Today’s session with Dr. Alec Couros provided me with a wide
range of new information on technology, especially technology in the classroom.
He started out by saying that “#” was the soul of the internet. It is how you
follow and find new things. This stuck with me as I am very new to the world of
twitter and am still learning all the ways that # can make me more
knowledgeable in different areas. It was important for me that he brought
attention to following others and finding new information so that I focus on
those aspects of my technology learning. As a result, I will come away with
more knowledge in areas that I didn’t even know existed.
Another aspect of the presentation that stood out for me was
the average age of social media maturity being 11 years old. This did not
really surprise me, but did however scare me! Knowing that the students I will
be teaching will be at the age where they understand and depend on social
media, makes me realize how important it is that I learn all that I can in
order to be able to communicate and understand them. I also think it is important
that I understand what interests them so that I can incorporate those aspects
into my teaching strategies to make learning more interesting and engaging for
the social media generation. If I am so far behind those that I am teaching the
technology gap will provide difficulties and issues that I would like to avoid
if possible!Dr. Couros also spoke about the 21st Century Learning Network and how being connected to different tools as a teacher is so important. As an educator, I need to focus not only on the information that I am consuming, but also the knowledge that I am sharing. Dr. Couros said that weak ties (people that we have never met) are maybe some of the most important people in our learning. I know that opening myself up to learning from those that I have never met is something that I will struggle with, but I also see the great importance of getting over that hurdle!
This presentation gave me more information and resources to guide me in my journey of learning in technology and the internet. I look forward to exploring some of the areas that Dr. Couros touched on and to seeing what doors are opened as a result! Stay tuned for updates on my journey!
Hey Erin, I also wasn't surprised that kids are already well into social media by grade six. It is just a reality of our society now. Everyone has a cell phone and some sort of personal account online. Makes me wonder what could possibly be the next big thing!
ReplyDeleteIt is so crazy how times have changed. When I was in grade six I had my siblings, my classmates, some friends from older or younger grades, and a PenPal or two.Of course I am thankful how technology has allowed social networking to grow like weeds, but kids today are very lucky that they can be so easily connected to other kids and classrooms all over the world at such a young age! How wonderful and brilliant it is!
ReplyDeleteAs I was thinking about what I would write for my comment I came up with the same ideas as Chantalle. It's so true when I was in grade six I didn't have nearly the connection to other people as kids in this generation do. By the sounds of things Erin I think you are really embracing technology and I am sure you will be quite fluent in social media lingo by the time you are ready to teach. And on the plus side as well, when your daughter gets older she can always keep you in the loop of whats new and "hip." :)
ReplyDeleteI think it will be interesting Lindsey to see how fast my daughter passes me in the world of technology. She already will not talk on the phone unless it is FaceTime and she can "see" the person on the other end. At 21 months it is scary what they pick up on. . . what will it be like in a few years?
ReplyDeleteI know we will all struggle on keeping ahead, or at least up to the students we have, but I think as long as we have techonology in our mindset we will at least be able to see issues as well as opportunities as they arise.
I was worried when Alec said that 11 year olds are into social networking. I have a 10 year old that desperately wants Facebook, but I am trying to hold off on it for a while. I really don't want to deal with monitoring it right now. Does that make me a terrible parent? Or just a mean one? lol
ReplyDeleteI think I've done a pretty good job of trying to communicate with my students in a way that appeals to them. I used Twitter to communicate with some of the HS students from one of my placements. I found that it was a great way for me to connect and build rapport with them. If they were late for class, I'd send a "hey, where are you?" tweet to them. I think they appreciated that I made the effort and showed them I cared.
Staying up to date with what is happening in their world is definitely important, and if we can bring it into the classroom, then even better. My cousin is a teacher in Winnipeg and she has a Facebook themed bulletin board that her grade 8 students love. Something like that is one way to show your students that you understand what is happening in their world. (here is a link to it on Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/pin/107101297360475946/
I agree Lisa, I think we will be holding off on online use for our daughter as long as possible as well. How young is too young is a question that I think is just going to get harder and harder to answer!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the pinterest link!
Great conversation - and important questions. I think the young age when kids get involved with social networks makes it more imperative that we teach about them. The bulletin board is a really neat idea, Lisa. In a Ey or MY classroom it can be used to model appropriate use.
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