the others have time to answer. 

One I didn't think of but thanks to this post you can use Twitter in conjunction with social studies class.  A lot of public government officials have Twitter accounts and students can get real life updates about what is happening.  It helps stay connected with different parts of the world.  

Overall I have not had a bad experience with Twitter and would like to use it in a classroom in the future just not with a classroom as young as mine, until I can figure out a way to do so. 

Week 2blog Post

First blog post for my education class again!  This week we needed to review the first two chapters in Personal Learning Networks, by Mancabelli and Richardson.  These chapters focus on the ever changing world of technology and how to change with it.  Right away in the start of the first chapter they speak about the shifts that are driving the technology changes.  They just don't blame the WWW for all the dominate changes, but people and places moving from analog to digital.  I know I love to read a real hard cover book... NOT, but going to a digital book is cheaper and well saves space and trees.  It's easier to save work and everything is organized in one place.

The reading brought up another good point about how learning is still learning.  Mancabelli and Richardson make some good factual points.  Speaking from personal experience I went to College and sat in the classroom and graduated.  Decided to go back to get my Masters and I'm now enrolled in an online program and LOVE it.  I fell more social on here and interactive then I ever did in a regular classroom setting.  When asked by people how I like online classes I simply say, I wouldn't change it at all.  I do sometimes fell like I lag in areas but it just makes me work harder.  Motivated to graduate and teach my students more ways to interact with technology. 

 On page 27 of the text it spoke about seven survival skills in which Tony Wagner wrote about. These things are teaching the students how to adapt and move head in society. Building the networks allow the students to work together who might not have ever worked together in the first place.  It allows for  more success but it takes a lot of time by other individuals to ensure the transitions run smoothly and after the transition is made it stays that way.

There are many ways you can build this network in school with the students.  Most of the. Things we are learning in the MET program is exactly what we should be incorporating into our lessons for the students to gain advantages in their learning. The programs mentioned in chapter two, I'm addicted to using.  Twitter, Diigo, Blogger and  Facebook are good social networking sites to keep up with pretty much everything that is going on in the world.  The sites are all free and easy to interact on.  You can tweet from anywhere.  Blog from vacation and Facebook while waiting for class to start.  Social media is taking over and is the way of the future.  I don't see any of these sites closing, but maturing with the way technology does.  Like our students and teachers need to mature with the advances of technology.

The video below taken from YouTube has pros of using social media sites in school.  This video is from 2009, but speaks about Blogger and Myspace the original Facebook.  It does talk about how some sites can be a distraction, but gives mostly pros and then speaks about Digital Citizenship, which is extremely important to teach any child before going on the web. The lady who is speaking in the video is a part of the University of Minnesota.

This next video takes about apps inside Facebook to help with learning.  Check it out the Channel 9 News speaks about 20 helpful applications to help you learn while using Facebook.  There are some excellent suggestions.  This video was back in 2009 as well, but Amy James has come up with some interesting places for students.

Getting to blog again!

I'm getting to blog again for my EDET543 class!  I am excited to once again maintain a blog!!