Micro blogging

In education, it seems like micro blogging presents unlimited possibilities for use in the classroom. Micro blogs can provide a forum for students to ask questions outside the classroom, for teachers to post announcements, and even for students to follow relevant professionals. And that is just the beginning! Some classrooms are totally paperless, which is absolutely amazing. I like the idea of students following professionals on micro blogs. I think it gives students a chance to keep tabs on the current happenings in a particular field of interest. For more ideas, check out 28 Creative Ways Teachers are Using Twitter or Teacher Paperless. 


My concern with using this kind of social media in the classroom is how easily it could get out of hand. In an unsupervised environment, children could easily take advantage. No matter how often we talk to students about the importance of internet safety, there still seems to be way too many cases of inappropriate use of the internet. Any suggestions?

Twitter

Social Networking

Stay Connected

As Alan Levine discusses in New Media Consortium, keeping up with all the new technology is literally impossible. Since technology can change in an instant, it is important that educators stay connected. Social networking is a great way to keep up with the constant evolution of education. We can then ask questions and stay updated on current research and findings. As someone who is primarily interested in early childhood education, I hoped to find a social networking site that could provide me with resources and ideas to enhance my knowledge in the education of young children. The Early Childhood Exchange is an online community that does just that. Members discuss ideas and trends in EC. Check it out!

A Teacher Today

We can get news in an instant. With the invention of the internet and social media, we have the ability to stay up to date on literally everything. Instead of waiting for a day to read about it in the paper, we are immediately exposed to new knowledge and information with just the click of a mouse. It is amazing. As George Siemens explains, in Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age , learners have the ability today to learn for tomorrow. This is why it is so important for teacher's to make learning meaningful. As educators, the thing to remember is that all the new information students learn effects the information that they already know. Learning is a social experience. When students are actively engaged with their environment, they are gaining knowledge. The transfer of knowledge from one person to another is a part of being immersed in the world around us. According to The Changing Nature of Knowledge, learners form connections, and knowledge is no longer "exclusively in individual minds." We will learn more when we can not only connect our knowledge with our own experiences, but also with the experiences of other's. 


A learner's unique interactions with the environment around them will influence their understanding. Connectivism thinks of this in reverse. Siemens states that "the ability to recognize when new information alters the landscape based on decisions made yesterday is also critical," meaning that new information will change the way we previously thought. Our world is constantly changing and learners need to alter the way they behave based on the tools and people around them. This is why I would consider a teacher today to be like rain. We can provide the basic necessities that students need to grow,   but the actual learning takes place as the students interact and change with the environment around them. 

Plants need rain, but most of their growth occurs in the way they interact with the world around them