@TaceyFacey - PLN and Twitter

PLN- A Professional Learning Network

Educating and learning go hand and hand.  As teachers, are main job is to educate our youth based on a set curriculum.  However, most people/students assume that the students are the only ones actually learning in the classroom.  How do teachers enhance their own knowledge? How do teachers perfect the art of teaching/delivery? The answer to that lies in every teachers secret toolkit: their PLN, Professional Learning Network.

Why do teachers need this awesome resource? TO GET BETTER AT WHAT THEY DO! We've all had that teacher that was the absolute worst teacher, everything that was taught was taught either wrong or in a hard to follow way.  You left class everyday hoping and praying that some magical spirit would influence him/her to make them better at their job (seriously, your education was on the line!).  That magical spirit is a PLN.  If that horrible teacher did not have a PLN, their teaching styles probably have not changed must since the last time you were in their class. (scary, right?) 

http://edudemic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/twitter-superhero.jpg

As a pre-service teacher, I'm a little nervous about this PLN.  How do I add that to all the other things I am trying to do? What if I turn out like that horrible teacher? Thankfully, several teachers have already begun to answer this question via Twitter.

TWEET TWEET! TWITTER!

Twitter is a social media site that allows users to not only "follow" people/interests by responding to them or by personally posting thoughts via Tweets.  The most interesting thing (and perhaps the best thing for teachers) about these tweets is that Twitter users can attach a # (a hashtag) and then a word to your tweet.  The hashtag acts as a label, sorting and filtering based on the hashtag.  For teachers this is GREAT! It's basically an online filing cabinet for every great idea that you came up with OR that you saw someone else come up with. Image the possibilities as a teacher to grow their personal PLN's through Twitter.  As the "Twitterverse" in general has grown, so has the 'educational side'.  

I have my own personal Twitter account, @taceyfacey, and I have recently began to follow some influential people in the "EduTwitter World".  I even participated in my own Twitter Chat.  A Twitter chat is exactly what it sounds like, a chat/conversation taking place via Tweets on Twitter. The educational world on Twitter has taking this Twitter chat to a whole new level.  Several of the most influential educational Twitterers have formed different kinds of Twitter chats based on educational topics.  For example, the most popular and influential chat that occurs is #edchat.  Basically, if I wanted to participate or just "watch" the chat, I could search for #edchat and see everyone's post who included the hashtag #edchat.  Then, if I find something interesting or have thoughts of my own I want to contribute, I either Tweet out or Retweet (copy) what someone has said.  Later, when I search my own hashtags for #edchat, I can see every great idea that I came up with or that someone else came up with that I retweeted.

I recently participated in my own twitterchat #flipclass.  The flipped classroom is something that is heavily discussed at NCSU.  Through several of these discussion I am very curious about the whole process and hope to one day incorporate it into my own teaching.  By participating in this chat, I was informally invited to participate in some Edcamps in my area.  Forming connections like the ones I formed within a short hour of tweeting, is how teachers grow and update their professional development and learn new techniques. Yes, jumping into the conversation may seem a bit daunting and possibly hard to follow, but practice makes perfect right? I see Twitter as the perfect way for teachers to update their PLN; its free, its easy, and its constantly updating/new.  If Twitter isn't you're thing, find something else.  There is no reason any teacher should not be online looking for new collaborative partners.  Another good site that I use for personal entertainment as well as PLN growth is Pinterest.

Go Ahead, Google Me

"Oh, I'll just 'Google' it!"

www.google.com

Google has transformed from a regular search engine to a powerful tool used in common everyday language.  The power of Google and "Googling" things ads a whole new dimension to our technologically based society. And as our classrooms begin to accept this new technology, how will they be affected by Google?

Talking about Google in the classroom offers a lot of different doors.  As a teacher, one could use this opportunity to talk about the validity of websites to teach students not to believe everything they see on the Internet via Google.  A good example or seg-way into this discussion would be to look at different googled websites and have the kids discuss and decide which is real and which is not.  The latest article about a scandal between Martin Luther King and Google is a pretty interesting fact you may want to mention to the class, being age-appropriate.

Another opportunity a teacher has with talking about Google in the classroom is Internet safety as a whole.  This topic of internet safety could be broken down into several different conversations such as cyber-bullying, cyber-safety, personal vs. private information, etc.  Upon thinking about ways to implement lessons on Internet Safety and Google, I 'Googled' myself to see what I would find.  While I'm not in the classroom yet, I am still working which means prospective employers still can Google my name to find out more about me. This is what I found:

1st page of 'Googling': "Tacey Miller"

2nd page of 'Googling': "Tacey Miller"

As you can see, there are quite a few websites that come up that are not me.  The two webpages that come up are my Pinterest account and my EDUCON account.  In the mini images bar, only two pictures of myself come up.  I have several other webpages and websites that I own and operate but they do not come up with you Google me.  I'm actually quite impressed on how I showed up in Google, I feel that if a possible employer were to Google me I would come up as acceptable.  I really like how (on the second page) my EDUCON account comes up.  As a future teacher, when things as career oriented and awesome as EDUCON come up via Google, I feel that it makes me seem educated about the field that I am planning on going into and could possibly score me bonus points.

To me, after 'Googling' myself and evaluating how I want to address internet safety and Google in my classroom I have decided in terms of information about me out there; Quality over quantity. I feel that it is really easy to have a lot of websites and webpages that come up when someone is 'googled' that might not be the best information to have as "public knowledge".  I feel that it is probably best for everyone to limit the number of webpages/sites that can be easily found about them via Google, AND make the ones that do come up really say something about them.  I think that if someone, like a possible employer, were to judge me based on what came up in Google, I like to think that they would think I was a girl who liked to craft and was interested in current events in education. (To me, that's a pretty good representation and it's not far off!)

What is this Digital Divide Stuff?

    The Digital Divide, and all things technology, have been in and out of the classroom.  We all know, as teachers and pre-service teachers, that no classroom is created equal.  There is diversity, among things like access and privilege, and technological tools were not exempt to these diversities among students.  The divide, as I understand it, is beginning to change.  Back when the divide was beginning to occur, with the new technology of calculators in the classroom, it was primarily about access, or so we thought.  Now, as access to technology and internet becomes more available and accessible, is access really the problem? Based on the previous definition of the digital divide, it should be closing right? The problem of access is narrowing so why isn't the digital divide? Through doing some research, I created my own digital divide infographic that will help clear the confusion of the term and provide some possible solutions to closing the gap.

   While this Infographic is way smaller than I would like it to be, you can still get the idea of what I was trying to create.  Basically, my infographic focused on some statistics that were broken down by three different categories (race/ethnicity-black, white, hispanic, household income- <30,000, 30,000-49,999, 50,000-74,999, 75,000+, and education attainment- no high school diploma, high school grad, some college, and college+). These categories were then compared to what several thousand people report using the internet for, these options were email, buying a product, using a social networking site, banking online, and searching.  I choose to focus on these statistics because I feel this is a prime example of how our digital divide gap is so wide.  The majority of people who use internet for social networking are of a minority group, lower income group, or lower education attainment group, whereas things like banking or searching are primarily dominated by white, higher income groups, and higher educational attainment groups.  If the minority groups, lower income groups, and lower educational attainment groups have access to internet but aren't being productive, they aren't closing the gap.  

   This is the prime example that just providing the poor with the same technologies as the rich will solve all problems.  We need to make sure minority, etc. families not only have reliable, productive internet access, but that they are trained in how to use it.  Simple programs, such as Microsoft Word, some families don't know how to use.  We need to match not only the quantity of technology in all families but also the quality.  Some solutions that I provide to help combat this divide include keeping public libraries and school computer labs open for longer periods of time.  I feel by doing this students and families have more access to better computers and software.  My other solution is to write/lobby to local school boards and government officials to try and revamp the system.  Other solutions that I've read about include providing cheaper Broadband internet to families with students on free/reduced lunch.  I believe it is steps like these that will close the gap in the digital divide, not just pouring/dumping more technology onto the hands that don't know what to do with it.

Waking up With Technology

   Technology and technological interaction is a huge deal in today's classrooms; from elementary to the university/college level.  As I mentioned in my last post, the term digital native generally refers to someone who has been completely immersed in technology since day one.  Since writing my last post I have begun to dive into looking at my own technology usage and what role technology has played in my life, forming my digital native-ness or not.

   Through speaking with my dad over the past 24 hours I have learned quite a bit about my own involvement in technology.  My parents worked in pretty technologically-driven careers as I was growing up, even though they don't have the word "computer" or "engineer" in them.  My dad, when I was growing up, owned his own printing shop, a franchised Sir Speedy.  My mom, at the time, was a CPA in a small firm, working with mostly "local celebrities" (she worked with several NASCAR teams, which to me was a big deal).  While neither of those jobs make you think of technology or technology usage, both were heavily influenced by technology.

   As my dad remembers, we jumped on the "bandwagon of technology" pretty quickly.  My dad grew up in a military family and he can remember his dad making sure that his family was well-equipped with the latest gadget.  My dad, I'm assuming, was brought up with this mindset and continued it with his own family.  While my dad was growing up, he remembers his first computer being a Tandy TRS-80, or a TRASH 80 as he called it.  The storage, as he remembers, for the Tandy was on a cassette drive.  He then said that he remembers upgrading to a Commodore Vic 20 and then a Commodore 64.  The storage for these computers used a floppy disk.  He remembers how the early machines did not come with software; you had to write your own.  While we were discussing his technological childhood he mentioned how he was never that interested in writing the "BASICS" for the computer, but his older brother loved it and wrote most of the software that was used in his household.  He was in high school when the Macs came on the market, which was a big deal because it was the only machine that came with a mouse and allowed for "click and drag".  He also remembers being required to take a typing class in the high schools computer lab which held two computers and a dot matrix printer.

Tandy TRS-80 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TRS-80

   Just by listening to my dad's history, before we even reached mine, was very fascinating to see how while he wasn't born with computers, but how quickly the education system seemed to revamp and include them in the curriculum.  As we discussed my own involvement with computers he basically said that I had access to a home computer all of my life, bouncing back between PC and MAC.  He said while I was younger, we had several simple software games that I could play but by the time I was interested in technology it was cheaper to buy gaming systems such as Nintendo and educational programs such as Leap Frog.  As the subject of educational games came up I remembered my own adoption of computers in elementary schools, that is about the earliest that I can consciously remember being on a computer.  We had a complete computer lab; a computer for every student and several printers.  The only software and class that I remember specifically working with/on the computers with was in my art class which is very interesting to me.  We had a program called Kid Pix that was an interactive paint studio.  

Kid Pix Studio

http://www.overstock.com/Electronics/PC-Kid-Pix-Studio-Deluxe/1477052/product.html

    The paint studio had many different features and we used them to create different types of art, from abstract-interactive pieces to portraits and landscapes.  I didn't just use the computers in Art, I was required to take a typing class and be able to use Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint.  However, the part of educational technology that stood out to me was my usage in art.  Now, as an adult, I always associate technology with creativity and freedom of expression.  I know several people's first thoughts are things like mechanical and productivity, and I still think of technology in these connotations, but my first thoughts are always back to creativity.  I think because no one thought of technology as a tool for art, my art teacher made it her mission to incorporate it as much as she could.  And in her defense, it worked.  Yes technology is great for productivity, but using technology to express yourself is even greater.  This is a revolutionary idea for most people, it was to my elementary self, which is why I think it stuck with me for so long.