Social Networking Skills

    My school has become very big on using Google Apps for Education the past few years. Our SBTS has done a really good job of getting the staff and students educated on the affordances of GAE. Recently there has been a lot of discussion about the using of Google Plus feature on our GAE accounts. Once the Google Plus feature has been enabled teachers can then bring people into the classroom via Google Hangouts. We are always trying to find ways of bringing in outside mentors to talk with our students and enabling Google Plus will make this a possibility in a virtual sense. We have been cautioned that using a social media network like Google Plus has its downfalls. We are entering a virtual world that isn't protected by our county. We have to be smart about what we say and what we post on our Google Plus site. 

    I personally think this type of Social Networking is a wonderful way of showing students the appropriate way to use these types of sites. I think teachers should show students how we can use the sites for educational purposes and finding information. It also gives teachers the opportunity to highlight the importance of being responsible when using these sites. We can talk about how posting pictures of comments may turn someone away from wanting to connect with me because my profile is offensive or inappropriate. It would also be good to show students how connected everyone is and that when you post something, everyone can see it. I realize teachers have a lot to teach students these days and adding social networking responsibility is just another thing we have to do, but I feel like it is very important. We have so many useless skills we teach students that they will never use (obsoledge), but being responsible on the internet is a skill that needs to be taught. Modeling appropriate usage with explicit teaching will help students form healthy and safe internet usage skills.

Podcasts

I have had some experience with listening to podcasts in the past. My husband will play podcasts in the car on long road trips. They range in topics from current events to sports. I don't mind listening to podcats if I am interested in the topic. I think they are a good way of getting across information to an interested party. I do think it is much more enjoyable if you are listening to something interesting. Since podcasts are only auditory it is very easy to become distracted when you are listening. Creating my own podcast was a very interesting experience. I found it very awkward to listen to myself when we were checking over our recording. I liked learning about the different sections of the podcast and their purposes. I was able to relate the information to some of the podcasts that I have heard. I realized they all start and end in a similar fashion to the ones that we created.

All about Wikis

When I first thought about Wikis I immediately thought about Wikipedia and how I have often been told not to use it. I too warned my students about the dangers of using wikis because people can easily edit the information posted. After reading Richardson's book I began to see the benefit of wikis within the classroom. I think the most powerful way to use them would be to have students create their own wikis about a topic they were passionate about. I think this would be a really powerful way to show students how they have the power to create wikis for others to use. The authenticity of having them create their own wikis would be very motivating for my students. Since my students are considered a very "me" generation, I think having them create their own wiki would be great. I also think it is a good way of teaching students about netiquette and the power of making good choices online. We could talk about how posting false or misleading information could be harmful to others and to the reputation of their wiki. I think by having students create wikis teachers would be able to teach academic, social, and technological skills together.

Blogging about Blogs

I honestly never thought that I would ever be writing a blog. Over the years I have had some acquaintances start blogs about random topics. Some of them were fun to read, but honestly I thought the whole thing was kind of odd. I never would have the confidence to put myself out there. Some of the stuff I was reading was super personal and putting that kind of information out in the Internet seems really scary. I understand that some people find it very therapeutic, which I think is awesome, but it still seems very intense to put all your thoughts and feelings out their for strangers to read. I always wondered how you would react to someone negatively responding to your inner most thoughts. I guess the issue with my thinking about blogging in that sense is that I am not realizing that a lot of people may blog for themselves, not for the reactions of others (I am sure some want the attention, but you know what I am trying to say).