E-Pals

ePals is a website where educators from around the world can visit to connect with other classes from around the world. Through ePals, students and teachers can create a unique learning community where students can experience life in other countries and cultures. On ePals, students can complete pre-created projects cooperatively by connecting with another class. Teachers can also create their own cooperative projects that align more closely with their curriculum. Once posted, other teachers can read the project description and then choose to connect with that class to complete it. Teachers can also choose to use ePals to connect with other teachers in order for their students to become pen pals.

I can see myself using ePals in my 5th grade classroom. I love the idea that students can be connected with other students in order to learn about each other's countries and cultures. In our 5th grade curriculum, we do a unit on Puerto Rico and how it became a US Territory. I would love to incorporated ePals into this unit. My students can connect with a class in Puerto Rico to learn more about their culture and heritage. I feel that those personal connections would be more meaningful than if they were to just read it from a textbook. 

Social Networking as a Teacher

Social media can be a great resource for teachers to use to better their practice. Through the website, The Educator's PLN The personal learning network for educators, teachers can find an endless amount of fellow teachers' social media networking profiles. Connecting with fellow educators from around the world can allow teachers to give their students the best education possible. One social media network that I would find useful is the Best Practices and Differentiated Instruction group from on The Educator's PLN. This group has a numerous amount of forums with discussions about special education and differentiated instruction. As a special education co-teacher in an inclusion setting, I can utilize this network to connect with fellow special education teachers to discuss methods and strategies to use in my classrooms .

A learner is like a ...

We've all heard of the same old smilies, "A learner is like a bridge," or, "A learner is like a tree." However, learning now is not the same as it was 10, 5, even 2 years ago. The technologies we use and the world we live in impacts the way we learn and teach. With that being said, it may be more accurate to state that, "A learner is like a road trip."

How is a learner anything like a road trip? It has been said that during a road trip, the journey is more important than the destination. The same concept can be applied to Connectivism. Connectivism is a learning theory created by Stephen Downes and George Siemens. This theory seeks to explain how learners learn in a ever-changing socially digital world. The basic idea of Connectivism is that learners learn best through making connections with other learners. Downes and Siemens stress that connecting with people from around the world can being different perspectives. This in turn can increase critical thinking skills and in-depth learning.

Connectivism states that the content of what is being learned is not the most important aspect of learning; rather, the connections made to gain that knowledge is. In other words,  just like the journey is more important than the destination during a road trip, "The pipe is more important than the content within the pipe" (Siemens, 2005). Those connections made when learning new material are the most important because those connections can be used to gain knowledge at any time. With our ever-changing world, it is important to be prepared to evaluate and understand new information as it comes, and those connections can allow us to do just that.  In fact, Siemens states that, "What we know today is not as important as our ability to stay current." In other words, making new connections and using already created connections allows us to better understand new concepts. In turn, this will allow us to become better learners.

Diigo Vs. Pinterest

                    Vs.

Diigo and Pinterest are social media platforms that users can create in order to collect and save information. The following post compares the two platforms as it pertains to the usage by educators.

Highlighting

When if comes to highlighting, Diigo offers more options than Pinterest. In Diigo, users can highlight text from bookmarked articles in a variety of colors, create comments, and create links to those specific words. There are no options for highlighting within websites found on Pinterest. 

Tags

Both platforms offer opportunities to tag. On Diigo, tagging is more apparent. You can click on one of your tags to find all websites tagged with that word. There is also a feature in which Diigo offers users with related tags. Users can then add those related tags to that bookmarked website. On Pinterest, tags are harder to find on already uploaded pins. However, when uploading your own pin, there is an option to add tags. In fact, when uploading from a mobile device, Pinterest suggests tags based on what is being uploaded! When users search on Pinterest, the pins are chosen by their tags and words within the title. 

Copying and Pasting

Copying and pasting is available through both platforms.

Commenting

On Pinterest, users cannot comment on your actual profile. However, commenting is available on pins. There is also an option to add your own photo or note to other user's pins. On Diigo, you are not able to comment on other users bookmarks. However, you can make personal comments while reading by highlighting. 

Following

On both platforms you can follow other users and they can follow you back. You are also able to message other users on both platforms. 

Suggestions

On Pinterest, when you click on a pin, a slue of related pins shows up underneath. There is also an "explore" option. When clicked, the boards shown are based on your current boards, pins, and tags. As previously stated, Diigo suggests common tags. Like Pinterest, there is a discover page. When clicked, users can find new bookmarks based on what is trending in their community or in their network. 

Overall, I can see myself utilizing both of these platforms. At first, I did not see how Diigo would be beneficial. However, after "playing around" and really learning how to use it, I can see how I can use Diigo to better organize the way I use the internet. Pinterest is a website I have been using since it began. It is an endless source of knowledge and new ideas that I can bring into my teaching. I plan on continuing to use both of these resources. 

Social Media Revolution & Using Technologies Within the Classroom

Is social media changing the way we live our lives? This is the question that the video, Social Media Revolution (2011) strives to answer. Video creator, Erik Qualman, provides viewers with facts and figures regarding social media and how it effects our population back in 2011. There are a few points Qualman made that stood out to me. At :19, Qualman claims that social media effects our offline behavior. As an avid social media user, I can attest to that. It made me think of the way people are speaking in everyday life. For example, I have personally witnessed people using online phrases like lol (laugh out loud), tbt (throwback Thursday), bae (before anyone else), yolo (you only live once) and goat (greatest of all time), in everyday life. While I agree with many of Qualman's claims, there are some that I think are exaggerations. For example, at :32, Qualman claims that Kindergarteners are doing all of their learning on iPads and not on chalkboards. Yes, many teachers are using iPads within their classrooms. However, I believe that most teachers are using iPads to enhance learning. Overall, I believe that there are pros and cons of having social media so prevalent in our lives. I do think it is amazing that we can reach a large, diverse audience in a matter of seconds. However, I do see how many individuals are becoming reliant on social media, and because of that, may be missing out on aspects of everyday life.

The use of technology within schools has been a hot topic for many educators over the past few years. In the video, The Future Starts Now creator KT -senteret describes how the use of technology can be beneficial for future students. However, because this video was made in 2012, many of KT's claims are either false or have came true! KT first starts the video with the question of, "if students know how to use technologies (laptops, mobile devices, iPads), why don't they use them in school?" Because this video was made almost 5 years ago, and that technology is always changing and growing, I believe this question to be untrue. Now, more than ever, schools are implementing technology into various parts of the day. Some schools even use technology for note taking, test taking, textbooks, and collaborative projects. Overall, KT's purpose of the video is to educate users on ICT (information and communication technologies) and how implementing ICT more into schools will better motivate and engage students in learning. Personally, I have witnessed first hand how this statement can be truthful. Students are naturally more engaged and excited to learn when the lesson involves their iPad or a computer. It also allows students to visualize and manipulate what they are learning, something they may not have been able to do with a printed textbook. 

Overall, after viewing these videos I am certain on one thing; using technologies within my classroom can be beneficial to my students' success. However, I must implement them correctly in order for them to truly enhance learning. 

Using Blogs Within the Classroom

There are numerous benefits of adding blogging into a student's curriculum. First, as an elementary school educator, I can see teachers of older grades (4-6) utilizing blogging in order to introduce their students to the Internet. Using blogs will allow students to improve their skills in the world of technology. It allows them to share their unique ideas to a vast amount of people. Learning about this now in a younger grade can better prepare them for safely using the Internet later on in life. This is what the ISTE Standards call becoming a, Digital Citizen. According to the ISTE standards, students are required to, "recognize the rights, responsibilities, and opportunities of living, learning, and working in an interconnected digital world, and act in ways that are safe, legal, and ethical." Teachers can students how to become Digital Citizens through the use of blogging. This falls under the following performance indicator in the ISTE Standards; 

Performance Indicator: 2A - Students engage in positive, safe, legal and ethical behavior when using technology, including social interactions online or when using networked devices. 

Next, teachers can use blogging to allow their students to share their ideas. For example, if students are creating some sort of research project, instead of doing a more traditional presentation, students can create a blog post of their findings. Students can then comment and give their classmate feedback on their project. This sort of usage would fall under the New York State English as a Second Language standard, "Students will listen, speak, read, and write in English for classroom and social interaction. Under this standard, students will learn skills to successfully communicate with their peers and teachers. The use of a blog allows them to do just that, in a controlled environment in which the teacher can monitor. This idea falls under the following performance indicator in the NYS ESL Standards;

Performance indicator: ESL.I.5-8.4.1.1: Students use a variety of oral, print, and electronic forms of social communication and for writing to or for self, applying the conventions of social writing.