Melissa Holt
Assignment 10EDT 5372
Dr. Zhang
Section I: Learning from hashtags
One educational
hashtag that was of interest to me was the #scichat on Twitter. There were many interesting and educational
tweets that were all very insightful. One interesting tweet was posted by Jon
Bergmann. This tweet was liked to an
article entitled “Why Teachers Matter More in a Flipped Classroom”. This article was very eye-opening, yet succinct.
The article essentially expressed the importance of teachers in flipped
classrooms as facilitators. In addition,
the article mentioned the importance of human interaction and that teaching is
about building relationships between teachers and students as well as students
and students. Finally, the article aimed
to discount the notion that a flipped classroom allows for less teachers and
more students, when in fact, the inverse would provide students with greater
opportunities to learn while providing teachers with greater opportunities to facilitate
learning.
A second educational
tweet that was of interest to me was also associated with the #scichat on Twitter. The tweet was posted by SCCAO. SCCAO is an acronym for Science Coordinators and
Consultants Association of Ontario. The tweet
was entitled, “Essential Characteristics of a 21st Century
Educator. I found this tweet especially interesting
because we are all 20th century educators who are educating our 21st
century students. Also, I found this fascinating
because after 10 years of teaching, I have had an internal struggle on if I
still want to be an educator and/or if I have what it takes to be a great
teacher at this point in my life. The
blog post was very enlightening and mentioned that the traits that are needed
for today’s educator include, being a relationship builder, a learner, being
inclusive, being reflective, networking, being an innovator, being a leader,
being a storyteller, being a designer, and an artist. I do agree that most of the attributes on
this list would embody a great educator in the 21st century. This list is still being developed by its
creator, George Couros. I look forward
to seeing the final draft of these essential characteristics.
Twitter Links:
https://twitter.com/jonbergmann
(Twitter)
https://twitter.com/SCCAO (Twitter)
http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/6783
(Full Article)
Section II: Ideas for
using Twitter for teaching and learning
Based on the readings from this week, as well
as reflecting on my own personal experience in using Twitter, three ideas for
using Twitter for teaching and learning are listed below
Idea #1 for using
Twitter
One way that Twitter
could be used to facilitate teaching and learning in the classroom,
is by using Twitter as an educational resource to gain ideas about lessons and
activities that pertain to upcoming lessons.
Through the use of Twitter, educators can find a plethora of tweets that
will provide them with instructional ideas that correlate to specific
content areas. An educator could search
through hashtags in order to find images, videos, and written tweets that can help
facilitate lessons in any content area. Educators
would have the added of being able to follow hashtags that on Twitter in order
to stay abreast to new suggestions and ideas.
Idea #2 for using
Twitter
Another way that Twitter could be used to facilitate teaching and learning in the
classroom, is by using Twitter as a way to connect with other
students. The use of twitter can allow
students to communicate with other students within the city, state, country, or
even globally. I believe this approach would be a great way to allow students
to learn about students from different regions of the world, expand their
understanding of different cultures, and find out what other kids their age are
learning about in school. In addition,
the use of Twitter in the classroom setting also helps promote digital
citizenship among students.
Idea #3 for using
Twitter
A final way that
Twitter could be used to facilitate teaching and learning in the classroom,
is by using Twitter as a means of increasing communication between teacher and students.
Educators could use Twitter to pose a question to students at the end of each
week. This would be a great way to
complete a formative assessment on students’ learning. Students would all follow the classroom
hashtag and would be able to post tweets in response to the question that was initially
posed by the teacher. Some students do not feel comfortable raising their hands
in the classroom setting; therefore, this would provide an opportunity to gain
feedback from all students in a less formal setting.
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the article when it says that teaching is about building relationships. As teachers, we need that interaction with our students to be able to understand and better nurture the whole well being of our students. It is only when we build relationships that we can notice when our students are having a bad and are not giving the best of themselves. This is when we start to ask questions about what is going on, what is affecting them, and how we can help them in order for them to succeed.
Claudia,
DeleteThank you for your comments. I also agree with the ideology that teaching is about building relationships. Building positive relationships with students aids teachers in creating a community of learners in the classroom setting. All the best. :o)
-Melissa Holt-
Hi Ms. Holt,
ReplyDeleteYour post was very informative, I completely agree when you say that we are 20th century teachers trying to teach 21st century students. This rings so true, especially with teachers of my age. I'm doing my best to come up to date with the modern technology and teaching methods, as I tend to try and teach the way I was taught. These apps help me stay up to date with teachers and new modern ways of teaching, obtain ideas on what other methods can e used to engage and gain students interests.
Alex,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comments. It truly is challenging to teach our students when many of us are used to teaching using traditional teaching methods. I don't think that traditional teaching methods are the worst approach to educating students. However, I think that by implementing blending learning in the classroom, teachers have greater opportunities to build on student learning.
All the best. :o)
-Melissa Holt-
Melissa, I like your ideas of using Twitter inside the classroom. It is very important for us as teachers to develop lessons for the children that are related or engaging. Finding resources and ideas throughout Twitter will help inspire new ideas to bring into the classroom. Another idea that you mentioned and was awesome was having students create pen pals across the world to develop and expand their knowledge on different topics.
ReplyDeleteMelissa, I agree that Twitter can be an opportunity for students to communicate with other students around the country like pen pals. The differences between cultures can be ignored when talking about academics and using Twitter to communicate about similar interests. Students can get creative by using/sending videos about different activities or assignments. New ideas can be exchanged and inspire others to create and develop relationships with students who have the same interests.
ReplyDeleteHi Melissa:
ReplyDeleteI like your post about the Jon Bergmann's article. There is some kind of concern about the role of the teacher in a flipped classroom. Some voices say that this kind of learning tends to eliminate teachers from the leaning scenario, but I think that the teacher will always be needed in any kind of learning. The flipped classroom is an instructional model where the standard lecture and homework elements of the class are reversed or flipped, so the role of the teacher could be transformed but not eliminated at all.
Jorge Villarreal.
Hello Melissa,
ReplyDeleteTwitter in my opinion can be great for teachers and students in a sense that they can communicate with people that share the same interests in research. In my experience, I have been able to connect with other instructors that have experienced similar difficulties in the classroom. Overall, it can be a great motivator and problem solving tool.
Hello Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI like your ideas about using Twitter because it is a great online tool for connecting with students. It provides a way for students to learn about other people around the world. Your idea about tweeting a questions after class allows students to be reflective of their learning.