#fsu2040

 

Blog #4

 My early experiences with Instagram and Twitter don't reach all that far back as I have only just downloaded Twitter for this class and began using Instagram halfway through high school. Initially, using instagram meant interacting with my close friends and others from my classes and clubs. It was very useful when it came to the information networks of clubs. I also used Instagram to get in touch with those from my classes so we could help each other to better understand the material. In my future career, I can use Instagram similarly with those who are on the same path as me as well as those who provide resources for my future career.

Growing up, I went to relatively digitally rich schools. Each of the schools I went to typically had many computer labs and class sets of laptops as well as projectors set up in every room. My K-12 experience did a good job setting me up for my college technology preparation. I am familiar with many popular educational services and have a good grasp on how to troubleshoot my issues with technology. Although, since there was never a real lack for technology, there wasn't a lot of intentional instruction for how to use it. It was usually assumed that we were familiar with technology since we had it in abundance.

Collaborative writing and social annotation can be really useful in an educational setting. Software tools such as Google Docs and Co-Ment are great examples of software that I would implement in my future classroom to support collaborative writing and social annotation. Both of these tools allow for groups of students to share their thoughts with one another as they digest the same content. They can be used to foster learning by allowing students to build of off one another. A lesson I might use these tools to teach, as an english teacher, would be the analyzation of texts. Through social annotation, students may all look at the same texts and collaboratively build off of one another to highlight and point out details to help each other further analyze a text.

Blog #3

 As a teacher developing my own instructional materials, I would make sure that if there is any doubt about the material I am planning on using, I would first ask permission from the owner to prevent issues with copyright. When it comes to materials that fall under fair use, I would still ask the owner to be sure, but I would also look for material that falls under the fair use agreements such as being only for educational, non commercial environments. When students are ready to create their own works, I would do my best to inform them about copyright and fair use procedures to prevent any issues. Most of this information isn't very new to me as I have had a class in the past that covered this but it was interesting to see it again in a more educational setting.

There can be a lot of issues with technology implementation but when it comes to student privacy, a lot of the issues are due to poor upkeep or awareness of technology. A general solution for a lot of technological privacy issues is being better educated about technology. Students will commonly and unknowingly share a lot of personal information. Providing a mandatory course on technological safety that extends to privacy security could be very helpful.

When working on the Newsletter Design assignment, I learned a lot of new skills, a lot of which that I've seen before but never learned how to do on my own. I learned how to create my own margins as well as numbering my pages and creating my own banner. I can use these skills in the future to design my own informational pamphlets whether that be for teaching or general workplace activities. It's always helpful to be able to better organize and hand out information. 

Blog Post #2

 

    My experience using MS Word is mostly due to my own personal projects and writings. In educational settings I have been mostly led to use Google Docs. Having used both softwares a decent amount, there is not one that I really prefer. Both of these word processing softwares have different strengths. Google docs excels when it comes to collaborative work but Word is great for more flexibility in personal writing. 

    The standard that is most meaningful to me in the ISTE standards for educators would be the learner. I think that some of the most effective educators are those who are constantly being educated. People who are continuously learning and changing area amazing at adapting to new students and situations. This adaptability opens up new pathways for improvement and relatability with students.

    I don't fully agree with the label of "digital native" for today's youth. Being a digital native is projected as being born within a time that technology has already been normalized and growing up around it enough to be fluent in its workings. However, there are many factors that limit one's understanding of technology and the time that one is born does not determine understanding but there is a tangible difference in some of the ways that digital natives and digital immigrants interact with technology with digital natives being a little faster in their reliance and ability to problem solve. Hopefully with this class and other learning opportunities like it, the gap will not be so large between my future student's and I's tech knowledge. 

                                        "classroom" by isaacbowen is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Blog Post #1

I hope to learn all about the ways technology is able to assist in learning. I am not aiming to be a teacher but I am curious as to how I can better utilize technology. My dad is very adept in technology and I know that there are so many possibilities for learning, I was hoping this class can help me understand some of these possibilities. In the future, I plan to apply what I learn in this class to my future graduate studies and collaborative work environments. 

My prior experience with technology in an educational setting mostly pertains to high school. Technology was used commonly for presentations by the teacher for the class and also by students for assignments. These usually helped me to compile information and interpret it in newer ways. Most of school resources and assignments can be found online now so I have gotten used to how technology has become a necessary tool for accessing education. 

My learning experience has been varied however some of the more interesting topics for me include many forms and styles of storytelling. With this being the case, I have a hobby of writing and consuming many different forms of stories such as books, movies, video games and so on. Online resources such as Youtube, and community help like my family and friends, help me to connect and involve myself in many different forms of learning. I learn best through trial and error and these resources allow my to feel encouraged and informed of the ways in which I am able to test my skills and achieve my goals.