Blog Post 5: Driving Questions

1. Why should teachers use technology to communicate with students, parents, and peers?
2. Which technology tools have the greatest potential to improve communicated between teachers and others?
 3. How do these tools improve communication?

Teachers should use technology to communicate with students, parents, and peers because it is the most widely used form of communication. Also, it has the potential to be one of the most effective forms of communication if used properly. Teachers must be educated on how to use technology successfully in the classroom by attending technology workshops and having support from their school district. If technology is integrated seamlessly into the classroom environment daily, it is more effective because the teacher and the students are comfortable with it and it is a routine. Technology allows questions to be answered almost instantaneously, therefore enabling the Internet to be an interactive tool. For example, if a student has a question for a teacher or peer about a project, the student could post it on a blog or email the teacher and receive feedback rapidly.  It has been extremely useful having my teacher, Mrs. Langston email me back very quickly with response to specific questions. Also, the Internet can be earth friendly because it eliminates so many papers that teachers send home with students if they do not use the Internet effectively and post assignments online.

The tools that have the greatest potential to improve communication between teachers and others include blogs, email, videos, and newsletters. Blogs are a great tool that we have learned about in depth over the past 10 weeks. The blogs we created are effective for providing information about a specific topic. If I visit another blog from our course, I will access information about current practices, educational impact and solutions as well as resources they use or suggest. These class blogs for EDST 220 are a great example of informational blogs about a specific topic through an educational lens. Other blogs used for classrooms can display student work, homework assignments, and outside of the classroom activities for students to participate in. Email is a good, simple form of communication. Newsletters are also an effective form of communication that let students and parents know what is going on in the classroom and reminders. Any of these tools can be used in different ways to inform students and parents of due dates, reminders and keeping everyone organized. All of these tools can be used together to create a great learning environment. For example, email improves communication because it can be a fast discourse between a teacher and student that answers specific questions. A blog can be used for students to ask questions, but it is even more interactive because peers can put their input on the blog and have a discussion about the issue. People are more likely to succeed when everyone is on the same page for what is going on, what is expected, and communication is open.

Blog Post 4

1. Video: I made a video playlist on YouTube with three videos relating to technology and education in general and one addressing the digital divide. These videos captured my attention because they are short, well made, and knowledgeable.
2. Links: I provide three links to educational journal or magazine websites that are highly respected in the education field. Education World, the U.S. Department for Education, and Edutopia are excellent resources for anyone who wants to learn more about a wide range of topics in education.
3. Visitor Map: I used the visitor map gadget so that viewers can see where else people live who are accessing my blog. As more people visit the blog, the density of the red dots increase and it becomes more apparent where people who read my blog are from. If my students viewed my blog, this could create an interesting discussion about demographics or a project about graphing the regions of the country that viewers live. 
4. My Blog List: I used a link to another blog that relates to mine. Her blog discusses the same issue mine does, accessibility so it is a good resource for viewers to use for more information.
5. Picture: The picture at the bottom of my blog as a simple, easy on the eyes component on my blog. The picture shows the connection between learning and technology in a simple way. I placed it on the bottom of my blog because it provides a nice ending to the blog that is enjoyable for the viewer to end with.
6. Polls: I asked my readers "Do you think each student should have a computer in an elementary classroom? This gadget gives readers the chance to vote on their opinion on this heated issue that is discussed in my final project blog.

Sustainability

We learned how to use VoiceThread and made comments about pictures regarding sustainability in education.

Accountability

How does technology help or hurt educational efforts?
(click to enlarge)

Blog Post 3

SAS Pudong MS PE & Health Education is an effective blog because it is enjoyable to read and pleasant to view. The blogs design is easy to look at because it is well organized and not too much is going on. The blogger does a good job with using tags with "Filed under" so you can navigate the blog easily. It is beneficial to include pictures of the activities because it gives the reader a better understanding of what the students are doing in class.  It would be nice if the text had boxes around it because it would separate the area, making it easier on the eyes. The content is engaging and informative. The exercises explained are supplemented effectively with pictures and websites. However, the blogger should use hyperlink to use websites instead of URLs. Also, the subjects are broken up into smaller paragraphs, which makes it more inviting to read.

The blog made by Mr. O'Brien did not work as well as the first blog. The blog contained too many videos and some of the videos were ten minutes long so it was unlikely that they would be watched entirely. The pictures and videos may be relevant to the classroom, but there are too many and no captions under the videos. Also, the videos do not have boxes or white space around them. Basically, this blog needs to be adjusted to be easier on the eyes. Also, the blog needs more text so it is easier to follow because it is hard for the reader to know where to look and what they are supposed to take away from the blog. The layout is not great because the main space where the videos are is as skinny as the sidebars so it is not a good use of space. Additionally, the clutter on the sidebar is hard to follow and the reader will not want to deal with all of the information.

Accessibility Discussion

1) Is it important for all people to access to the internet? Why or why not?
2) Will eliminating the digital divide create new global, national and/or local social problems?
3) What might these new problems be?

Blog Post 2

1. Is it fair to scrutinize teacher’s private lives? Explain/defend your position.

In some cases, it is fair to scrutinize teacher’s private lives such as when teachers post inappropriate pictures and content on webpages that are accessible to anyone. For example, the teaching assistant Keath Driscoll posted “sexually suggestive” pictures and references to women as whores on Myspace. This content was viewed by many students, teachers and members of the community. I think that his actions should have received a greater punishment than a three day suspension. Mr. Driscoll and other teachers in “The Whole World (Wide Web) is Watching" typically deserve to be scrutinized. They clearly do not think about their actions of putting inappropriate material on the Web, which students and parents see. If my child’s teacher had inappropriate pictures or content on the internet, I would not feel comfortable leaving my child with that teacher all day.

Source: The Whole World (Wide Web) Is Watching

2. Should teachers maintain a presence on social networking sites? Why or why not? As a teacher, what steps can you take to protect yourself from criticism and/or sanctions when using social media sites?

Teachers should be able to maintain a presence on social networking sites under extreme caution and knowledge about privacy. Most teachers are normal people who lead social and extra curricular lives and they should continue to connect with friends over social networking sites like most of America does. Teachers should create a separate Facebook page for their professional lives and one for their personal life. Parents, students and coworkers will be able to see their professional use Facebook page. To protect yourself from criticism, do not become friends with anyone in your professional community on your personal Facebook. Also, if you choose to make a separate professional and personal page, do not post anything inappropriate on your personal page because even if you don't have professional friends on your personal Facebook, anyone can figure out how to access any information once it is posted on the internet.

 Please visit "The Paranoid's Guide to Facebook" on PC World for more information on Facebook.