Twitter and Me

I have had my own personal Twitter account for about a year and a half now and I really like Twitter the most out of all the social networks I've used in the past. The only thing I don't like is you can't upload a ton of pictures like you can on Facebook. But overall I have never had a problem with Twitter and I like how easy it is to follow people and see what everyone is doing. I keep my personal Twitter private since I do work with kids already. I really don't post anything bad, but I would rather be safe then sorry. I also like the private mode so that the whole world can't see my tweets or even follow me.

 

In my SEDU 183 class at Edinboro University we had to create a professional Twitter and use it to follow our classmates and other educators. This past Tuesday in class we took a class quiz on Twitter by using the hashtag #SEDU183quiz1. I thought this was a very useful tool because we could all work together as a group without talking and every could contribute their part.

 

I think Twitter in the classroom could be a great idea, but you could also run into a lot of problems. First off I think only high school and college students should use Twitter in the classroom and only if they are going to use it for educational reasons. In my high school, we had net books in every classroom, but every social network site was blocked because they were seen as a distraction the classroom. I can see where they are coming from, but I don't think they really knew how beneficial Twitter or any social networking site could have been to the classroom.

 

Me wanting being an elementary school teacher, I would never use Twitter or any social networking sites in my classroom with my students. I wouldn't even use it for a middle school classroom. First off, it takes away from the face to face learning experience and the children are just too young. If they are always behind a computer screen they may not be paying attention to the teacher and they may not develop that personal relationship with the teacher either. Also, it can trigger cyber bulling, or the students can come in contact with a person who might not be who they say they are. If homework or tests are given online sometimes it makes it easier for the child to cheat. Bring a college student and going through a high school with net books in every room, I can tell you, that I would much rather do homework on paper any day.

The Final Frontier

In this assignment we had to read the article "Teacher Pedagogical Beliefs: The Final Frontier in Our Quest for Technology Integration?" After reading the article we completed a set of questions provided to us and used the article to answer the questions in 2-3 sentences each. After completing the above assignment, we were put into groups of three. In our groups we made a google drive presentation trying to persuade teachers why they should use technology in the classroom and provide accurate information from the article and the web. In our google drive we also had to include a few pictures, links, a chart, and a video to outside sources that provided extra information in addition to the article.

The article's main focus was to discuss the reasons why teachers use technology in the classroom. The article's  main reason was to discuss why teachers' beliefs about technology affect their technology practices. The article talked about the definition of teacher beliefs, the connection between beliefs and practices, the nature of beliefs, how beliefs are performed and changed, and implications for professional development and research. Lastly, the article provided statistical facts and information that was useful to us, the readers.

I think that our group collaborated very well together. We all meet Tuesday night on google drive and each completed a slide of the presentation at home. We used the comment section on google to provide feedback to each others work. In class on Thursday, we each completed an additional slide for the presentation and also created the last slide as a group together. After typing all of our information into the different slides, Lauren was in charge of finding pictures, Ashley W. was in charge of slide transition, and I was in charge of finding outside links and the video for the presentation. Each person in our group pulled their weight for this assignment and we all worked really well together.

Our presentation is called Teacher Beliefs: Technology in the Classroom. The different slides talk about teacher beliefs, different types of classrooms, and the different teacher experiences. We also provided a chart of statistics that we found throughout the article. We included a video about the top ten reasons to use technology in the classroom. Last, we added a few pictures and outside links that we found useful for the presentation. Finally, we added a slide at the end about our opinion about using technology in the classroom.

All About Me

My name is Ashley Hurte and I am a freshman at Edinboro University. I am currently an elementary education major. I am 18 years old and I am from Pittsburgh, PA. I live with my dad and I have one younger sister, along with a dog. I am very friendly and organized. I also love meeting new people and I usually have a very busy schedule with work and school. I work at Shoe Carnival in Erie and I transfer back home over breaks. I enjoy going out with my friends and watching movies. Many people don't know that I have been a girl scout for 12 years now. Before coming to Edinboro, I was a member of my high school color guard team for four years and a softball player for my community for six years. I also danced for five years on a local competitive dance team, and I coached cheerleading for the elementary school that I attended for three years. Below is a video of some of the girls I coached at one of their performance. 

I think technology is an important part of learning today. In classrooms you are starting to see more and more smart boards and laptops being used. In my high school, a lot of our homework was given online and we also had a program similar to D2L. We also had net books in every classroom and all of our teachers tried their hardest to make the classroom a paperless one. Students can now learn and research more by searching the web on their phones or computers to expand their knowledge. For teaching purposes, I feel that technology can help teachers expand their knowledge of the subject they are talking about and it also allows them to teach things in more than one way.

I believe that teachers should create a positive environment for their students to learn and be themselves. Teachers help provide the students with all the resources that each student needs to be successful. Teachers should be able to teach their lessons in multiple ways so that every student can understand the concepts being taught. Teachers also educate our future workers and can make a difference or a lasting impression on each child.