"Twitter and Me"

Twitter and me.... It has been an experience so far. In my personal life, I use twitter to follow authors of books that I like and to follow friends of mine. I don't use it religiously by any means and I don't have a lot of desire to use it religiously. In my personally opinion, our private lives do not need to be aired on the internet for any one and everyone to follow. It is something that breaks the breach of privacy, and privacy is very important to me. I do have experience with Facebook and using it to keep up with family and friends, but I am not one to post about what I am doing on a daily basis or even a weekly basis. So when I have twitter I 'tweet' very sparingly and mostly it is to authors to find out how to get the signed copy of their book or when the trailer for the book is coming out or if there is a possible tv show that will be based off the books.

So using Twitter as we are in Sedu 183 is hard for me. Especially using it to take quizzes a new concept to me that I don't particulary like. It is confusing because I do not know the ins and outs of all of the Twitter methods. I like to have a hard copy of everything in front of me, just so I have easy access and I can take notes on it and refer back to it. I learn by writing and having to refer back to it. So for me, while I am good at most technology such as online shopping and finding Kindle Books and deals online. Even ask me to look up on how to do a projectt such as a penny table or how to bind a book I can do that but having to follow so many people on Twitter is just overwhelming to me. I don't have the energy or want to follow someone's live when I have plenty of things that need my direct attention and not me distracted by my phone or an account. So today in class was a difficult experience for me to try and multitask between the quiz, Google Drive, and double checking my answer. It helped me that my group and I opened a chat up on Facebook to communicate because it made it easier for me to check with them and we didn't have to worry as much because we could 'talk' to each other without talking directly.

On the other hand, I understand the uses for Twitter in education and many of the benefits that it has. Such as setting up homework reminders for the students and parents to make sure it everything is done. It also helps because parents can use technology, such as Twitter to ask a quick question about the math homework that they are helping their child with. There are many uses for Twitter in Education, such as stated in The Ultimate Guide to Using Twitter in Education. It even has multiple great videos that allow you to see Twitter being used in education and how others do it. Another great use for Twitter that I do like is that you can communicate with many teachers throughout the world and get ideas on how to teach a certain subject in history, such as possibly the Chinese New Year, and you could even possible set up a Skype chat to help them see the traditions that are done and for the students to become more diverse people. It is helping to change the way kids are taught and how they are learning, whether it be because it is easier for them to back tract and follow something a teacher is asking about or to learning a different language through someone who is bilingual. Twitter has changed education and how learning is done.

It is up to you to decide whether the change of the technology centered world is good or bad, in most part it seems to be good if not abused, but just remember that there is a world outside of your computer and phone. Enjoy it.

Final Frontier

To start the second week of SEDU 183 classes, a group of students inluding myself, Lindsey Downing, and Megan Trinh, worked together to make a presentation about Changes in Technology. We used Google Drive to work collabrively on this presentation. Through technology, we were able to access the same presentation and make changes all at the same time so that we can create the best presentation possible. Google Drive, was a new concept for me, so I was glad to be able to comment and ask questions as well as have tutorials to look at when I was stuck. To work with classmates who are knowledgeble in Google and to work on the project with made it easier to get the presentation done with a variety of opinions. I enjoyed working with the girls I did, they are fun and hard working so no one person was doing all the work! :)

The article about Teacher's Beliefs about Techonology, talks about how teacher's beliefs in using technology and how they can change over time. Also about how certain experiences, whether first hand, vicarious experiences, and social-cultural influences can help to shape a teacher's beliefs. Also about how technology can be intergrated into the class room and how it can be used through out the classroom and in daily life. The article also talks about how if you pressure a teacher to change, they will resist more than if they have a chance to adapt and grow at their own pace.

In our presentation, we talked about the differences in first and second order changes, as well as our we are only moving foward in today's world. As well as how to make the changes easier for teachers and the other benefits of technology! Now onto the presentation!!!




Hope you enjoyed it! If you are future teacher or a current teacher, don't forget to use the technology you have around you to make your classroom more futuristic!