This year I attended the STEM and Distance Learning thread of the conference which was presented by Dr. Lee Graham. Last year I attended the World Bridge Project and had intended to continue with that, but switched when the thread was cancelled. I was pleasantly surprised by the diverse topics we discussed and practiced: Arduino, Minecraft and even a little paper circuitry.
On the continuum of Virtual Learning I still consider myself a relative beginner. I do not teach classes at a distance, but I use a lot of input from the virtual world in my classes. I have connected my classes to other classrooms around the world by going on virtual field trips with AKTeach, for example. And I like to engage students online using Webquests and video presentations among other things. I have also used online tools to teach some programming (CodeHS, Khanacademy & Codeacademy) and robotics. I feel the continuum of Virtual Learning is constantly in flux, so I may be advanced in some areas and beginner or even unaware of some other areas of potential Virtual Learning.
Dr. Graham's presentation offered a fertile ground for contemplation of how to shift aspects of my teaching for the benefit of my students. Teaching in rural Alaska I work with students who are very insulated from the rest of the world. They enjoy social media and I feel it is my responsibility as a teacher to introduce them to its use as a learning tool, but that can be problematic. A few students' misuse shades the district policies around Facebook and Google so that I am only really able to use google docs and email with them. Students in our school are not allowed to use their phones during the day, perhaps and outdated policy, but it remains in response to problems with text bullying from the past. So Twitter is not an option unless I devise a method to use it with student laptops.
I know my site administrator is open to a more tolerant policy, but there is some resistance to change from senior staff. The question of managing the student outliers who behave inappropriately on social media came up during the demo of Minecraft by Dr. Graham. She noted that there are definite personality types that come out in this game and I believe it is the same for social media. There are aggressive types who may tend to be destructive with out proper guidance or outlets, there are collaborative types who may get distracted with chat, and there are individuals who just want to wander off by themselves. So there is room for a great deal of differentiated instruction even in Virtual Learning communities.
All in all I feel is was good for me to attend the conference because the questions of what to teach of social media and how to use Virtual Learning in the classroom are ongoing and increasingly potent subjects. This is especially true for secondary teachers like myself. Most of my students are going to use some form of social media. Many already use it daily, so finding ways to integrate and maximize its potential are critical.
On the continuum of Virtual Learning I still consider myself a relative beginner. I do not teach classes at a distance, but I use a lot of input from the virtual world in my classes. I have connected my classes to other classrooms around the world by going on virtual field trips with AKTeach, for example. And I like to engage students online using Webquests and video presentations among other things. I have also used online tools to teach some programming (CodeHS, Khanacademy & Codeacademy) and robotics. I feel the continuum of Virtual Learning is constantly in flux, so I may be advanced in some areas and beginner or even unaware of some other areas of potential Virtual Learning.
Dr. Graham's presentation offered a fertile ground for contemplation of how to shift aspects of my teaching for the benefit of my students. Teaching in rural Alaska I work with students who are very insulated from the rest of the world. They enjoy social media and I feel it is my responsibility as a teacher to introduce them to its use as a learning tool, but that can be problematic. A few students' misuse shades the district policies around Facebook and Google so that I am only really able to use google docs and email with them. Students in our school are not allowed to use their phones during the day, perhaps and outdated policy, but it remains in response to problems with text bullying from the past. So Twitter is not an option unless I devise a method to use it with student laptops.
I know my site administrator is open to a more tolerant policy, but there is some resistance to change from senior staff. The question of managing the student outliers who behave inappropriately on social media came up during the demo of Minecraft by Dr. Graham. She noted that there are definite personality types that come out in this game and I believe it is the same for social media. There are aggressive types who may tend to be destructive with out proper guidance or outlets, there are collaborative types who may get distracted with chat, and there are individuals who just want to wander off by themselves. So there is room for a great deal of differentiated instruction even in Virtual Learning communities.
All in all I feel is was good for me to attend the conference because the questions of what to teach of social media and how to use Virtual Learning in the classroom are ongoing and increasingly potent subjects. This is especially true for secondary teachers like myself. Most of my students are going to use some form of social media. Many already use it daily, so finding ways to integrate and maximize its potential are critical.
No comments:
Post a Comment