Cool for the Summer - Web 2.0

I think that there are some trade-offs to using social medias in a learning context. You see how learners will interact with each other outside of the traditional learning environment and you see how they learn outside of the traditional learning environment. This is huge for upper grade levels, like high school, and for higher education, like undergrad and grad students. Learning doesn't just have to be something that fits nicely into the classroom anymore. There are so many tools out there that allow for learning and it should take some pressure off of the teacher.  However, I think that the other trade-off is, for students who are elementary and middle school age, they don't get these opportunities because those platforms aren't the most appropriate for them to learn. They are still developing into their own types of learners and far be it from us to force another way of learning onto them.  I think that social media has a time and a place to be used in the classroom. Ma...

One of the discussion board questions this week really got me thinking. Should we (meaning teachers/instructors) be seeking produsage in classrooms with social media tools?  I think yes and no.  The example I gave on the discussion board was for online journals/blogs. If these are going to be used in place of physical journals, then teachers should absolutely be looking for produsage here. Students should have to answer entry prompts, while also commenting on other student's work. This allows them to fall into that produsage category. They are producing work and also using the platform in ways that is intended.  However, there are instances where I don't think that teachers should be seeking produsage. Some platforms are not age appropriate for classrooms and should be taken seriously if they are going to be introduced. Instagram and Twitter and even TikTok should be social media platforms that should be reserved for high school/college students. I don't think that teache...

The Weave!! Shoutout to her for the blog post from yesterday! It really resonated with me, combined with Dr. Dennen's manuscript. I think that the ability to be flexible with what you create has its hands everywhere, but ESPECIALLY in teaching and instructional design. Knowing that what you create has the ability to teach others concepts and ideas is something that shouldn't be taken lightly.  However, I think that with that in mind, teachers and instructional designers should never think of what they create as "finished". There is always room for tweaks and improvements. I think that is the beauty of these two fields. Instruction can constantly be improved and changed to fit the needs of the learners.  Taking into account what the learners needs is the biggest factor, to me at least. Of course the content is important but making sure that they have the tools they need to be successful should be top priority. If they don't have the necessary tools, then the conten...

This has been an interesting week for me. Learning about Networked Knowledge Activities (NKAs) has really stretched my thinking about social networks. I know that we've been talking for the past 5 weeks about all of the tools that are out there and the ability to use them for learning, but it wasn't until this week that I really thought about them as learning tools.  The amount of time we spend collecting resources and then either end up sharing them or curating them to what we want is astounding. There is so much potential learning that we can do just by collecting resources. This should make us go through them to see which are actually going to help us learn and which are not.  I think that the readings this week also helped me gather a better understanding of NKAs. Learning that social media can contribute to formal learning and interactions just as much as it does for informal learning is something that was eye opening to me. I think that as I move forward through this cla...

It's for some and by some, I mean a select few.  I, for one, have no desire to use social media in my classroom. I'll just add it to my already never-ending list of things to do during a school day. Half the time, I'm just trying to get all of my subjects taught during the day. However, I do think that there are benefits to using social media to teach.  Students now have access to way more information than that of any other generation. Everything they need to know is right at their fingertips. They know how to use Google, Alexa, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, etc. Teachers could use this to their advantage. I love the projects where teachers assign students to create a social media profile for historical figures or literary characters. When I was in high school it was a Facebook profile, now it's more like Instagram. It gives students a sense of ownership in their own learning.  I've seen TikToks get made by students who are posting for a class. They have certain para...

Wondering here if anyone else is a digital hoarder like me?? I LOVE saving things. Even if I know that I will never look at it again, I will save it. Dr. Dennen's excerpt from Social Media for Active Learning  uses the nicer term of "collector", but it still feels like digital hoarding to me.  Just yesterday, I scrolled all the way to the bottom of my TikTok likes because I wanted to see how my likes had changed or not changed since I started using the app back in 2019. Surprisingly, most of the videos that I liked were still pretty on trend with my current likes. I still found the videos funny and even rediscovered some videos that I loved and had forgotten about.  All of this to say, I know that I love saving and liking things because I am not one to share, construct or broker anything through social media. I am not creating videos on TikTok or YouTube and I rarely, if ever, post on Facebook. I will post on Instagram and Twitter more than anything else, but even then, I...

Alright, here we go! My Sum It Up Sunday will be a little wild, seeing as I missed #MemeMonday, but it's in there at the end!  #ToolboxTuesday I don’t know if this counts as an educational tool, but it’s an awesome one for teachers and one of my current faves! It’s called Classroom Screen! Check it out! https://t.co/NAKlONj4Qx #eme6414 — Sarah Straughn (@sjs13k) June 7, 2022 #WonderingWednesday #wonderingwednesday how do you know if you don’t like a social media site? Like what are the factors you look for? Or vice versa, how do you know if you DO like it? #eme6414 — Sarah Straughn (@sjs13k) June 9, 2022 #TBT Fun fact: I still have mine AND it still works!! #ThrowbackThursday #eme6414 pic.twitter.com/yo4pt6xqXL — Sarah Straughn (@sjs13k) June 9, 2022 #FollowFriday For our #FollowFriday , I would recommend that everyone follow @ChildDefender . They are an amazing organization that helps children all over the US. #EME6414 — Sarah Straughn (@sjs13k) June 10, 2022 #ShoutoutSatur...