Topic 5 - Communication III - Internet and teaching blog

Topic 5 - Communication III

7/12/2013

Since the creation of Facebook in 2004 social networking has changed the way our world interacts. Although there were social networking sites being used far before Facebook, none of them had quite the same impact. As educators it I believe there is no point in fighting that fact that social media is here to stay. Instead of trying to control and prevent the usage of these sites in the classroom we should develop these sites as classroom tools that engage students and promote positive interactions amongst them. As teachers we must clearly explain, model, and outline the role social media plays in our classrooms. For example, the specific purposes of its use, expectations surrounding digital citizenship, and appropriate times to access social media. Within this discussion it is important to state that I may not necessarily use Facebook in the classroom. I may opt to use a 'private' more educational social media site such as edmodo which has many of the same features as Facebook as well as some educational features such as the ability to post assignments, test, classroom polls, etc.

The reason I say I wouldn't necessarily use Facebook in the classroom is because most students use Facebook for personal reasons at home and at times the students may not be using it for the most appropriate reasons (e.g., cyber bullying). For this reason I may want to separate the classroom use from personal use and this could easily be done by using a different medium.

As outlined in this topic there are many different types of social media that can be used in the classroom. For the purposes of this entry I have chosen four to discuss: Twitter, Blogging, Bookmarking, and Edmodo.

Twitter

Exit slip - students must tweet the answer to an exit slip style question
Tweet a significant learning for the day/week
Tweet upcoming due dates and assignments
Follow a particular hashtag to connect with certain issues and/or current events (social studies curriculum)
Creative writing in 140 characters or less
Summarize a lesson in 140 characters or less

Blogging

Students share personal feelings, stories, reflections, etc
Exit slip - blog to answer an exit slip style question
Blog Pals
Instead of having a daily journal for writing sentences students can blog this

Social Bookmarking

Providing additional resources for students - teachers can bookmark additional resources for students to consult when learning about a particular topic including current news about that topic (if any), etc.
Social Bookmark 'show and tell' - students keep a social bookmarking on a site such as Diigo and are given a chance to show off their 'favourite' links (so long as they're appropriate)
When introducing a new topic have students explore a social bookmarking site to find as many useful links as possible with relation to that topic

Edmodo

Give assignments and quizzes electronically
Have students complete classroom polls
Have students post their work on Edmodo for peer review
Role playing activities to explore important historical figures discussed in social studies

Significant Comments

http://misspariseau.weebly.com/4/post/2013/07/social-media-in-the-classroom.html#comments

http://alanasinternetandeducationsite.weebly.com/1/post/2013/07/communication-part-3.html#comments

References

Forder, M. (2011). 5 ways to use social bookmarking in the classroom. Retrieved from
http://edugeek53.wordpress.com/2011/07/12/5-ways-to-use-social-bookmarking-in-the-classroom/

Miller, S. (n.d.). 50 ways to use Twitter in the classroom. Retrieved from, http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom

6 Comments

Jill MacDonald

7/15/2013 10:47:52 am

Hi, MacKenzie!

I really enjoyed your post! I like how you broke down the four different forms of social media and gave specific examples for how you would use them in your classroom. One that stuck out to me was the use of both Twitter and blogging for exit slips; what a great way to conduct a formative assessment!

Something else that really resonated with me was the issue of cyberbullying. The more accessible we make technology for our students, the greater the likelihood there is that cyberbullying may occur. Part of this issue is the phenomenon of "Internet courage", where being anonymous online instills individual with a false sense of bravado, and as a result they feel more comfortable saying things they would most likely never say to someone in person, some of which can be downright abusive or inappropriate.

When I talk about being inappropriate online, I think back to PSII when I had to pull the plug on a "PollEverywhere" with my grade elevens because people started to misuse it. It wasn't offensive or degrading, but it was off-topic and done to be deliberately silly, which had violated our agreement in using this technology in the classroom and was far from what was intended in the lesson. Are there any specific expectations you would lay out for using technology like this in your classroom? How might you handle the issue of cyberbullying if it does come up?

Well done!

- Jill

MacKenzie

7/15/2013 11:36:23 am

Hi Jill!

Thanks for your question and sharing your experience! I would definitely set up very clear expectations for my students with regards to using those types of tools. Of course the idea of respecting others and well as the tool (e.g., not just firing up the message board for no apparent reason to talk shenanigans, etc). I think I would have a very serious talk about cyber bullying and its potential effects. I would also make it very clear to the students what the consequences would be if the tools were misused (I would most likely do exactly what you did take and take away that tool so were no longer using it in class). There would obviously be more serious consequences depending on the "severity of the crime" ranging from discussion with me, parents, principal, etc.

Thanks again Jill,

MacKenzie

Aaron Rosenke

7/15/2013 01:44:37 pm

Hey MacKenzie, awesome post. You spent a good deal of time breaking down these four resources and identifying great ways of implementing them into the classroom. I think that the newest and least familiar of these to me would be social bookmarking. Initially I always pre-limit myself with many of these technologies as I am a physical educator and really don't enjoy forcing more screen time on my students. However, once I understand the technologies better, I always find something that I can do that might be beneficial. In your opinion, do you think that it would be worth the time to take my students to the computer lab to use a social bookmarking site to compile resources for perhaps healthy living? They would not likely be using the site for any more than this gathering, so I am weighing the odds against just the novelty versus whether they will take much away from the experience. I am also a tech integration specialist, and nothing bothers me more than teachers throwing technologies in when they are not really increasing the quality of the lesson. Any thoughts?

MacKenzie

7/16/2013 08:23:17 am

Hey Aaron,

Thanks for your question - I love what you said at the end about just throwing technology into a lesson when they are not actually adding anything to it - in fact they may be distracting and take away from it.
To be perfectly honest - I see how social bookmarking would work for a PE class in the way you described it - I think there is a lot of neat information on the web and students would benefit from learning it this way - however, I wouldn't spend more than one class doing this. I would maybe give them the period to compile as much useful information as they could and then in the last 10 minutes each students shared their favourite site or piece of info they learned!

Thanks for the question,

MacKenzie

Michael Shields

7/15/2013 03:41:21 pm

Hi MacKenzie,
I really enjoyed your post describing the four ways to communicate with students and providing examples of how to use each of these internet tools in the class. I agree with you that protecting students from problems such as cyber bullying is essential when using social media and feel the same that facebook is not a media that needs or should be used as part of school due to the limited control we have with it.
I wanted to mention the remind101 texting tool that was discussed in the readings. If you didn’t go into much detail researching it I thought I would mention it to you as way to communicate through text messages for reminders and updates for class. The great part about it is that it prevents yours or your students personal information from being shared with anyone that is part of the texting group. This would allow students and teachers to text back and forth (what I believe to be the most reliable form of getting info to someone quickly), without having each others phone numbers. This way, students would be able to maintain their individual privacy which can protect them from potential bullying if other students had their phone number. Just another of many tools at our finger tips.

Cheers,
Mike

MacKenzie

7/16/2013 08:26:10 am

Hi Mike,

Thanks for sharing what you know about Remind101. You are right, this sounds like a really great tool for teachers to use, especially in DIV 3 & 4. It is a great way to stay connected with students without really entering their personal space and protecting them form others doing so.

Thanks again for the insights Mike,

MacKenzie

Topic 5 - Communication III

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