Summary of Learning – Adventures of ECMP 355

Well it’s time for the end. A bittersweet goodbye to a great community of educators, though a bit sad I am optimistic because of the relationships and PLN I have built during the course of ECMP 355.

This course has been full of fantastic conversation and an abundance of learning. I want to thank all of my peers for their contribution to my learning, as well as giving me the opportunity to learn from you!

I had the pleasure of collaborating with Robbi Keller one of my neighbours from home who was also taking the course. We embarked on a journey with PowToon. With our rural internet I am surprised we got it completed but, here it is. It only took me 8 hours to upload! Please, make sure you watch the extras 🙂

Enjoy!

 

Contributions of Learning

Collaboration

When I consider this last semester and ECMP 355 one of the biggest things I will take away is the connections made by opportunities brought forward by the course. Our class has become community of cheerleaders, encouragers, and helpers throughout this semester. Whether it be helping each other with tech related questions on the Google+ Community, retweeting each other on Twitter, or giving tips and feedback on blog posts made by peers it has been a wonderful and empowering experience. It takes bravery to step out of the roll of a lurker on Twitter, make your first blog post, and engage with strangers online. This class provided us with a group of cheerleaders that said “Hey you are not alone, we are in this together!”.

Realizing that contributing to each others learning and interacting with each other online was important to me I did my best to comment on peoples blogs, and engage with them on Twitter. Though at times when the semester got busy I fell a little behind I still did my best to retweet peers, comment on their posts, and answer questions on the Google Community when I knew the answers. Below I will provide examples of how I contributed to others learning and encouraged others throughout the course.

Blog Comments

Here are a few of the comments I made on others’ blogs. I would have like to have made more comments but, as mentioned before I struggled when I got busy. I was able to help a few of my peers with struggles they faced on their learning projects, as well as ask others who were working on the same project I was. It was a great feeling to know that others were reading the posts that we all put so much effort into. 

Twitter

Twitter was a great place to connect with others. It was a lot of fun to see what others were finding, and see their views on what was going on in the world. Twitter is definitely something I am going to be keeping up with and enjoying in the future. I plan on attending a lot more #saskedchats and seeking out new chats to participate in. I am excited to keep up with the PLN I have developed on Twitter and look forward to sharing my own resources on Twitter. Using Twitter I shared 40 Indigenous Childrens books that I compiled, and summarized which recieved 10 retweets & 14 likes! This was very exciting for me as I felt like the work I was doing at school was a benefit to others as well. I also shared many resources about ADHD tech, and ADHD information as I myself have ADHD and want to use my knowledge to help other educators. When I started this class I had a total of 11 Tweets, now I am up to 57 I am looking forward to increasing that number in the future!

Responding to Peers Blogs

I was very inspired by many of my peers’ blog posts though at times I did not directly respond to their blog I gave them credit for sparking ideas for my own as well as pointing out when they helped me learn.

Here is a quote from my blog post Educational Technology in the Inclusive Classroom

Following a variety of my peers’ Learning Projects I saw many learning American Sign Language. I was inspired by the way they used technology to learn an important communication tool, and I could see the connection from what they were learning in relation to having an inclusive classroom. I began to think how I can use technology to differentiate learning, and create an inclusive classroom environment. I would like to thank Dakota Browne & Brittany Jefferson for their inspiration please, click on their names to see their ASL journey!

Google+ Community Contributions

I really enjoyed this platform to interact for a class. I found questions were answered quickly and it was easy to help others out. This is a great way to communicate and share documents with a group I will be definitely considering it when working with a group in the future. I tried to answer as many of my peers questions as I could below, are some examples.

Overall, this class community has been a great group to connect with and I know I have made some lifelong professional peers. I am excited to continue participating, learning, and sharing with my PLN.

Brooke

Well That Flew by in a Hurry!

Where my Learning Project Started

Here is a link to my very first post I made. I was very excited to embark on this learning journey as lettering is something I wanted to try and had never gotten around to it. I was curious how many other photographers made custom cards with beautiful digitized hand written script. When we received this assignment I immediately thought “Awesome” I will try hand lettering this is going to be great! What I didn’t think was that it was going to be that hard. I thought learning it would take some time but, was surprised at how long it has taken me to get a style I am somewhat happy with. Overall, this has been a great experience please, see my new learnings, struggles, and findings below.

Blogging

If we are being honest, I completely fell of the blogging wagon. I have a few posts but, fell behind after the start. I find I am often away from my computer and I believe that this was a factor in the amount of blogs I have posted. I found that I took time to work at my skills, find resources, practise and learn but, I rarely stopped to blog about it. Hand Lettering is definitely something I still enjoy and will continue using and evolving the skills I have learnt. I am actually going to turn an old inspirational blog into a creative blog in which I will add a lettering category.  My blogging career is far from over and I find it accesses my love for sharing my knowledge with others.

Community

This project introduced me to an entirely new community of people. Using Instagram I searched the hashtags #brushlettering #handlettering and #calligraphy I was immediately lead to an abundance of hand letterers showcasing their talent and work on their Instagram profiles. I began following so many accounts that things were getting confusing for me. This lead me to creating my own Instagram lettering page @thehiddenwildflower. Creating this account let me filter all of my lettering inspiration to one place. This also opened the door for me to connect with other letterers and have them follow me.

INSTAGRAM

Instagram is something I use for many of my creative ventures. It is the perfect tool for looking at examples of others work. Many letterers on Instagram would post helpful hints or tutorials. Often you could participate in lettering challenges that the majority of the Instagram lettering community would participate in. Suddenly, not just the people I knew were liking my post other hand letterers were liking them as well. Instagram was my main source of information, and my main motivator. Opening Instagram to see all of these great ideas and pieces of art made me want practise and build my skills more. No matter what creative art you are learning Instagram is a great resource. Simply do as I did, begin by searching hashtags, follow people, and then begin connecting and learning from them.

PEERS

A few of my fellow ECMP 355 classmates were also doing lettering or calligraphy, if you want to know the difference I have outlined it in my first post, What’s Another Passion. Though, the two techniques are different they can still support and inspire each other. The people in our class that I followed were Becca Bennet, Kaitlyn Schmidt, Megan Lane, & Stacey Baran. I had many of the same struggles as my peer such as, accessing quality supplies, and coping with difficulty of making something visually appealing. I often found myself refraining from blogging as I was not happy with the way my art looked.

Resources

ONLINE

Finding resources & inspiration was quite easy. I found many blogs, instagrammers, pinners, and youtubers dedicated to handlettering and teaching others.

Here is a list of my favourites:

• @thepigeonletters
• @lettersbyshells
• @leslie.writes.it.all
• Teela Cunningham
• Lyssy Creates
• Dawn Nicole Designs

IN PRINT

I realize that this was an online learning process but, one of my favourite Instagrammers  @thepigeonletters had an affordable
Brush lettering guide for sale and I wanted to try it. This was a great investment as it allowed me to simply practise correctly with worksheets etc. It was also awesome to follow this artist on Instagram as well as the #ultimatebrushletteringguide to see how others were doing with the book.

What I Learned About Myself

• I may be a creative perfectionist…
• To accept that I am not a natural at all things creative..
• Lettering is hard and needs a lot of practise
• If you practise alot, you WILL get better!
• Lettering is an extremely satisfying portable craft that works to fulfill my creative needs
• I love lettering, and incorporating it into all other things that I enjoy to craft (signs, photography, home decor)
• Blogging consistently is hard

What I Learned About Lettering

• Lettering is not only text you can add flourishes, and artwork to enhance the words.
  • Leaves & Wreaths Tutorial
  • Paint a Watercolour Cow
  • Draw a Mason Jar

• Downstrokes are thick & upstrokes are thin.

• It can be digitized using photoshop & integrated into photobooks.

• There are many tricks & techniques to change the look of your lettering.

• You can letter on an iPad.

• You can letter on things other than just paper! This is something I enjoyed doing the most. I have created my own signs before but, often used stencils as I was never satisfied with my lettering skills. So glad for this new learning here is what I made to wrap up my Learning Project!

Final Thoughts

This project has been fantastic. I often find myself overworked and deprived of creative experiences so be able to engage in this creative process all semester was a gift. I truly noticed a positive shift in my stress level this semester. This reminded me how important choice is in the classroom. What a cool computers assignment this could be. Have students show, document and find learning on the computer! This is something I will never stop doing I thoroughly enjoy this skills versatility and portability and would suggest it to anyone.

Lastly, here is a video of me doing what I love!

Thanks for following my journey!

Slacktivism or Activism

We live  in a world consumed in social media. Much of our population is obsessed with likes, retweets, and shares. How does this affect or relate to being an activist? Well we share causes participate in things like the “Ice Bucket Challenge” share photos such as “KONY 2012”. The video below explains why simply liking and sharing is not enough in fact it is what we call “Slacktivism” sharing without action. So this brings me to a questions “Can online social activism be meaningful and worthwhile?” and “Is it possible to have productive conversations about social justice online?”.

 

 

After watching this video I can see how Slacktivism is a problem. Our society has turned into a group of people that believes that a simply like and share is enough. Now, I am not simply stating that all individuals are like this but, it is something to think about. The last social justice issue you shared about on Facebook, did you donate to the cause? It made me question my own practises and realise that at times I to have contributed to “Slacktivism”.

 

Is all online social activism “slacktivism”?

I would say that these two types of activism are different but, can be easily confused. I think that many believe there are being social activists online when really they are simply sharing.  When you share a post you should add a call to action, and then go donate your own time and money to the cause. If you want to promote it online show the world proof of how you helped. Encourage others to stop simply liking posts, ask for donations, and call people out. Then, I think online social activism will be productive. We can talk about social justice issues until we are blue in the face but, if we don’t do any good for the cause like donate we are simply just talking.

Do not get me wrong talking about social justice issues are important and it an be done online. Online you have access to so many more people but, make sure you do it in way that sparks action within the individuals you are sharing with.

So I encourage you to think about the next time you are about to share something on Facebook. Is their intention for action behind your finger or are you just being a slacker?

 

Scratching my Head – Learning to Code

Starting out on this learning adventure I new pretty much nothing about coding. Building my own photography website I was faced with a few coding issues that I could eventually figure out (mainly by fluke).

I was excited because I think coding is an important skill students should know. It ties in with 21st Century Skills & Competencies that we as teachers strive to meet. I think coding can access students interests, and can create new opportunities for them down the road. Overall, I was excited to learn as it is something I would like to try in my future classroom.

Once I got started I felt pretty lost, and quite frustrated. I sought out tutorials on YouTube and this is what I found:

This video was great as it gave some background knowledge about the program and what to start with. This specific video teaches you how to draw a picture with scratch! I highly recommend it for other beginners. This video could be great to show students on a projector so they can follow along. This “YouTuber” Kevin Briggs has a great variety of scratch tutorials definitely check it out!

Here is my masterpiece! I did not draw a picture as the tutorial said but, I definitely used my learning to create this video.

//scratch.mit.edu/projects/embed/156300014/?autostart=false

I can see coding being used very effectively in the classroom! Jesse Gauley, a fellow education student though that students could create video response to a story they read or concept students learned, I thought this was a great idea!

As mentioned before I think coding is an important skill to learn as it helps students develop 21st Century Skills. Their are a lot of articles on why students should be coding. An article from Id Tech states that these are the Top 5 Reasons Kids & Teens Should Learn to Code 

1. Programmers are in high demand. According to Code.org, 71% of all new STEM jobs are in computing, yet only 8% of STEM graduates are in Computer Science. That’s a SERIOUS shortage of CS majors. Learning to code will increase your child’s odds of securing a lucrative STEM career, especially in a world where computing jobs are growing at over twice the national average. Coding has quickly become a vital skill, and Code.org points out that CS majors can earn 40% more than the college average.

2. Coding provides a competitive advantage when applying to colleges, internships, and jobs. If you possess a hot skill that many of your peers lack–such as the ability to code–you instantly appear more desirable in the eyes of potential college admissions officers and employers. Students ages 6-18 can gain a competitive edge this summer by enrolling in coding courses at iD Tech.

3. Coding fosters other crucial 21st century skills like critical thinking and problem-solving. For many developers, part of the appeal of coding is the challenge and reward of seeing their code come to life after a good debugging session. Don’t be fooled, however–with the right instruction, getting started with programming can be easy and fun.

4. With programming knowledge, students better understand the world around them. Most of us don’t know the first thing about what makes our smartphones, laptops, social media networks, and video games run. Basic programming knowledge can change the way we interact the technologies we use (and take for granted) daily, and can open our eyes to the infinite possibilities of coding.

5. Programming is fun and satisfying. While programming is logic-based, it’s also an extremely creative activity. If you know how to code, you can develop apps, video games, web sites, and more!

Educational Technology in the Inclusive Classroom

davidmulder61 Flickr via Compfight ccFollowing a variety of my peers’ Learning Projects I saw many learning American Sign Language. I was inspired by the way they used technology to learn an important communication tool, and I could see the connection from what they were learning in relation to having an inclusive classroom. I began to think how I can use technology to differentiate learning, and create an inclusive classroom environment. I would like to thank Dakota Browne & Brittany Jefferson for their inspiration please, click on their names to see their ASL journey!

With a question, I began researching how I could use technology to create an inclusive classroom environment. I had a goal to collect information, resources, and ideas. To begin I set out to one of my favourite exceptionality resources LD online a website with articles and information for educators about learning disablilities and ADHD. It is there where I came across Jane Quenneville’s article Tech Tools for Students with Learning Disabilities: Infusion into Inclusive Classrooms. She described the great benefits that assistive technology can bring to a classroom specifically in writing, reading, math, and spelling. She also said an important component to using assitive tech in the classroom is collaboration with assistive tech specialists. In Saskatchewan you could connect with the Neil Squire Society a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting those who need assistive tech.

Why use Assistive Tech or Tech that supports students with exceptionalities?

• Can benefit students in a variety of subject areas
• Increases the assignment completion
• Improves student motivation
• Supports objectives of inclusive classrooms

Apps & Technology to Support an Inclusive Classroom

Reading

Speak It!: Speak It! is a great text-to-speech solution that can allow students with reading disabilities to get a little help with reading when they need it.

Prizmo: With Prizmo, users can scan in any kind of text document and have the program read it out loud, which can be a big help to those who struggle with reading.

Alphabet Zoo: Alphabet Zoo app is a great tool for helping young readers to recognize letter sounds. Using text and pictures of animals, kids can build their reading skills while having fun.

See Read Say: This application will help to ensure that young learners are familiar with all of the Dolch sight words (the most common words), using games, activities, and tons of practice.

Writing

iWriteWords: An app designed to encourage fine motor skills using IWriteWords for practicing writing letters, numbers, and words.

Dragon Dictation: The application writes down spoken text. For students who struggle with writing, it can be a great way for them to jot down ideas or get help learning.

Sentence Builder: Through this application, elementary school children will learn how to build grammatically correct sentences, with a special focus on using connector words

AlphaWriter: Using Montessori-based learning methods, this application helps kids to learn how to read, write, and spell phonetically. It also teaches lessons on consonants and vowels, letter sounds, writing stories, and much more.

Intellitalk, Kid Works, Read & Write, Write Out Loud: Talking word processors that five students feedback on the writing process.

Word Prediction Programs & Portable Note Taking Devices

Math

Talking Calculator: Talking Calculator features large colorful buttons, creating an easy-to-use interface. Plus, as the app’s name suggests, the calculator talks. Put your finger on the screen and Talking Calculator tells you what button your finger hovers over. Perform a calculation and the calculator vocalizes the answer.

Virtual Manipulatives!: Another math-related app, Virtual Manipulatives! uses visuals to effectively teach fractions, decimals and percentages.

There is a large amount of apps, software, and devices to provide support for students with exceptionalities in the classroom. It is important that all students feel welcome and are provided with learning experiences that address their needs. Assistive technology can be a great support for all students.

Resources on Assistive Tech & Tech in the Inclusive Classroom

Teaching Students with Visual Impairments – Assistive Technology

Using Technology to Empower Students with Special Needs – Assistive Technology

LD Online – Technology

Assistive Technology for Kids with Learning Disabilities

The Best Apps for Learning Sign Language

Assistive Technology for Students with Hearing Impairments

** Please note that as educators we must respect the members of the deaf community and their views of assistive technology.

Complete Guide to Educational and Exceptionality Apps

I hope this blog post can be of help to anyone considering the ways that assistive technology and apps/software that support students with exceptionalities can benefit your classroom!

Brooke

PowTooN is now loading….

What is PowToon?

PowToon is a video creation platform that allows you to easily make videos for a variety of topics. The video platform allows you to create animated videos and presintations on your own or with their handy templates. It is fun to play around with and can put scenes in your imagination into a video. You simply create your scene and manipulate characters and objects to create your video.

Strengths

• It’s Free
• You can import your own pictures
• You can add music and voice over
• You can upload to YouTube
• There are a lot of resources for ideas, and creation tips online
• Easy templates to use and customize (Great for Beginners)

 

Weaknesses

• Upgrading is expensive
• Easy to use features are often premium options
• Their watermark is on the video (Free Version)
• It can be SLOW for rural internet
• Can be hard to use when creating a video from scratch

How will Teachers Use it

For Theirselves

• Create awesome and captivating videos to increase class engagement
• Introduce new learning topics
• Create videos for students to share their learning with parents via YouTube
• Create an outline for a project or test

For Students

• Students can create a video to showcase their learning
• Students can turn written stories into movies
• Digital Storytelling
• Create infomorative videos on a specific topic
• Create presentations similar to PowerPoint

Tutorials & Ideas

Digital Citizenship in the Rural Classroom

Nathan Jurgenson’s article about being on and offline, The IRL Fetish hit home for me. Growing up and living in Southern Saskatchewan I have encountered those who are truly “logged off” though some have never really “logged on”. Often those who are “logged on” are scrutinized for the amount of time lost when being online. Being “logged off” is definitely a dieing breed as more farmers and ranchers acquire smart phones, and get high speed internet they become connected to the online community. At times this happens by choice and sometimes it is necessary as the internet is becoming not only a place of information but, it is beginning to house documents once delivered by mail. Instead of mailing and faxing we have began emailing and uploading. The truth is sometimes I think that we forget that not all people connected to the digital world or even have access to the digital world. If you don’t believe me take a look at this Internet Coverage map I live at the bottom of the province where high speed is sparse. Yes, there are options but these include low bandwidth limits, slow processing, and high expense. No, “Netflix Binging” is not an option for us Rural Sask folk unless you live in town.

Here is an article about 3 Ways a Lack of Internet Access Impacts Kids

Ben Beiske Flickr via Compfight cc

How will limited digital access effect my classroom?

Growing up I saw disconnect between parents and technology. Many parents feared their children or even themselves having a digital identity. So much that their children were not aloud to have social media accounts and cell phones. Many parents including my own did not have access to high-speed internet and do not to this day. Many of my neighbours are just getting their first computer, tablet and smart phone. You often here grumbling about the dangers of the internet and all the time it can waste. Though, in Rural Sask some people use social media to manage sports teams, buy and sell used things, and promote their businesses this not the case for all. There is a disconnect within the generations and often some who fall behind. This effects my future classroom greatly, if parents fear technology or lack access to it I will have to work extra hard to educate parents on why being represented as a digital citizen is important.   Another challenge I will face in the classroom when teaching digital citizenship is the lack of high speed internet access in rural areas. My parents have zero cell service where they live as well as poor internet. This poses problems for individuals who are trying to be an active digital citizen. With recent library budget cuts in Saskatchewan the resources to connect individuals to the online world is even more limited. It is wrong for us to believe that all people have access to internet, and have a cell phone. As an educator I will have to make an extra effort to create opportunities for my students to increase their digital literacy, and give them the tools/experiences to become successful digital citizens.

How will Digital Citizenship Education look in my class?

Academics being the main focus of the classroom may make an educator feel as though there is no time for digital literacy. In rural schools it may not seem important as students may have limited access and the teachers may lack skills also. Though, some students may lack digital access at home school is a place where they can catch up. In my classroom I want to strive to create opportunities for students to use the internet as well as learn the opportunities, and dangers that it holds. Learning about how to be a good digital citizen is important because eventually students grow and partake themselves or, must do so through University etc. In health, and social studies the curriculum provides outcomes that include respectful relationships, and communities. The internet includes both of these topics as well can be a tool for assessment, sharing knowledge, and connecting with other classrooms. All in which we can integrate into the curriculum. After doing some research one way I will access opportunities for my students to work on their Digital Identities, and learn more about Digital Citizenship will be blogging. Here are some helpful resources on how to get started and where to go!

Not sure what topic to teach first? Check out the 9 Elements of Digital Citizenship & What Grade to Introduce Each Element

Student & Class Blogging

Having a classroom or individual student blogs allows student to share their work with others from all over. Available for family, friends & other classrooms to view. It can give them opportunities to write in a new form and put purpose behind their writing.

How to Start a Classroom Blog

IDEAS

50 Ideas for Student Blogging and Writing Online

45+ Ideas For Class Blog Posts

PLATFORMS

‘Kidblog’ – A Safe & Simple Blogging Platform for Kids

Edublogs- Easy Blogging for Education

INSPIRATION

Claire Kreuger’s Classroom Blog

Ms. Cassidy’s Classroom Blog

Learning with Ms. Parent

 

Thanks, Brooke

 

A Never-ending Journey

This is the representation I created to symbolize my “Treaty Journey” more specifically my miskasawin. At the beginning of my journey  I felt as though I need to learn more about the history of treaties and their origin.

I began to seek and learn history and current events through my courses, as well as through self discovery. I began to see so many displays of mistreatment, flawed systems, and roadblocks put up by Europeans and today’s society for First Nations peoples. For what? I began to see how the colonization of land and the ownership of land created a movement of greed, and racism.

First Nations people shared and Europeans took, took, and took the land keeping all the best pieces for themselves. Keeping the best education, the best medicine, the best of all leaving the First Nations people with boundaries and hoops to go through just to get things necessary to survive. Broken and hurtful is left of a partnership where one sides main concerns and intentions were to take. The Europeans and colonizers received exactly what they wanted.

Fast Forward 100’s of years and what do we have a society that is uneducated believing things like “there was some good, they should just get over it, it’s not my fault” all thanks to our Eurocentrically founded education system. Another system designed to make Europeans appear heroic and to cover truth. We have politicians believing this people in power, parents, grandparents, and educators with these embedded ideologies. For example in recent months we heard of Senator Lynn Beyak’s comments claiming that residential schools were “well-intentioned”.  Truthfully through the effects of Settler Guilt I see how people can have these dangerous thoughts come upon them but, it is important that they and others know that they are not okay. Just because of a disconnect in education does not mean that society can go fourth with ignorance. The response by Murray Sinclair in the video below is exactly why we should never forget what residential schools were and what they stood for.

Through learning history and discovering truths I learned much about myself as a citizen of Canada, as a rancher, and as a member of rural Saskatchewan. If read previous blog posts you will learn my powerful sense of connection to the land. You will also here frustration and the feeling of being stuck between two worldviews that of being a teacher and that of being a rancher. When Chelsea Vowel offered that we give all of the land back to the First Nations peoples I saw red. My settler identity shot through all of my education and said “NO! We can’t, we are sorry but we can’t. We live on this land it is our everything! We feed the world! It’s MY home! It’s MY culture! My people are from here, they belong here, they know here, and it is THEIRS. Take someone else’s land but stay away from mine”. If not for this class and having conversations I probably would have stayed stuck, stayed angry, and stayed in a period of false apologizing. In a change of glasses and through walking together with others on this journey I began to shift. Instead of hoarding and obsessing over my communities possession of the land I began to thing deeper and more clearly about the origins of the land. I began to see others here not just what is in front of me but, the people of the past. I saw Sitting Bull and the Lakota people crossing over into Canada, and I saw others living here. I payed more attention to the people within the history rather than focusing on the novelty of the history of my home. I began to realize that all people love the earth, and we all know the earth. I began to see it and realize that we should care and give back. Through listening to individuals, elders, and life speakers, through participation in experiences and ceremonies I saw for a moment what reconciliation looks like.

I realize that these encounters will not always be comfortable, and individuals will not always welcome me as the individuals I have experienced in this part of my journey, but I go fourth knowing that comfort is not what is important. I also go fourth with commitments, commitments to seek truth, and to identify and reflect whether the opinions I develop are rooted in this knowledge or rooted in my Euro-western worldview. I also commit to care and give back to the land in ways that I didn’t before. Lastly, I commit to never stop learning about Canada’s true identity, and to walking alongside the people who I share the land with.

We are all on our own journey but we are also on a journey together. We all know here, we all love here, and we all need to take care of hear.

As long as the sun shines, grass grows, and the rivers flow we are all treaty people.

 

Why Twitter

This is an an example of a conversation between two individuals about the use of Twitter in the classroom. 

CONCERNS

For argument’s sake I am going to argue against using twitter in the classroom (I am all for twitter in the classroom but I think these are some arguments that could be made against twitter). I think that twitter in the classroom sets a dangerous precedent for students and teachers. I think that it can open the door for social media to become too important for students. In other words students could put too much weight on resources from social media and lose that critical thinking that is so important.  
They could also put too much weight on other people’s comments (Bullying). My thought process here is that if students see teachers put importance on social media then they will in turn put too much importance on social media.

RESPONSE

I have analysed your argument in great detail and agree with and respect your arguments. As an individual out for more students’ best interest I would do a great amount of pre teaching before embarking on our Twitter journey.

To address your worry of students losing their ability to think critically I will explain how we would first learn about the internet. We will discuss the authenticity of information we read online and as a group we will look for truths critically. In this sense I think that Twitter and using social media, and the internet in the classroom provides opportunity to practise thinking critically. I will assess the students ability to critically analyse information they read on the internet.

To address your concern about cyber bullying I would talk about Amanda Todd’s story and how in our class we need to be kind online, and realise that our actions behind the screen can have life threatening effects on others. We would also discuss that if somebody is bullying you online it is important to seek out an adult whether it be a parent, teacher, or counsellor etc. I would make sure my students know that it is against to bully individuals any time including online.

Though you provide great concerns I feel confident that the students will have many tool to address you’re the concerns you brought up. I would now like to explain why I think Twitter in the classroom could be beneficial to students’ learning. Twitter always our class to connect with experts, teachers, classrooms and students from all over the world. Twitter also provides access to listen to others opinions on Social Justice Issues, politics, etc. hearing those and researching truths allow students to think critically to develop their own educated opinions on things. This process also teaches students about respecting others and being tolerant and respectful to others opinions. Overall, I think Twitter opens more doors for students that create problems. In respect of your arguments we will be begin by just simply having a classroom twitter account in which will be managed as class.

In case you need more information here is a link to 13 reasons to use Twitter in the classroom!

I would like to thank Zach for providing some great points for me to think about. It was great to collaborate with another individual to way the pros and cons! View Zachs blog @ Zacherysmith.wordpress.com !

Brooke