Blog #3 - A Networked Classroom

I believe there are many advantages of a networked classroom. Today, I attended the Classroom Instruction that Works (2012) professional development. The presenter, Howard Pitler (@Hpitler) repeated a phrase I had heard for the first time this morning – “none of us is as smart as all of us”. After the professional development session today, I went home and read chapter 3 of Personal Learning Networks (2011) and it was stated on page 62. The phrase was also highlighted in the lecture, so I stopped to think about what that phrase meant in an educational setting.  Students gain more insight they could have without networking with curriculum resource sites, audiences or experts afar, and peers afar. Networking allows students to collaborate, problem-solve, and make connections to the real-world. The disadvantages that come with a networked classroom are the same disadvantages students could face at home which consist of cyber-bullying, internet safety issues, etc. (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011, p. 75). I would rather the students run into  these issues at school, so the students can learn a systematic, ethical way to go about these issues and then apply the ways at home.   This site called, “Not My Kid” addresses these potential issues and offers parents a peace of mind when they think about online tools used in school. http://notmykid.org/internet-safety/

To slow transition my classroom into a networked classroom, I may start with simpler, free online tools to connect with the parents. Teachers could use blogs, eNews, Remind101, and Twitter to send updates about upcoming classroom and school events. Later, the teacher could give this “classroom news” job to a student and then take on something more involved. In the text, the authors state that it starts with the teacher and they should start with simpler tools (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011, p. 81). It was overwhelming when I tried to wrap my brain around all the possibilities of Twitter use in the classroom and the Twitter vocabulary, search engines, protocol, and more. If I start slow, I am sure my efforts will reflect quality and not quantity.

I think a networked classroom would benefit diverse learners, especially students who visit resource rooms throughout the day such as ESOL, gifted, and Sped resource rooms. These special area teachers can often be out of the grade level loop despite PLC efforts and collaboration days, so a basic information/resource sharing site such as Twitter could easily inform them. Students who are pulled out often may feel they are not learning the same material, so a disconnect from the classroom could develop. The disconnected feeling could affect peer interaction on a daily basis. Diverse students may need extra motivation to meet learning objectives and networking with experts in the field can be one way to make this happen. The article, “Service Learning in Special Education” emphasizes the power of real-world connections. http://education.jhu.edu/PD/newhorizons/strategies/topics/service-learning/special-education/

Find me on Twitter! - @kdcotner

Blog Post #2 - Web 2.0 Chpt. 2 & Twitter

My first reaction from the outside of the Twitter world was that it was like many other social media sites, but I was wrong after reading more about it. I think the usernames, followers, mentions, Twitter clients, and hashtags make the system far more complicated than I first assumed. I find it somewhat strange that Twitter promotes quick concise information, but there are extra steps people must take to shorten URLs to make sure they have enough room to write about the URL they are sharing (Solomon & Schrum, 2010, p. 34). Twitter clients seem like content aggregators to me, so I was curious of the reason why people using Twitter do not like to use the actual Twitter site on their computer. I had two worries when beginning the Twitter journey: 1.) Who to follow and 2.) What to “Tweet” about. First, the Twitter4Teachers wiki was very helpful to help find other educators interested in similar technologies (I was incredible impressed when I found out this wiki was created by Gina Hartman!). Also, I found this directory for educators on Twitter.  Secondly, I am still having trouble thinking of something relevant and interesting to tweet on Twitter. I thought the best way to know what to tweet was to think about which groups you would like to be a part of or follow. I found a website that lists popular educational Twittergroups to help me decide what to tweet and when. I hope to use Twitter to reflect what is happening in our classroom in the future. Students could even be in charge of Tweeting each week instead of the teacher. There are many possibilities for Twitter in an elementary school classroom!

Blog Post #1 - PLN's Chapter 1 & 2

I thought the format of the two texts, Personal Learning Network and Web 2.0 How-to for Educators, was unique and beneficial for an educator. After reading the first two chapters of Personal Learning Network, I realized that the chapter addresses a specific topic concerning PLN’s as well as examples of how to get started. The goal of creating a PLN is to connect people with common interests through the use of technology. The author mentions different PLN sites such as Twitter, Facebook, etc. It was highly interesting that the authors described how to use an RSS reader to connect to Diigo pages per topic (Richardson & Mancabelli, 2011, p. 49). Adding many different PLN’s to one RSS allows you to cater the news to yourself! In the other text, the authors highlight the sic C’s of 21^st century learning era which include creativity, collaboration, communication, connections, and critical-thinking (Solomon & Schrum, 2010, p. 21). We are able to incorporate these important pieces in each lesson with the use of blogs or editable web 2.0 tools such as blogs, wikis, or interactive whiteboards. Interactive whiteboards are spaces on the web where media can be shared and edited in real-time. Tuzzit is a new interactive whiteboard which allows you to connect to Twitter, Facebook, etc. Students can collaborate on an assignment of tutor each other from home. There is a fee account – try it to see if you could use this type of technology in your classroom!