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
Teachers Leading
Monday, November 4, 2013
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Connections
I've decided to take a few courses to reactivate my teaching certificate. The first class that I'm taking is a "Wikis, Blogs, and Web Publishing" course offered by Rich Kiker. Even though I teach a similar course at Drexel University, I figured I'd learn new technologies and strategies to enhance my courses. I'm getting way more than I thought I would. I have been inspired to seek new challenges and work towards goals that have always been in the back of my mind. Those goals are now at the forefront and I will publish them here once I have refined them in my head. I know what I want to do....I want to work at the university level to get teacher educators using social media to enhance the learning experience for pre-service and graduate level teachers. First, I need to re-establish my social presence. This blog is my first step.
A reflection as I work to refine my network:
For the past 10 years, I have read blogs as a way to learn. It was my main method of professional development since I am an adjunct. It was a great way for me to seek out new strategies, research, etc on my own....for free! I now believe that a way to communicate that to my students is to model the process for them. This is a CHANGE for education and professional development. Tom Whitby discusses in a post dated 10/16/13 that how blogs are connecting educators, thought leaders, and administrative leaders. He states, "To be part of the change, educators need to be part of the process. They need to connect, comment and contribute wherever possible in our connected community of educators. That is where our voice as educators is the strongest. Connectedness is our best chance for positive change that is not mandated, or legislated, but rather collaboratively established." The blogs have been present for several years; however, it's time for teacher educators to become part of that connected community of educators.
Tweet
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
New Ventures
Many educational leaders are talking about the use of technology in schools, specifically the use of social media. It's been a "hot" topic for years. I began teaching at the college level 10 years ago and have been using it in each of my classes. I figured that if I expected my students to use it in their classrooms, I should model the effective use of social media in "my" classroom. It wasn't until recently when I began teaching a "Social Media in the Classroom" course that I realized that most of the teachers and/or pre-service teachers in my classes haven't been exposed to the effective use of these technologies in their other college level education classes. Why?
This is the beginning of a new adventure for me. I'm refining my social presence with the vision of modeling effective use of social media in graduate and undergraduate level teacher education courses.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
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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
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Connections
I've decided to take a few courses to reactivate my teaching certificate. The first class that I'm taking is a "Wikis, Blogs, and Web Publishing" course offered by Rich Kiker. Even though I teach a similar course at Drexel University, I figured I'd learn new technologies and strategies to enhance my courses. I'm getting way more than I thought I would. I have been inspired to seek new challenges and work towards goals that have always been in the back of my mind. Those goals are now at the forefront and I will publish them here once I have refined them in my head. I know what I want to do....I want to work at the university level to get teacher educators using social media to enhance the learning experience for pre-service and graduate level teachers. First, I need to re-establish my social presence. This blog is my first step.
A reflection as I work to refine my network:
For the past 10 years, I have read blogs as a way to learn. It was my main method of professional development since I am an adjunct. It was a great way for me to seek out new strategies, research, etc on my own....for free! I now believe that a way to communicate that to my students is to model the process for them. This is a CHANGE for education and professional development. Tom Whitby discusses in a post dated 10/16/13 that how blogs are connecting educators, thought leaders, and administrative leaders. He states, "To be part of the change, educators need to be part of the process. They need to connect, comment and contribute wherever possible in our connected community of educators. That is where our voice as educators is the strongest. Connectedness is our best chance for positive change that is not mandated, or legislated, but rather collaboratively established." The blogs have been present for several years; however, it's time for teacher educators to become part of that connected community of educators.
Tweet
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
New Ventures
Many educational leaders are talking about the use of technology in schools, specifically the use of social media. It's been a "hot" topic for years. I began teaching at the college level 10 years ago and have been using it in each of my classes. I figured that if I expected my students to use it in their classrooms, I should model the effective use of social media in "my" classroom. It wasn't until recently when I began teaching a "Social Media in the Classroom" course that I realized that most of the teachers and/or pre-service teachers in my classes haven't been exposed to the effective use of these technologies in their other college level education classes. Why?
This is the beginning of a new adventure for me. I'm refining my social presence with the vision of modeling effective use of social media in graduate and undergraduate level teacher education courses.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)