Your Digital Legacy and Professionalism

A professional digital persona is a key aspect to the growing world that we are all apart of. Through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social media sites we see the necessity that is maintaining a positive image both online and off. Our generation for the past five years has moved further and further towards a big brother society where the information that we post online is available to the public without our knowing. Pictures and posts that we place online that we believe are in good fun and private have in fact come back to hinder many teachers throughout the nation.

Some teachers and job applicants may feel comfortable making posts on their social media sites to vent after a long day. In doing so, they leave a digital fingerprint that has come back and hurt them in their job search. As future teachers, we need to be able to maintain our professionalism. Facebook, Twitter, and other sites limit this professionalism if people choose to not be careful with what they post.

These social media techniques could be utilized as teaching tools for various reasons. Prompts could be posted on Facebook or Twitter with students being responsible to respond to the discussion. As long as social media is used in a responsible manner, these techniques can facilitate learning both within the classroom for discussion, as well as at home through homework.

Web 2.0 Strategies Within Social Studies

Web 2.0 strategies are key for the newest generation of students to be engaged within the classroom. Students communicated digitally now more than ever, and they are more apt to rather learn through a YouTube or TedX video. We as teachers need to work each day on how to keep the students interested in the material and curriculum, and Web 2.0 strategies allows for that type of engagement. Wilson, Wright, Inman, and Matherson discuss within their article Retooling the Social Studies Classroom for the Current Generation ways that we as teachers can utilize blogs, wikis, and digital media to keep students interested. Lisa Matherson provides descriptions of how she was able to use all of these Web 2.0 strategies in her classroom and provides examples of how we as teachers can do the same.

Web 2.0 can be considered an umbrella term to describe different types of online and interactive tools that are created to allow users to create content, make necessary changes, and share the content within an instant. Blogs allow students or teachers to present information outside of the classroom and provide the ability for commenting and conversations from any location that has access to the blog. Different entries can be posted on separate topics that each student can comment and respond to. This will allow the teacher and students to facilitate discussion outside of school and continue the learning process.

Wikis allow for users to create and edit web content at a quick and easy pace. It allows for collaboration and communication of content, and can be available for any person to edit. The most famous example of a wiki is Wikipedia, but these can be very difficult to use when you want authentic and appropriate information. Wikis are similar to blogs as they collect information that can be shared outside of the classroom.

Digital media sharing are examples that are used frequently within the classroom to provide new and exciting information to students. Music, videos, photographs, audio, and other forms of content can be shared on sides such as iTunes, flicker, youtube, snapfish, and teachertube. Teachers and students are able to share information that they created and be combined with other web 2.0 strategies  like a blog or a wiki. By tagging the information, users can find the information quickly and frequently easily. When students create various videos or projects, they can upload them to these digital media sharing sites than share that information with their classmates and teachers.

I think the examples that Lisa used within the article are great ways to use Web 2.0 within the classroom. Specifically for blogs, she was able to provide weekly assignments that have them answer a prompt, provide research, respond to a videocast, or listen to a create podcast and respond. This type of online homework keeps students comfortable with what they are using in their everyday life and allows them to have a user sharing experience that they enjoy, instead of just completing busy work or worksheets. One of the most interesting ways Lisa used Web 2.0 within her classroom is her way of discussing current events throughout the world. By having students listen to a video about the weeks current events in a rap form, students become excited about what they are looking. The music videos highlight the news events that are mentioned within the lyrics, which provides a visual for the students who do not learn best hearing.

When comparing these projects to the technical skills vs. the subject area content focus, I feel that students will gain a better benefit by participating within a blog or video cast and digital media sharing than they would if they did not use the technology. This technology is transparent, because it uses the digital media that many students are familiar with, but uses it in a different way. Because it uses much discussion within the blogs and the viewing of content in a style that students enjoy, I do belief that it was worth taking the time to learn how to use the technology appropriately.

These types of Web 2.0 strategies are something that I do plan on using within my classroom. A blog is a great way to communicate with parents to be more transparent about what is going on within the classroom. I would then use the blog to facilitate discussion about what we are learning in class, and provide students with prompts they need to answer assuming they have Internet access. I would also use the digital media sites to have students post their work such as created videos or discussions. I do think this would be something I could expand on, and use sites such as twitter to help answer quick questions for students outside of the classroom if they have questions. By having some sort of weekly office hours outside of the classroom via twitter or Facebook, students would be able to communicate their questions quickly and hopefully get their responses in a timely manner.

1. Retooling the Social Studies Classroom for the Current Generation
   Elizabeth K. Wilson, Vivian H. Wright, Christopher T. Inman, Lisa H. Matherson
   The Social Studies
   Vol. 102, Iss. 2, 2011

Issues in Educational Technology

Legal issues within technology use in education are at a forefront of many discussions and court battles within the United States. As a future teacher, we must be extremely careful in how we use specific types of media and technology, and specifically the amount of the media that we do use. In terms of ethical uses of technology by both myself and by my students when completing projects, we must remember a few key facts. When utilizing film and video in the classroom, schools and specifically teachers have the legal right to use 10%, or up to three minutes of work. An example could be using small portions from Monty Python and the Holy Grail to discuss the effects of the Bubonic Plague, as long as three minutes or less is used the teacher is legally safe. Another example is when using musics, lyrics, or a music video within the classroom. Many teachers have students use popular songs and have students change the melody of the work to what the lesson entails. Legally, teachers can use up to 30 seconds of the song, and cannot change the melody or the fundamental character of the work.

When discussing my personal feelings about downloading and listening to music that I did not pay for, I have realized as I have gotten older the legal ramifications of using Peer to Peer networks to obtain music in a free way. Without paying for the music, any use of copyright material without specific legal consent, is illegal. As future teachers, we must realize that if we have not purchased the material we could be putting both ourselves and the school district in harms way due to illegally obtaining the work of a specific artists.

Within the realm of my usage of technology and media content in the classroom, I need to make sure that I have some ethical restraints in place to ensure the safety of my students, myself, and my district. If I have presenting material or having students create a project, my expectations of what I want to use need to be clearly explained. If I am sharing a song to talk about any type of social norms, I need to stress why I am only utilizing a certain amount of the song for legal purposes. If my students are creating a project, within the rubric must stress the legality of what the students can and cannot do.


Internet security is also a debatable topic that this new generation is extremely familiar with. I have made sure that my computer is protected with certain security systems such as Norton Antivirus to help protect what I have on my computer. Within my classroom, I need to make sure that the sites I want my students to use have been checked, and these sites will be available for my students to use. I have found that many students do not know how to properly do research until they get to college, so by providing the sites for them and allowing them to make the choice of what they want to use, students will in fact be more effective and safe when researching all together.

Traditional or Computer Based Education?

When listening to the information provided, it is evident that many different districts or schools are tempted to utilize the online forms of education such as the Kahn Institute or a blended model such as seen in GRPS. When looking at this, I find it both important and frightening. I find it important because when used correctly, it can in fact educate a certain type of student more sufficiently than what might be possible within a current classroom. Students who are digital natives that utilize online technology for learning may in fact benefit from the blended model that has been presented. But what frightens me is that many times this is being used as a budget cut maneuver, and not used the proper way.

This thinking of utilizing the online measures could in fact be a game changer in the teaching profession. not in my mind by completely replacing teachers in the traditional classroom, but forcing the possibility of some older educators to realize that their students may not learn best through traditional lecture and work. It also allows for all students to be able to connect with what the lesson may be for the day, even if they are not at school for whatever reason. But there is also the factor that many students may not utilize the new technology that has been suggested if it is not done at school.  Some students do not have the ability to log on to these resources every night, or at all due to their financial status or specific situations.

When looking at whether or not my job description may be different in four years, I do feel that I will need to adapt to the technology at hand and be able to constantly incorporate whatever my students use to learn. Through social media and Web 2.0 strategies, I can be in contact with my students to facilitate the learning throughout the week, not just when they are in my classroom.

I do also believe the flexibility of an online class outweighs some benefits of the person to person experience of a traditional classroom setting, but only in certain aspects. This type of education completely removes socialization and team building within school that are a necessity for the job market after graduation. By having the educational institutions adapt to students, we will in fact be able to connect at a greater rate than if we try to have our students connect to our traditional environment. But what is important is that we have a delicate balance of both the technology that is available and the techniques that are proven to be successful within the classroom.

I have found within my classroom as an instructor that students will only utilize the technology I am using outside of class if they have the ability and expectation from parents to do so at home. We utilize a blog to constantly connect to our parents and students outside of class, but many of our students do not have computers or internet access at home. Because I am in a rural school, I have found that many students just cannot access the blog unless they do so within the class period due to family situations.

I do feel that there are high school and college age students who would benefit from an online education. These are the students who 1.) have the access at home to do so, and 2.) have some sort of expectation to complete the necessary requirements. This class itself is an online model and I have utilized many of the techniques within the placement already, but that is because I have the expectation of my instructor and the dependence of my graduation based on completing the course. The incentive to do the work outweighs the consequences to not, so therefore I take the time to make this happen within my schedule. With the parents being digital immigrants and the students being digital natives, I realize that I need to take the time to utilize the technology within my lessons.

I feel that this isn't a passing phase if it is used effectively, as a support to the traditional classroom setting. Students can complete homework online if they have the ability to, but there needs to be the backbone of learning within the classroom itself.

Media Literacy

Media Literacy can be define as follow: Media literacy is concerned with helping students develop an informed and critical understanding of nature of the mass media, the techniques used by them, and the impact of these techniques. More specifically, it is the education that aims to increase students understanding and enjoyment of how the media work, how they produce meaning, how they are organized, and how they construct reality. Media literacy also aims to provide students with the ability to create media products. When looking at those definitions, it is important that we are able to set our students and children up for success with media literacy by focusing on educating them about how to understand and interpret media literacy.

When looking at my own life and the amount of media I consume and the amount I actually tend to believe is true on some level to the real world, I do see a connection to some extent. Many marketing and advertising firms utilize specific techniques that produce the ads that we see each day to make us believe what they are trying to tell us.  When I am consuming these ads, I do make sure to understand what the audience may be, and this allows me to understand if what they are trying to tell me is worth listening in to. When listening to or viewing specific media, I do understand that these are paid professionals that are working to try and make me think they have the next great thing, or the best way to make me believe something. One of the greatest examples of this is with all the work out advertisements that we see, hear, and read about. They will tell us that different celebrities are utilizing this new program and that it is guaranteed to work, yet for the majority of the people in the target audience, it wont.

When it comes to whether or not our students should learn to create multimedia based content, I do feel that it is important that students have the opportunity to choose themselves that they want to learn media literacy skills, or create these types of presentations and programs. The job market is ever changing, and reading and writing is not enough any more. Students can be persuaded to attempt to take these classes, and these types of presentations and multimedia content should be included into lessons, but I ultimately believe it is the students choice to want to learn how to become media literate. If time permits, students should then be presented with a presentation such as one provided on the iTunes U, but it should be incorporated some way with content that is necessary within the curriculum. A great way to do this would be within some sort of visual arts class, technology class, or Civics in a sense because this could provide students a way to become better citizens.

Social Justice and the Digital Divide

As technology develops into more advanced ways of learning, the digital divide has become one of the biggest challenges for many teachers in a variety of school settings. When students are not prepared to utilize the technology in the classroom, or the technology that employers are looking for employees to use, they fall drastically behind their peers. My experiences with the digital divide have to do with my current placement and places where I have tutored, as well as where I grew up. In my hometown school, we were lucky enough to have just built a new high school with all new technology, and thus the middle school was able to be updated as well with computers, projectors, and so forth. Where I tutored at this past year also saw quite a bit of new technology as the district was growing, thus more opportunities were available for funding for the schools. At my current placement in rural West Michigan, I am witnessing what budget cuts can do to limit students. Though each class has an Elmo and projector with computers for teachers to use for their lessons, the actual computers that students use within the labs for various activities are by far outdated and unproductive. As students get to work on these computers, they face challenges that limit and frustrate them because many times they simply do not work.

Growing up I was right at the beginning of the age where internet and computers began to take off. I remember having just as much if not more access to the internet as my peers because my family strongly believed in utilizing technology. I remember getting my first laptop my freshman year in high school, which allowed me more opportunities than many of my peers to work on homework and research because I now didn't have to share the family computer like many others did. I felt like this gave me an advantage not just for school, but also for gaining the necessary skills early that many of the students did not have. Being able to quickly work through word and type papers at a rate that seems much faster than some of my peers has allowed me to have more time to work on editing and reflecting on my assignments.

I did know some people who grew up on the other side of the digital divide, and I do think this hampered them both academically as well as socially. Many of my peers did not get family computers until they were in high school, so while they were attempting to learn how to work basic programs like word and powerpoint I was able to succeed more quickly.

At my high school, it didn't seem to make a difference if you had internet at home or not, because the majority of our students did. If they did not have internet access, we had multiple labs and computers in the classroom that allowed for students to get their work done during seminar hours. Though we did not have a 1:1 initiative, the school was able to provide ample opportunities for those who did not have internet access at home.

Finally, I do feel that it is my responsibility as a teacher to bridge the gap between our students who have technology access and those who do not. The skills, specifically at a young age such as middle school, need to be learned and familiarized so they can be mastered and expanded upon when they get to high school. If we are looking to have our students be prepared for the technology gains of the future, they must be able to master the technology gains of the past in order to be able to prepare and adapt.

Sir Ken Robinson

After viewing these talks about Sir Ken Robinson's view on education, I would have to agree with many of the points that he said. Kids that are naturally creative and do not fit the stereotype of the student who sits in his or her desk all day and takes notes to absorb information, needs to be medicate. Creativity can lead to the most elaborate thoughts and the most dynamic learning possible, yet many professionals are limiting these gains by assuming students have attention disorders. I agree with him in the fact that we need to realize the school systems were developed for a different age, and for a different learner. Students these days are not focused on sitting in the classroom just for the fact that they are being told it will get them a job. The economy has shifted in a way that this is just not the reality, and our students know this. We need to focus our lessons and the education that we put forth in a way that allows the students to succeed in what they want to succeed in, not just what we are telling them they need to do. This comes a lot from the standardized testing that has been pushed forward throughout the past few decades, from people that know absolutely NOTHING about what the best learning practices are, they only care about what the statistics show.

Within my teachable major of Social Studies, I can see various ways to incorporate all of these ideas. Students do not learn by just sitting and taking notes over and over again. To understand what is being presented, they need to dive in to the curriculum and experience it first hand. We can utilize the technology that we have through smart boards to have students see first hand the documents we are discussing, have them recreate voyages that have shaped our earth, and utilize web quests and Web 2.0 technology to turn the social studies into an alive discipline. Students need to experience the information in an artistic way, or a mobile way, and not just listen to our voices blurt out terms and standards that we are being required to teach. If they are not interested, they won't learn, and that will defeat the entire goal of public education.