Artistic Thinking Week 4

Digital Diet Chapters 5-6, 8-9

Using twitter in the classroom:

This chapter gives an example of a teacher using twitter in the classroom to facilitate discussion.  Twitter allowed students to comment and share their opinions to be heard by the entire class.  Using twitter can keep students engaged and motivated.  The book gives 4 steps to successfully using twitter in the classroom:

1.     Class discussion about purpose and ground rules

2.     Set up twitter accounts

3.     Set a schedule and post responses

4.     Engage the students in process and evaluation of using twitter in the classroom

Using skype in the classroom:

Skype is often used as a tool of arranging a guest speaker for the class.  This requires proper planning.  Define the topic of discussion beforehand, send out questions list to both speaker and students beforehand, and do a technical test before starting.  This will make for a positive and educational experience rather than a frustrating awkward internet interaction. 

Using Facebook in the classroom:

 Facebook can be a helpful tool in building working relationships between both students and teachers in an enjoyable and productive way.  It can “enable students to share information and discoveries while engaged in collaborative ventures.”  It can keep a record of progress of students’ individual or group work.  Facebook can serve as an organizational tool for teachers.  Ultimately, it can help students and teachers “connect with one another by sharing thoughts and opinions, posting photos and video, publishing notes, and creating a true sense of a ‘classroom community’ in their school.”

Using VoiceThread in the classroom:

VoiceThread can allow students who are normally fazed by the pressure of an audience succeed by being able to plan and record what they are going to say.  It can be another tell to help students better execute assignments.  It can encourage feedback and participation by allowing students to comment on VoiceThreads created by each student. 

Brooks-Young Chapter 5

This chapter states that social networking sites are:

Web-based services that allow individuals to (1) construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system.  The nature of nomenclature of these connections may vary from site to site.

The 1980’s sparked the idea of connecting individuals using computers.  Listservs and online bulletin board systems were created for this function.  The 1990’s brought online communities such as Tripod and Geocities.  The early 2000’s lead to social networking sites such as Friendster, MySpace, and Bebo.  In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook.  It has been growing ever since and reports approximately 175 million users today…

Social Media Reflection:

What is your personal perspective on utilizing social networking sites (such as Facebook) for education?  Do the benefits outweigh the risks?

Seeing as Facebook is such a larger aspect of our culture and very prominent in children’s lives, it is important they learn the appropriate way to use such sites.  I believe the classroom can be a place to educate students about social networking sites; however, I hesitate about the idea of the accessibility to their profiles on sites such as Facebook and MySpace.  I think the Elgg and Ning sites seem interesting and appropriate for the classroom, as they are more private networking sites.  I would support the use of these sites within the classroom to facilitate discussion that continues outside the classroom.  These sites would allow students to connect and learn more about each other in order to form a more cohesive community within the classroom. 

In Chapter 5 of “Teaching with the Tools Kids Really Use,” a statistic about online predators and its validity is discussed.  Originally it was stated, “One in seven youngsters have been approached by an online predator.”  The book says that the statistic as cited is not true, but that “According to the researchers who conducted this study, the reality is that just two of the survey respondents were sexually victimized by someone they met online.  Furthermore, just 4% of survey respondents reported aggressive sexual solicitations that included attempts to meet offline, and one-quarter of those came from another teen known personally by the victim.  Additional statistics show that just 4% of teens were asked to provide a sexually explicit photo, and just 4% of teens were upset by these requests.”  I feel as though, while the statistic may be low, the problem still exists that online predators can approach students on social networking sites.  Knowing this, I think that public social networking sites such as Facebook and MySpace should not be used in the classroom because it is just too much of a risk to bring inside the school.  However, since it is likely that students are using these sites, it would be valuable for them to learn the appropriate “netiquette” for the venue (the do’s and don’t and how to handle them, etc).  In order to do this, I think educators should create a social network private to the school, or more specifically the class, so that profiles are private and activity is more controlled.  

Technology Boot Camp II
Screenr Test

I tried to embed the video, but it just comes up like this:
<iframe src="http://www.screenr.com/embed/mSQ8" width="650" height="396" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Here is the url link:
http://www.screenr.com/mSQ8

Here is the uploaded video:

Here is the link for my voice thread.  I promise I'm not narcissistic!  I just didn't know what else to make a voice thread about other than what I've been working on lately... 

https://voicethread.com/share/3387932/

The embed didn't work again!

Skype Conversation with Maria!