Kathryn's EDUC 630 Blog

Featured

Social Media in Education

The more we move forward in our technological era, the more we hear the ever-controversial effect of social media. Is there a thing of too much screen time? Should we get rid of it altogether? Are there positive ways we can interact online? Should there be restrictions? Limitations? Bans?

I really believe that social media is expanding at such a rapid pace that individuals do not even have time to properly assess and answer these questions before a new social media platform arises. That doesn’t mean we should stop trying to answer these questions, but it does mean we need to be mindful in the way we choose to engage with social media, and be mindful in the way we allow social media to engage us, before we come to any conclusions.

I can remember a shift in my childhood where the idea of connecting with an individual through an online platform went from a foreign concept to one that was new and exciting. I still cringe on the memories that come up on Facebook from the early days when I needed to start every status with “is doing ____”. At that time, I had no idea of what I was doing with this social media platform. I knew it connected me with my friends, but I did not understand that the whole world was out there ready to see my posts if they so pleased.

When I reflect on my first experiences with social media, I find myself trying to see social media from the perspective of my students right now. For them, there was no shift. They were born in a time where social media was a norm- no longer a newfound interest or concept. They are exposed to Snapchat, blogs, Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, Tumbler, and probably many more that I am not even aware of. They connect through Xbox Live and PC games, games on phones, and iMessage. Their world of social media is endless. This is not to say that all of my students are addicted to social media platforms, but rather I point this out to acknowledge the fact that educators cannot ignore this part of their life.

Nicholas Burbules (2016) in his article “How we use and are used by social media in education” states that, “social media are powerful tools. But as with all tools, we don’t just use them — they use us, they change us. Social media are not just mediums for expression through writing and reading; they shape and change the activities of reading and writing, sometimes in creative and productive ways, sometimes in ways that make us more shallow, hypercritical, and opportunistic” (p. 565). When educators are choosing social media to engage with inside or outside of the classroom, I feel they must ask themselves “how am I engaging with this platform?” and “how is this platform engaging with me?”

Whether we want to admit it or not, social media engages with us. Our feeds are heavily modified to adhere to our likes and dislikes, slowly warping our viewing pool to our personal preferences, filtering out anything that might not fight our “norm”. It’s a dangerous pool to live in as an educator when we come to school every day working with children who are not always adhere to our “preferences”. We cannot allow ourselves to be warped around our social media experiences.

Although I might come across as having a fairly negative view of social media, I don’t necessarily see it negatively- I see it critically. I want to engage in healthy conversations and connect with new people online, but I also want to maintain face-to-face relationships and productive conversations that use helpful words over hurtful words. I want to involve my students in a healthy dose of social media that expands on our lessons, but also remind them that what is happening right in from of their face is just as important.

I have seen discussion boards utilized successfully in the classroom, as well as education apps and programs used to support instruction. I’ve also seen bitemojis used to engage students in lessons (they were very engaged, I must say), and Instagram to connect with classrooms in another state. There is a healthy way to incorporate social media in the classroom, but educators must stay mindful. Self-reflect on its purpose and its effect. I feel this is a step in the right direction for working with social media in a healthy way.

References

Burbules, N. (2016). How we use and are used by social media in education. Educational

Theory, 66(4), 551- 565. Retrived from https://learn.liberty.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2640142-dt-  

forum-rid-463622274_1/xid-463622274_1

Website Reflections

The most challenging part about the website process was creating it. I first started with WIX because I thought it would be more user-friendly, but I quickly found out I was wrong. I usually persevere more with technology, but I decided to try out another platform instead of feeding into my frustration. WordPress was way easier to navigate, and they even provide free templates that allow you to choose the level of creativity you put into your site.

I think if I were to use a website in my classroom, I would choose to use a Google Classroom site instead of a typical website platform. I like Google Classroom because it’s extremely specific to your classroom; you can post assignments, keep up with grades, include extra resources, and even allow parent access. I understand it’s not exactly the same as a WordPress or WIX because it interacts with your students, but I don’t see myself actively maintaining a WordPress website to track information unless I decided to make a personal blog for teacher resources.

I personally think that social media can be utilized in a healthy way to encourage educators to connect with one another (specifically blogs, Instagram, or Twitter). However, an educator must make sure they are staying diligent in their efforts to filter their public information on social media to make sure they are staying Christ-like in all areas. We can maintain a mature and professional presence on social media platforms that will encourage growth and collaboration with fellow educators. There are many talented educators around the world that we could all benefit learning from. Social media provides a platform to connect with these educators.

In terms of our church’s representation in the digital world, I do not feel that the Church has fallen behind. Most churches I have interacted with are maintaining websites, social media platforms, as well as posting their sermons online and doing live-streams for their church services. Do some churches have a way to go? Yes, but I don’t believe that any church has completely fallen behind in reaching the world digitally. Plus, I believe that God’s word will be spread whether technology is up-and-running or not. We should not rely on technology to spread the Gospel.

Microorganism Review Using Quizizz

https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5e59312807386c001ccc9dd8

In fifth grade, the expectations for students taking responsibility for studying for their tests begins to increase. Although teachers may continue to review as a whole group, they also expect their students to study on their own in order to increase independence and ownership of one’s grades. Technology has opened more doors for study techniques that students can use. It also allows teachers to have a hand in helping students study for their tests, without actively guiding them every second. I have used Kahoot and Quizlet before, but I recently heard of Quizizz- a similar platform to the previously mentioned tools but presented in more of a test format way.

For this Quizizz, I created a mock test that my students can use to review for our upcoming microorganism quiz. The questions are pulled directly from the quiz; therefore, my students should be adequately prepared if they choose to use Quizizz to study. One thing I loved about this platform was the ability to record myself reading the question. Many of my students have a learning disability in reading, so having a word heavy study technique isn’t always the best option for them. This platform allows my students to have the stress of reading taken away from them, so they can just focus on answering the questions correctly.

To use this in the classroom, I will first model on my SmartBoard how to access the Quizziz using live mode. This allows my students to see how to access the game, as well get a feel for some of the questions they will be presented with. I will then allow them to use their free time to use our Chromebooks to study using Quizziz. Our students use Quizlet to study in their free time, so they are already used to actively pursuing study apps on their own. They can also work with a partner to study, and they can even use this app at home.

Box Area Method for Multiplication

History Class Introduction

Presentation Tools

Teachers are presenting information every day in one way or another. With that being said, it’s important that teachers are aware of multiple presentation apps they can utilize to diversify their presentations, provide more accessibility, and ultimately have a large toolbox of different apps to choose from.

Two presentation apps that I am particularly interested in are Prezi and Easelly. Both of these tools can be used on tablets and computers in many different lessons. Teachers need to be conscious of how they can utilize these programs in their lessons based on the technology they have (Roblyer, Hughes, 2019, p. 101).

Prezi is an online presentation platform in which individuals can design a presentation without many restrictions. Instead of having individual slides, which is used in PowerPoint, Prezi uses one great big canvas. The creator of the Prezi has control over what is seen and when, the design/structure of the presentation, as well as the theme of the canvas. I find Prezi useful for presentations that I want to be super engaging. I find that with PowerPoint, the presentation can feel a bit redundant. Prezi allows the interest level to be peaked because the viewer will not anticipate what will be happening next. This would be a great option for students to use for a class presentation instead of using PowerPoint; it could be used for group projects or individual presentations in all subjects and even review assignments.

Another presentation tool that I have not used before, but one I would like to incorporate into my lessons, is Easelly. Easelly is an online tool that easily allows individuals to turn information into a visual graphic. Easelly already has pre-made graphics created, therefore all the user has to do is take their information and put it in where they want it on the graphic. We often have students make posters in the classroom to represent information from a project, but I think Easelly would be a great alternative to poster making. It takes some artistic stress off of students who may be hesitant about drawing for posters, while also allowing creative room for those students who are excited about being creative. Students can work together on one graphic, or they can each individually create their own. This is also a great tool to use to make newsletters or flyers to send home to guardians.

While thinking about presentation tools, I have to remember that online tools like Prezi and Easelly are not always the most accessible for some students with disabilities. I do believe Easelly is more user friendly over Prezi, but there are some other options to consider as well. One tool that I find really interesting and one that I’d like to do more research on myself is Clicker Software. Clicker is “a word processor that lets students click on letters, words, or short phrases so they can write sentences without using the keyboard. It is ideal for students with autism, intellectual disabilities, and learning disabilities because of the visual supports” (Roblyer, Hughes, 2019, p. 114). This is a downloadable software that students can use. It starts with simple sentences, and then broadens out to supportive writing. I would be interested to see if this software could be used on online platforms like Prezi or Easelly. If so, it would be a wonderful tool to add for students who have difficulty writing.

References

Roblyer, M. & Hughes, J. (2019). Integrating educational technology into teaching, (8th ed.)

New York, NY: Pearson.

Accessibility Tools

I sometimes think we forget that our speech to text icon that we use while texting, either because we can’t use our fingers at the moment or because our text is too long to text, is an accessibility tool. Apple also recently released their version of Android’s swiping feature, which allows you to glide your finger across the keyboard to form a word instead of individually clicking each letter. This is another accessibility tool that able-bodied individuals often take for granted or even see as irrelevant to them. I may think “Oh great, yet another update that will make my phone slower” when in reality, I need to be thinking, “Oh great, another update to make phones more accessible!”

Accessibility tools are all around us, and they come in many different forms. In the classroom, I’ve seen accessibility tools in the form of word processing systems, microphones to amplify speech, touchscreens instead of computer mice, option to have text read aloud, and vocabulary support through different programs. In my personal experience, the only time I have found accessibility tools frustrating is when an educator doesn’t want to take the time to learn the tool. That attitude does not benefit the success of the child; educators need to be educating themselves or asking someone to educate them if they have an accessibility tool in their classroom that they do not understand. We know that there is an achievement gap between special education students and general education students, so I feel that educators should be doing their best to explore all ways to decrease that gap; we may want to look at what tools we could incorporate to make that happen (Roblyer, Hughes, 2019, p. 313).

One of my favorite websites, Cult of Pedagogy, created by Jennifer Gonzalez, wrote an article in 2018 titled, “4 Ways that Microsoft is Making Learning Accessible.” In this article, she not only discussed four great tools that could benefit many students in the classroom, but she also highlighted an independent study that found a correlation between accessibility tools and student success. “An independent study published in 2017 showed that students who used Learning Tools showed greater rates of growth in reading comprehension compared to previous cohorts that didn’t use the tools” (Gonzalez, 2018). With the use of Microsoft’s Learning Tools, “students showed an average gain of 123.6 points in their STAR scores, compared to the historical group’s 89.2 points, and an average gain of 10 percentile points, while the comparison group dropped by 0.62 points” (McKnight, 2017). I would personally love to see if this accessibility tool could have as great of an impact in my school as it did for the schools participating in the study.

References

Gonzalez, Jennifer. (2018, April 15). 4 ways Microsoft is making learning accessible [web log post]. Retrived from https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/inclusive/

McKight, K. (2017). Leveling the playing field with Microsoft learning tools. RTI International.

Retrieved from http://edudownloads.azureedge.net/msdownloads/Learning_Tools_research_

study_BSD.pdf

Roblyer, M. & Hughes, J. (2019). Integrating educational technology into teaching, (8th ed.)

New York, NY: Pearson.