I began this blog 6 weeks ago as part of a course on Web 2.0. My first post invited you all to come along and adventure with me. And I have enjoyed your comments and company along the way. I hope you enjoyed reading about my discoveries and my reflections of my experiences. Perhaps you even learned something too. So to wrap up this segment of my Web 2.0 adventures, I thought I would share some final thoughts.
First, my mind is still on the verge of explosion due to the sheer volume of information I have digested in the past weeks. I cannot believe how little I knew and how much knowing could change my life. I know that sounds dramatic, but the new realms of possibilities that have been opened to me, deserve some drama. I feel a little like a proselytizer; I want to shout about the merits of the new tools I have found from the highest mountain.
Second, I still have so much to learn. I know I have barely scratched the surface of what is out there. and how it can be used. Not only are there social media tools that were introduced in the class that I have not yet investigated, but there are ones external to the course materials still to discover.
Third, I have begun to invest energy, thought, and time into building and refining my personal learning network (PLN). Before this course, I did not really know what a PLN was, let alone that I had one. It is definitely an exciting new endeavor.
As I this course comes to an end, I know my journey into the land of Web 2.0 has truly just begun. I will continue to use this blog as my travel diary, documenting new discoveries and reflections.
See you at the next checkpoint!
Adventuring through Web 2.0
Friday, August 4, 2017
Revisiting Teens, Social Media, and Education
One thing that stands out from recent articles I have read and conversations with my niece is that there is a large percent of teenagers that do not want social media to intersect with school. In a recent study 39% of students were against the idea (Crook, 2012). It makes sense. While teens will post most anything to sites like Instagram and Snapchat. They can control what they produce and the audience who can access it. In an educational setting, students do not chose their classmates. Fear of looking stupid or being ridiculed for the content they contribute, were common reasons students shared for keeping social media out of the classroom (Crook, 2012). My niece just said she thought it would be weird because Instagram and Snapchat were personal. (She hesitated to give my her Snapchat when she was first teaching me how to use it.)
So, here are a few of my ideas (after a six-week adventure into Web 2.0) regarding secondary education and social media use. Allowing the learning objective to direct which tools to chose is most important (i.e., Don't use social media just because you think it is cool.). Also, choosing the right social media tools to introduce is the key to successful integration and student use of the tools. Use tools that are novel to students (e.g., Storify, Blogger) or whose purpose is more educational in nature (e.g., Kahoot!, Quizlet). Doing so may make the use of social media feel less like an invasion of privacy to students. One thing my adventure in Web 2.0 has taught me is that there are more tools out there than I could ever imagine, and so many I still need to explore. My definition of social media is no longer limited to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Also, consider group work as a possibility when the main focus of social media use is content creation. This allows for collective authorship, which may help students feel less vulnerable.
What do you think is most important for effective social media use in secondary education?
So, here are a few of my ideas (after a six-week adventure into Web 2.0) regarding secondary education and social media use. Allowing the learning objective to direct which tools to chose is most important (i.e., Don't use social media just because you think it is cool.). Also, choosing the right social media tools to introduce is the key to successful integration and student use of the tools. Use tools that are novel to students (e.g., Storify, Blogger) or whose purpose is more educational in nature (e.g., Kahoot!, Quizlet). Doing so may make the use of social media feel less like an invasion of privacy to students. One thing my adventure in Web 2.0 has taught me is that there are more tools out there than I could ever imagine, and so many I still need to explore. My definition of social media is no longer limited to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Also, consider group work as a possibility when the main focus of social media use is content creation. This allows for collective authorship, which may help students feel less vulnerable.
What do you think is most important for effective social media use in secondary education?
Crook, C. (2012). The 'digital native' in context:
Tensions associated with importing web 2.0 practices into school setting. Oxford
Review of Education, 38(1), 63-80. doi:10.1080/03054985.2011.577946
Wednesday, August 2, 2017
A follow up to my last post on balance - Whose job is it anyway?
I was driving down a two-lane side street (speed limit 35mph) when I saw a young woman walking down the road in my lane towards my car. Her head was bent down looking at her phone with earbuds in her ears. She looked so similar to the cartoon people in the video, I was immediately reminded of it. (Here is the video link from my previous post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdz4DvDG_gg.)
She was walking ON the road, not beside it. So, as I approached her I crossed the double yellow lines into the other lane to allow for plenty of room. Since there were no cars coming from the other directions, I was safe to do so. What surprised me is that she never looked up and never moved over. I am not sure if she even registered that I was there. I was in shock and a little horrified. Did she even recognize her dangerous situation?
As an educator, it confirmed my belief that emphasizing balance is an integral piece of teaching technology. It is important that we not only teach the tools, but we teach responsible use of the tools. And, I think this is even more true for secondary education, as it is during this time when social media use really expands.
Which gets me thinking, when I incorporate social media in my class, should I leave space for a discussion on norms, use, and responsibilities or do I stick to my content? If not me, then who? Whose job is it to teach these lessons? Is it solely on the parents? What do you think?
She was walking ON the road, not beside it. So, as I approached her I crossed the double yellow lines into the other lane to allow for plenty of room. Since there were no cars coming from the other directions, I was safe to do so. What surprised me is that she never looked up and never moved over. I am not sure if she even registered that I was there. I was in shock and a little horrified. Did she even recognize her dangerous situation?
As an educator, it confirmed my belief that emphasizing balance is an integral piece of teaching technology. It is important that we not only teach the tools, but we teach responsible use of the tools. And, I think this is even more true for secondary education, as it is during this time when social media use really expands.
Which gets me thinking, when I incorporate social media in my class, should I leave space for a discussion on norms, use, and responsibilities or do I stick to my content? If not me, then who? Whose job is it to teach these lessons? Is it solely on the parents? What do you think?
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