Week 30 - Professional Online Social Networks

 I hadn't really thought about how or even why I use Social Media until this week. I am born of the pen and paper generation, a generation that is used to speaking to people face to face and exchanging letters created from wonderful penmen ship.
Obviously the changing face of teaching meant I had to learn about this new media and how to use it but despite the positives the jury is out on how I really feel about it.
As a teacher who is passionate about education, especially the area of Special Education social media has allowed me to establish 'friendships' around the globe with parents and teachers of our wonderful students. Facebook would be one of my main media for my own teaching and learning purposes, a way to gauge what is happening in education around the globe and at home.- I belong to NZ Teachers Primary Facebook page and find this a valuable source of information, questions and ideas. I also follow the Dyslexia Foundation of NZ for ongoing support and information around this. Mindshift also supplies plenty of information and ideas that often challenge how we view learning. WeAreTeachers Reading is another great site that I enjoy. I tweet and retweet heaps, predominantly in the area of Special Education. I am fascinated and frightened by the United States changes to this area of education and pray that the same funding cuts and dehumanising of these students doesn't occur here. Edutopia, Daniel Goleman, Special Needs Ed, Alice Keeler and John Maxwell Team are all thought provoking sites that often challenge deep seated beliefs. I also follow sites around Autisim as it is a special area of interest. I am enjoying G+ community, also the community involved with eportfolios.
So how do i use social media with my students? - being in a small town at the bottom of the country where travel is increasingly expensive i find sites like youtube, national geographic excellent for virtual tours and allowing the students to experience situations in 'real time'. My students are heavily into blogging, they see this as a way to form networks with students with similar needs, I see it as a way to increase reading and writing. Students use the blog to create posts around suggested areas and to reply to each others ideas. Blogging is still a work in progress as we are often let down by our technology at school. We have a yammer network at school and each area/subject around the school has a yammer page where students can contact each other and their teacher around concerns, suggestions, celebrations, homework and questions. This is working extremely well for me as i have pages for my students in the mainstream, my students in the hub, my student council and my teacher aides. Actually, I am quite surprised writing this about how much I actually use Social Media for my own learning and engagement and for that of the students. I know i have a long way to go and over time know that this media will take a more predominant place in my teaching and learning.

Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is most important.” – Bill Gates



Reference:teachbytes.com

Comments

  1. AndriusManApril 3, 2019 at 5:51 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AndriusManApril 3, 2019 at 5:51 AM

    I need recommendation about indexing service .

    ReplyDelete
  3. Grow NHT Global BusinessDecember 10, 2019 at 7:45 AM

    Wow! awesome article. It's very informative, thanks for sharing with us.If you want to know, what is NHT Global Products then contact us.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hindustan Institute of Maritime TrainingDecember 10, 2020 at 5:02 AM

    Thanks for sharing such a informative post with us, keep sharing your thought

    Shipping Courses

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What ought I to do, all things considered?

I think as Hall states in his article 'there has been a blurring of the socialization roles of families and schools.'  I think living in a small town where the parents were friends with teachers before they were spouses, parents and teachers, blurr the lines even further. Until recently I taught in a different town to where i lived. While i loved the school and the families the travel finally got too much and i found a job where i live. Again, i work in a great school, with great teachers a wonderful boss and amazing students but  sometimes, the line becomes blurry. An example of this, a silly one at that but one that actually annoyed me was when i attended an evening with Annabel Langbein. The group of ladies i was with decided to go to the local hotel for a night cap (9:15pm). I walked in and went to order a coffee, as i was driving and a parent marched up to me and demanded to know what i was doing at the pub on a school night. I was really shocked. I wasn't drinking a...
Read more

Changes in Practice

Image
Not my best work but have just finished reports, gearing up for parent interviews and flying out of NZ on Thursday so here goes…. Feelings: I have been teaching for 15 years and have studied continuously throughout this time. I have never felt trepidation before commencing any previous study but I certainly did when commencing Mind lab. The difference for me this time was the ‘digital content’. While I am able to use some digital technology and use it well, I was completely out of my comfort zone. 32 weeks later however, I can’t believe how much digital content I have introduced to my students and how some of them have run with the ideas. I believe I am now more open to ‘having a go’ in other areas of my life as a result of renewed confidence. I know I still have a way to go with digital learning but at least the journey has now begun. So…… What have I learnt – I knew nothing about coding before this course. I introduced Scratch to the students and they loved it...
Read more