What
are you initial reactions about joining these social networks for use in this
course?
To be frank the social network aspect of this
course intimidates me to a certain degree. I am only familiar with social media
in the context of my personal life where it is used to simply stay in touch
with family and friends. I would consider myself proficient in using Facebook,
but Twitter and Diigo are two tools I have yet to exercise. While the
intimidation factor is lingering in the back of my head, I do have a good
feeling about what will come from using these tools with a more academic platform.
I am looking forward to the creativity aspect of using these tools with my PLN
and finding ways to use them to challenge myself and others.
What
is your experience in using social media for your own professional development?
I have never used social media for professional
development purposes. I am a young teacher and have yet to lead any formal
professional development workshops. Those that I have attended have been extremely
limited in their use of technology in general. However, in my new position as
technology coach on campus our principal has graciously arranged for myself and
our library media teacher to conduct professional development centered on
technology for our staff the week prior to the start of school. That said, I am
hoping that I will be able to pilot some of the strategies taught in 543 during
our technology workshops with staff before bringing them into the classroom
with students.
What
is your experience in using social media as an instructional strategy in your
learning environment?
My use of any social media has yet to enter my
classroom. I’ve created paper versions of Twitter feeds or Facebook profiles
for students to use in conjunction with our analysis of literary stories; however,
the idea of using social media in the classroom somewhat frightens me. I think
most of my fear stems from the lack of control I have when students are
interacting on a very public platform. Yet, this fear also stimulates my
excitement about what I hope to learn about effectively using social media in
my classroom. If we are always comfortable as educators than we will never
grow, so I am choosing not to be comfortable.
What
are your expectations for this course?
My expectation is fairly simple… I want to be challenged.
While I have learned something valuable in every class I have taken in the MET program,
Dr. Gerstein pushed me more than any instructor when I took EDTECH 541. I found
myself constantly looking for ways to improve, and for the first time in a long
time, wanting to re-do assignments not to earn back points or earn a grade, but
to master the skill itself being taught. I didn’t want to settle and be
complacent. Thus, my expectation is that this course will push me out of my
comfort zone while simultaneously giving me the confidence to use social
networking in my classroom. I also want to discover ways to which I can use
social media to attract our staff and engage them with the use of technology at
school. Our school is somewhat “behind the times” when it comes to technology
integration. I don’t believe it is a lack of willingness that is the reason for
our being behind, but rather a lack of education on how to use technology
effectively in the classroom. I’m hopeful that this course will introduce new
ideas on how to go about doing this.
