Social Media

1.      “A social network site is an online site where a user can create a profile and build a personal network that connects him or her to other users for a variety of professional or personal reasons” (Dawley, 2009, p. 111). I think the biggest appeal to social media and social networking for the young and old are the opportunities to use their own tools such as blogs, voice, and video sharing all over the world. It allows the individual to be creative, to create something of their own that they can share with others who care, and to communicate with others beyond their homes, schools, or workplaces. It can also give people a chance to meet friends or to find jobs. The best thing about social networking is the fact that you can see all the connections that are made. So now you are not just seeing your friend, but you can see beyond that. You can see who they are connected to and who those people are connected to. In this day and age with technology being so prevalent, the appeal to reach beyond what we used to be able to reach is so great.

2.      I think the possibilities for classrooms at this point are endless with the amount of social media and social networking that is available. The nice thing about social networks is that there has been a creation of educational social networks where teachers and students can feel more protected than just simply using any commercial networking site. For example, Edmodo is set up in the same fashion that Facebook is, but it is strictly for educational purposes. The benefit to using something like Edmodo is that students are used to layout and understand how to use it.

“In concept, personal learning environments would encourage students to approach learning in ways best suited to their individual needs. Visual learners, for example, might be able to obtain material from a different source than auditory learners. Students using personal learning environments may further benefit from the practice of keeping track of, and curating, their own resource collections. Personal learning environments are seen as a way to shift the control over learning – particularly its pace, style, and direction – to the learner” (Johnson, 2011, p. 31). With education moving in the direction that it is where learning and teaching is much more individualized and educators are trying to meet different educational learning styles, social media and personal learning environments are a great tool to use in the classroom. Students now have grown up using technology and are already good at using social media and social networks, so why not bring learning to their level and engage them using what they already know? Another positive aspect of incorporating all of this into the classroom is that now the teacher is not the only one teaching all the information. Everyone in the classroom, including the teacher is learning from each other. Information has never been so easy to get a hold. Why teach and lecture on things that students can find online? We should be letting them use those resources to find information and our role of the teacher becomes asking questions that make students think based on the information they are finding. According to Dawley, social networks allow the learners to take on many more roles than they are used to. In the past, learners have been the ones to sit and take in information. However, Dawley points out that now the learners has become part of the learning process by being identifiers, lurkers, participants, creators, and leaders.

The negative effects that this could have on teaching and learning is that the teachers need to be completely aware of everything that is going on during the lesson. They should depend on social media and social networking to be the soul teacher. The teacher needs to make sure to continue to guide and teach and question where it is appropriate. The teacher also needs to be conscious of where and when all of this is put into a lesson. It should not be put into the lesson for the sake of using technology because then students will not get what they are supposed to from the experience they should.

3.      I can see myself using something like The Educator’s PLN. I am always looking for ways to enhance my classroom environment and my lessons so they incorporate technology and become much more engaging for my students. This personal learning network on Ning shows all kinds of videos and posts from other educators that I think I would find helpful in creating a more student-centered classroom. I like looking at the ideas that are put out there by other educators that I can use in my classroom. Reading through comments is helpful because you get to learn what works and what doesn’t. It is nice to see that others have tried the same thing and then learned to adjust based on how the lesson went.

4.      This will benefit me because it has opened my eyes to the possibilities of using social media and social networking in my classroom. The hardest part about incorporating technology into the classroom is that I want to make sure that whatever I am using is relevant to what I am teaching. I don’t want anything to be forced in where it shouldn’t be. It is very time consuming to look for all the different ways to incorporate technology into the classroom because there are so many options out there that I want to try in my classroom. I would like to start using some of the ideas that we have learned so far in this course so I am going to have to take baby steps by only using one thing at a time. I also don’t want to overdo any of it and make it difficult for my students to stay on track.

5.      As educators when we use social media and social networking it can be dangerous. There are technical and potential legal issues, student safety, teens that may not make good choices, or dangerous strangers that students can run into that we have to be aware of. However, there are ways to reduce these problems.  Before starting use these resources in the classroom it is important to educate everyone involved including: teachers, parents, and students about the sites that will be used and the possible concerns that will be faced. There needs to be training for teachers, guidance for the parents, and students need to be taught what is appropriate and the proper etiquette for using all of the sites that will be used. The teacher needs to carefully monitor what students are doing where they are going and what they are posting. Most importantly, the teachers in the school should only be using educational networking sites that have been approved by the technological team at the school. Keeping students safe is the most important issue, but we do want them to see the educational benefits of social media and social networking so I do think it should be incorporated as long as the proper steps are followed. The school should also have a clear plan laid out of appropriate consequences for students who do not follow the rules.

References

Dawley, L. (2009). Social Network Knowledge Construction: Emerging Virtual Wold Pedagogy. On The Horizon. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Johnson, L. A. (2011). The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Willard, N. (n.d.). Schools and Online Social Networking. Retrieved from Education World: http://www.educationworld.com/a_issues/issues/issues423.shtml

Gaming

Gaming can be an effective, engaging, and challenging way to contribute to the education of students as long as it is used correctly and fits the objective that is being taught. Not only can it teach content across the curriculum, but it can also teach a lot of other skills the students will need to be successful in school and beyond school in the real world. Examples of skills that students will acquire through the use of gaming is collaboration, working in teams, making decisions, taking risks in looking for objectives and goals, using scientific deduction, mastering and applying new skills, thinking strategically, and persisting and solving problems  (Prensky, 2007). For this reason, I think it is good to incorporate games into lessons where it helps reiterate concepts and includes other essential skills the students need to know. I have not up until now used any games or simulations in my classroom because I really have not looked into the topic until this assignment. It is definitely something I would like to try and see what my students get out of the experience.

Chalk House - Students become reporters that have to investigate the disappearance of the last family member of the Forrester family. The game focuses on improving reading and writing skills by engaging students in a mystery using a haunted house? What student wouldn’t want to investigate a disappearance in a haunted house? Not only are the students reading and writing, but the game also includes other elements of literature such as a story line and characters. Students will use a six step writing process that includes: prewriting, rough draft, peer editing, revision, teacher editing, and publication. This would be such more exciting for students than just sitting and listening to the teacher lecture about all the different parts of the writing process.

The Problem Site - This site helps with math practice. I have used in my classroom, and I like that it because it gives the different grade levels and content that can be found in math. This site has every topic imaginable and even gives word problem practice. Using a site such as this gives the students an opportunity to see how games can incorporate math. I usually have the students work in groups which gives them an opportunity to work together and help each other solve problems and go over anything they were having problems with.

Academic Skill Builders - Although these games may be geared more towards younger students, it still helps students practice content using a different means and gives them an opportunity to win or lose and to try again. These games can be played with other players which makes it even more fun for them.

“Beyond the generation-specific appreciation for gaming, advocates point to collaboration, problem solving, and communication as the main benefits of game-based learning. Students are engaged because they are motivated to do better, get to the next level, and succeed. Proponents also underscore the productive role of play, which allows for experimentation, the exploration of identities, and even failure” (Johnson, 2011, p. 18). I think this is a powerful statement and explains a lot of why gaming and simulations can benefit the students. It is a great way to teach on their level and to teach using something they are already familiar with. They can learn without knowing they are learning. I don’t think teachers give the students the opportunity to use gaming in the classroom because they are afraid that students will not be learning and maybe (like myself) do not realize how many educational games and simulations can be found. Although they may still be scarce, I do not think they are as scarce as they once were. The benefits of gaming and simulations can be found in students having goals, succeeding, failing and trying again, collaborating, socializing inside and outside the classroom, and following a story line and characters. What I found even more beneficial for students was that “computer simulations and virtual reality offer students the unique opportunity of experiencing and exploring a broad range of environments, objects, and phenomena within the walls of the classroom” (Strangman & Hall, 2013, p. 2). Being able to bring in the outside world without having leaving the classroom will give the students a much more worldly view of what is outside schools and their homes. They can visit and talk with others that are around the world. Most of the virtual reality and simulations have been created for math and science because both subjects lend themselves to this type of learning; however, the benefits can still spread across the curriculum. The Chalk House simulation that I chose to look at is a perfect example of a simulation that would help students with literacy. It is a great way to get students to understand the writing process as well as how to follow a story line and connect with characters in the text. Being able to situate students in environments and contexts not available in the classroom can assist in subjects such as social studies, English, and foreign language as well (Strangman & Hall, 2013, p. 3). Immersing students in environments and context outside of school is much more engaging than just reading or talking about content.

References

Johnson, L. A. (2011). The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.

Prensky, M. (2007, March 9). Sims vs. Games: The Difference Defined. Retrieved from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/sims-vs-games

Strangman, N., & Hall, T. (2013, October 22). Virtual Reality/Simulations. Retrieved from National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials: http://aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/virtual_simulations#.VN_Zj_nF_a4

Open Content, Creative Commons, and E-Books

Open content, Creative Commons, and E-Books have opened up a whole new world for academic and other professional institutions. It has allowed the sharing and collaboration of resources much easier and quicker than it has ever been before.

According to the 2011 Horizon Report, “Open content embraces not only the sharing of information, but the sharing of instructional practice and experiences as well.” This is a great way for educators to get ideas for lessons that have worked for other educators. Although teachers need to continue to use their own creativity when it comes to creating lessons, it still helps reduce the teacher workload by at least giving a starting point for a new lesson instead of creating a lesson completely from scratch. Why not use ideas that have worked in other classrooms? Another benefit of open content is the cost effective alternatives to textbooks and other resource materials. Not only are textbooks expensive to purchase, but they are not easy to update and often times new editions are not ready for years at a time. It is not cost effective to purchase a new textbook for a class full of students every time an updated edition is available. Open content gives the ability to find, evaluate, and put new information to use. As I was looking at the OER Commons, I found that it was easy to search by subject and grade level. I can see myself using this site because I found some lessons for real world applications in math at the middle school level.

“Creative Commons helps you share your knowledge and creativity with the world. Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation,” says creativecommons.org. Creative Commons is a standardized way to grant copyright permissions for sharing free content online. This allows educators to use the information that is available under the Creative Commons license as long as they follow the given license elements that have been given along with the shared material. It has helped to alleviate some of the issues that come with open content and E-Books as far as the copyright laws and sharing of information.

The 2011 Horizon Report says, “Audiovisual, interactive, and social elements enhance the informational content of books and magazines. Social tools extend the reader’s experience into the larger world, connecting readers with one another and enabling deeper, collaborative explorations of the text.” Using E-Books, or electronic books, brings new kinds of reading experiences into the classroom with the visual interfaces with multimedia and collaborative elements. By using E-Books in the classroom, educators are able to reach students on their level with multimedia. It helps to engage the students using what they already have and know how to use whether it is an iPhone, iPad, Kindle, or computer. It is a much more exciting way to interact with the reading material for some students than merely reading from a traditional book. The possibilities that come with E-Books could transform the way we interact with reading such as using graphs, illustrations, videos, bookmarking, annotation, commentary, and dictionary look-up. Other benefits that come with using E-Books in academic institutions are reduced costs for both the institution and students as well as the portability that it provides. Because they can be accessed through a variety of portals and are available online learning can take place beyond the classroom.

Flat World Knowledge, an E-Book publisher, is published under a Creative Commons license. It allows the user to share and adapt with a limited number of licensing rules. The user must give the appropriate credit and indicate any changes that have been made to content, it must be used for commercial purposes only, and if the information is transformed or built upon when it is distributed it must be under the same license as the original information. This is a great resources and allows the user to not only use and change the information, but they are able to distribute it again as long as all the rules are followed. This is a great example of the Creative Commons being put to good use. It also helps protect material that has been shared.

Although open content and E-Books are a great way to share information around the world, they do not come without their challenges. The 2011 Horizon Report lays out some of the concerns and challenges of these resources. The concerns about using open content are the protection of intellectual property and automatic copyrights that are put on materials that are shared as well as the challenge of sharing, repurposing and reusing scholarly works. I believe that some of this has already been addressed with the Creative Commons and is in the process of not becoming the issue that it once was. The challenges for academic institutions as far the E-Books are the scarcity of academic titles, lack of features for scholarly work, restrictive publishing models, digital rights management, and accessibility issues. Again some of these concerns and challenges are slowly vanishing because of resources such as the Creative Commons. There also seems to be a challenge when it comes to keeping materials up to date. When educators and other professionals are looking up information, they are expecting to find updated information and therefore information and content needs to stay up to date. Educators, even with all of these resources, need to make sure they are still being creative and creating a learning environment that is their own. They should not become too dependent on using shared ideas only.

The benefits of open content and E-Books outweigh the challenges of concerns. This is not to say that the challenges and concerns have been overlooked, they are still being worked on and will continue to get better with time.