Technology Self Assessment: School 2.0

Using the School 2.0 website, I completed a quiz as a reflection tool to assess my current level of skill in technology integration (NETS-T 3).

“I select and use the most relevant, facilitative, and effective media for communicating specific types of information and ideas to students, parents, and peers.”

         This NETS-T was the most interesting to me because I want to learn about the kinds of media that can be used to communicate to students, parents and peers. Can introducing new media really make communicating more efficient, or will it increase the abundance of information available to people, making things more confusing?

         The resource I found was an article titled “Using podcasts to develop a Global Perspective”. It discussed how a technology high school in Columbus, Ohio used podcasts to engage students in learning about other cultures. Groups of students were encouraged to develop podcasts by recording their own debate about particular global issues. One group of students focused on global warming. They researched varying viewpoints of different leaders throughout the entire world.  Then using a Meet the Press format, they recorded their debate and posted it on the Internet.

         This article made me realize the benefits of having students communicate through different kinds of social media. It is not the completed podcast that is beneficial to students, but the process of creating it. Students will benefit from the time they put into researching the different global perspectives. 

Journal 2: "Join the Flock" NETS- III, IV, V

Ferguson, H. & McClintock Miller, Shannon. (2010, June/July). Join the flock!. Enhance your twitter experience. Learning and Leading with Technology, 37(8), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Join_the_Flock.aspx 

Summary

            Twitter is a place where a PLN can come together. A PLN is a group of people who use their connections to each other to grow and learn. A PLN can focus on any subject. Educators can benefit from joining a PLN that focuses on their subject area. You create your own PLN by selecting which twitter members you would like to follow. Members make lists of other members who have a common focus.  You can find members with your same interest by tapping into lists. Once you have found educators and specialists that you are interested in, then you can choose to follow them. This means you will begin to receive his or her tweets. Tweets are pieces of information members share with their followers. They can receive updates about a method that was particularly useful in someone’s classroom, or a link to an informative website. You can choose how little or how much you want to interact with you PLN. You can simply observe the tweets or you can re-tweet, which is leaving your feedback for another member’s tweet. If you have a question, you can turn to your PLN and wait for their feedback.

Q1. When is a good time to join twitter?

A1. It is never too soon to join twitter. Even if we have over a year left of school, we can still benefit from the information that is being shared among educators. Reading the teachers’ posts will help us to know what to expect when we have classes of our own.  

Q2. What if we have nothing important to contribute to our PLN?

A2. Everyone has SOMETHING to contribute. Even if you think you don’t.  But, if you are not comfortable with sharing your thoughts with other educators, you will still benefit from using twitter. The beauty of twitter is that you can learn from observing other people’s tweets, even if you don’t want to leave any of your own. 

Journal 1: "Do Web 2.0 Right" NETS-I, III, VI

Light, Daniel. (2011). Do web 2.0 right. Learning and Leading with Technology, 38(5), Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/learn/publications/learning-and-leading/issues/Feature_Article_Do_Web_2_0_Right.aspx

Summary:

       Online journaling by means of blogs and wikis helps students develop their writing skills while they participate in the learning experience. A study found wikis and blogs were more beneficial to students when used more frequently. A blog focuses on an individual author’s perspective. A wiki focuses on the final product and is a collaboration of individuals’ findings. Many teachers found blogs to be a more beneficial learning tool than wikis. There are two types of blogs: Individual and classroom.

       Individual blogs give students a place to write their thoughts without having to answer a formal writing prompt. The problem with individual blogs is that many students are unmotivated to write them for various reasons. These reasons could be that students are self-conscious about their peers reading their work or they don’t feel like they have anything important to say.

Classroom blogs are a place where students can comment or respond to a formal topic posted by the teacher. Students can also see each other’s comments.

Q1. As a high school math teacher, how can I use blogs to supplement my lessons?

A2. Classroom blogs would be my best option. I can start by posting an equation or a word problem that is more advanced than what we are currently covering in class. I can then ask the students to try their best to solve the problem. Students can use their peers’ attempts to solve the equation as a starting point. Maybe the first student didn’t get the answer correct, but he or she is at least heading in the right direction. Then, the next student can see what the previous student did and make corrections to it.

Q2. Maybe a resolution to students being self-conscious about their posts is to allow all posts to be anonymous. What problems would arise if all posts were anonymous?

A2. If all posts become anonymous, then students might lose all their inhibitions. Posts might become inappropriate and offensive. Students would be able post entries with no consequences. However, it would be ideal if posts were semi-anonymous. So other students would not know who posted the entries, but the teacher could find out who was responsible for a post, if he or she needed to.