One of my students recently made a very interesting comment. I will not mention him/her by name because I do not know if they wish to be revealed. However, if they read this, I thank you for being honest. This is exactly what I want to know!
This student began by saying that he/she has been a university student for a few years now and is currently student teaching. He/she has used the Internet for school, email, and Facebook. He/she also use the Internet for research and to find resources for student teaching. It was this statement that really made me think, "I have never really seen how the Internet can really be a huge tool that can be used to help improve our teaching methods, techniques, and applications. Social media is for so much more than just talking to friends. It is such a huge way to help make connections and find co-workers from around the world who can help you improve your teaching...".
We need to be engaging our pre-service teachers in the use of social media tools. They need to be taught how to develop a PLN. If they using these tools becomes part of their "system" then the use of these tools will automatically be part of their teaching strategies.
It's like teaching pre-service teachers how to teach students how to write (or how to engage students in writing). Troy Hicks discusses engaging his pre-service teachers in writing so that they can more effectively teach their students how to write.
It's powerful....to teach this way....so why aren't we doing this with social media? My 1.5 credit course does expose students to social media. Some students run with it and continue to use it. However, many don't have time to really get a good feel for how powerful these tools can be in their teaching (even as a professional development tool alone). I want students to have the opportunity to use these tools throughout all of their teacher education courses. Imagine how connected we could be if all courses where sharing to Diigo. Imagine the resources our students would have. Imagine how connected they would be by the time they graduate and get their own teaching job.
I'm sure other classes do use some of these tools. However, I'd like to see blogging become the "norm". Students should have a blog that they begin as Freshman. They can use the PDE430 descriptors to "tag" their blog posts. To see that learning transfer from course to course would be so powerful. I do believe it would be powerful. (more to come in a future post)
Immerse the pre-service teachers in the use of social media and these tools will become a natural part of their lives, teaching, etc.
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Monday, November 4, 2013
Using Social Media in Pre-Service Teacher Education Courses
One of my students recently made a very interesting comment. I will not mention him/her by name because I do not know if they wish to be revealed. However, if they read this, I thank you for being honest. This is exactly what I want to know!
This student began by saying that he/she has been a university student for a few years now and is currently student teaching. He/she has used the Internet for school, email, and Facebook. He/she also use the Internet for research and to find resources for student teaching. It was this statement that really made me think, "I have never really seen how the Internet can really be a huge tool that can be used to help improve our teaching methods, techniques, and applications. Social media is for so much more than just talking to friends. It is such a huge way to help make connections and find co-workers from around the world who can help you improve your teaching...".
We need to be engaging our pre-service teachers in the use of social media tools. They need to be taught how to develop a PLN. If they using these tools becomes part of their "system" then the use of these tools will automatically be part of their teaching strategies.
It's like teaching pre-service teachers how to teach students how to write (or how to engage students in writing). Troy Hicks discusses engaging his pre-service teachers in writing so that they can more effectively teach their students how to write.
It's powerful....to teach this way....so why aren't we doing this with social media? My 1.5 credit course does expose students to social media. Some students run with it and continue to use it. However, many don't have time to really get a good feel for how powerful these tools can be in their teaching (even as a professional development tool alone). I want students to have the opportunity to use these tools throughout all of their teacher education courses. Imagine how connected we could be if all courses where sharing to Diigo. Imagine the resources our students would have. Imagine how connected they would be by the time they graduate and get their own teaching job.
I'm sure other classes do use some of these tools. However, I'd like to see blogging become the "norm". Students should have a blog that they begin as Freshman. They can use the PDE430 descriptors to "tag" their blog posts. To see that learning transfer from course to course would be so powerful. I do believe it would be powerful. (more to come in a future post)
Immerse the pre-service teachers in the use of social media and these tools will become a natural part of their lives, teaching, etc.
Tweet
This student began by saying that he/she has been a university student for a few years now and is currently student teaching. He/she has used the Internet for school, email, and Facebook. He/she also use the Internet for research and to find resources for student teaching. It was this statement that really made me think, "I have never really seen how the Internet can really be a huge tool that can be used to help improve our teaching methods, techniques, and applications. Social media is for so much more than just talking to friends. It is such a huge way to help make connections and find co-workers from around the world who can help you improve your teaching...".
We need to be engaging our pre-service teachers in the use of social media tools. They need to be taught how to develop a PLN. If they using these tools becomes part of their "system" then the use of these tools will automatically be part of their teaching strategies.
It's like teaching pre-service teachers how to teach students how to write (or how to engage students in writing). Troy Hicks discusses engaging his pre-service teachers in writing so that they can more effectively teach their students how to write.
It's powerful....to teach this way....so why aren't we doing this with social media? My 1.5 credit course does expose students to social media. Some students run with it and continue to use it. However, many don't have time to really get a good feel for how powerful these tools can be in their teaching (even as a professional development tool alone). I want students to have the opportunity to use these tools throughout all of their teacher education courses. Imagine how connected we could be if all courses where sharing to Diigo. Imagine the resources our students would have. Imagine how connected they would be by the time they graduate and get their own teaching job.
I'm sure other classes do use some of these tools. However, I'd like to see blogging become the "norm". Students should have a blog that they begin as Freshman. They can use the PDE430 descriptors to "tag" their blog posts. To see that learning transfer from course to course would be so powerful. I do believe it would be powerful. (more to come in a future post)
Immerse the pre-service teachers in the use of social media and these tools will become a natural part of their lives, teaching, etc.
Tweet
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