Today in class we had another great presenter, Alec Couros. Alec had plenty of valuable information to share with the class of future educators. Some things that stuck out to me at first was the young age at which children are surfing the web and being connected to social media sites. It wasn't alarming, and I guess it was pretty obvious if you really think about it. I think what we should take away from this is that as educators we should help children who are on the internet use it appropriately and give them the knowledge and resources to do so.
Another point that stood out to me in the presentation was how we should slowly integrate technology into the classroom. Schools are now turning to the bring your own device policy (which I think is a good idea) so we as teachers should embrace this and use it in our classrooms. We should start with communication, embrace the new ways to communicate in an educational world. As teachers we can use kidblog, or edublog. We should also embrace new forms of expression (kidsnippets anyone! If you are reading this and aren't in my class http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wsRk0TXYXuA) Networks is another great way to learn. Having someone skype into your class, learn via social media (twitter, facebook) These are all great ideas that I as a future educator would to use in my classroom. If I can set up all these types of things (a blog, different websites with great resources etc.) now I will already have a great grasp for how to use them in the classroom and it won't be such a challenge when I am also trying to start a new classroom.
A few other snippets that really stuck out to me:
Some of our best colleagues are the ones we have yet to meet (and perhaps maybe we never will)
CONNECT CONNECT CONNECT in different ways and with different people. This is your most valuable resource! And lastly
Give away your knowledge (for free) and the things you may gain from this have the potential to be great!
On a side note I am really enjoying blogging and having an education twitter account so I can look at various links and things like that. I also love reading other peoples blogs. I know I haven't posted any resources or blogs or ideas but I am just beginning and really just "browsing" at the moment. It'll come!
-LB
"There can be infinite uses of the computer and of new age technology, but if the teachers themselves are not able to bring it into the classroom and make it work, then it fails." Nancy Kassebaum
No comments:
Post a Comment