Teacher 2.0

I recently joined the social networking site for teachers, Teacher 2.0. This site is a community for educators who want to share their interests and passion for teaching and learning, and communicate with other teachers about lesson materials and curriculum ideas. This site offers 'ideas,' 'books and reading,' a 'forum,' 'group' and much more. It is a space where teachers can share their thoughts and ideas and grow as educators.

A Learner is Like a Chameleon

When I think of the typical 'learner' in today's 21st century, I think of someone who is able to adjust to the latest trends in society such as new technology, music, language use, education, media, etc. The way that humans have adapted to their surroundings over time reminds me of the chameleon and his ability to blend in, or fit in, with his environment.

The average learner today is rapidly and vastly connecting with people and information through organizations and databases through a process known as connectivism which is defined in the article "A Learning Theory for The Digital Age" by George Seimens: connectivism is "the integration of principles explored by chaos, network, and complexity and self-organization theories.Learning (defined as actionable knowledge) can reside outside of ourselves (within an organization or a database), is focused on connecting specialized information sets, and the connections that enable us to learn more are more important than our current state of knowing." Through this process learners are networking and making decisions about what they want to learn, and as a result learning is meaningful and realistic.

George Seimens, on the video, The Changing Nature of Knowledge further explains the benefits connectivism. Seimens states, “The learners themselves, the connections they form with each other, the connections that they form with databases, with other sources of knowledge, is really the primary source of learning. So, in essence, the network becomes the learning; the network that the learners create.” In other words, we learn from the connections that we make with information and with others; we share knowledge and information. Seimens emphasizes, “Learning is really about the distribution of knowledge that occurs across an entire network.”

DIIGO vs. Scoop.it!

After signing up for two separate 'social bookmarking' or 'curating' sites, Scoop.it! and DIIGO, and then playing around with their various features, I was seriously blown away! I have always been that person the bookmarks EVERYTHING, and then when it comes time to reference a bookmark, I am either away from my computer or I've forgotten what I filed it under in the first place. Thankfully, these two sites will make life much easier for me!

So, to compare these two sites, I want to start with the basics. First, both sites were quick to create an account and easily navigable, although I prefer the layout of Scoop.it! because it is more eye catching that DIIGO.  Both sites walked me through the set-up process, step-by-step, so that I understood exactly how to post, save, and comment on articles.

Both Scoop,it! and DIIGO have some of the same features, however as far as unique or special features, the sites differ in their ability to preform certain tasks. For example, DIIGO allows the user to search for topics related to a certain subject area of interest and then pulls up related sites and articles from the web, and Scoop.it! requires the user to locate articles/websites on their own externally (on the web or search though different users or groups) and then save them to the user account library. Both sites allow users to create 'lists' or 'topics' that categorize the saved articles or websites, make comments and add multiple tags to the articles, and network with other users to share materials, ideas, and comments. On the other hand, DIIGO gives its users the opportunity to be more interactive with texts by annotating: adding sticky notes and highlighting. Scoop.it allows for communication with other users by commenting on the article or by sharing on social media networks.

I found that using both Scoop.it! and DIIGO has advantages and disadvantages for bookmarking or curating information from the web. As a teacher, or someone who comes across educational information often, I would use a site like DIIGO where I could easily click a button on my tool bar and save it to my account for later reading and use in the classroom. However, if I am searching for a certain topic, for example SmartBoard activities for the classroom, I would use Scoop.it! because it filters through these topics on the internet and other users' pages and pulls up any and all information related to my topic.

Social Media Takeover

Let's face it, we live in a time and age where technology and social media are more important than ever, and our students (and maybe us) would be lost without either one. While society has transformed drastically over the last 20 years, becoming tech savvy, the education world is slow to follow. It appears that the younger generations who are being brought up using social media and technology are much more aware of the implications of certain programs or applications, and they also seem to have an awareness for the events that are going on around them (thanks to sites like Twitter or YouTube). Yet, in the classroom, we still rely on textbooks and chalkboards all which seem a little 'old-school' in relation to what students are capable of doing.

After watching two short YouTube films, Social Media Revolution 2011 and The Shift in New Brunswick Public Education, I was both impressed and shocked by the amount of information that is out on the net and how many people are accessing it.

Social Media Revolution 2011 is a catchy film that puts into perspective all of the information that is out there on the internet. A few things made me go, "Wow!" For example, '1 in 5 people meet online', and 'if Facebook were a country, it'd be the 3rd largest country!'These facts tell me just how important the internet-social media in particular-is to people. It connects us; it is a medium for relationships; it is a source of information.

The second film, The Shift in New Brunswick Public Education, shows the importance of technology
and social media within the classroom. This video makes a strong connection between the way that the world has changed, particularly technology, and education. It makes a point that students, teacher and classrooms need to obtain 21st century skills. In other words, the classroom should evolve to match the world around it. I enjoyed this video and learning about the New Brunswick Public School System. I believe that this is how learning should be; students are hands-on, using technology, and acquiring skills that will prepare them for the 21st century. In the video, it displayed a quote that I think sums up the ideas of this post pretty nicely: "Education is about adapting to a changing world."

Blogs in the FL Classroom

According to Rita Zeinstejer, author of the article “Blogging in Language Learning,” blogs are a multimodal tool that teachers can integrate into daily instruction in order to make learning relevant, authentic, and fun. In the foreign language and ESL or EFL classrooms, blogs are a great source for exposing students to authentic culture and language, and they encourage creativity, individuality, and critical thinking.

I believe that by using blogs in the foreign language classroom, they would have many academic and personal benefits. I would create a blog for my FL students centered around the ACTFL standards and focus specifically on Communication and Culture:

 1.       Communication:  As Zeinsteger points out, blogs are a space that encourages collaboration and interaction between classmates. Students can read, write, listen and even create dialogue through a blog site. There is an instant form of communication created and even a sense of motivation because it is on the internet and students are familiar with this mode of communication. Through the blogsite, students can practice dialogue, reading and writing and receive instant feedback from peers and teachers. 

Standard 1.1: Students engage in conversations, provide and obtain information, express feelings and emotions, and exchange opinions.
Standard 1.2: Students understand and interpret written and spoken language on a variety of topics.
Standard 1.3: Students present information, concepts, and ideas to an audience of listeners or readers on a variety of topics.

2.       Culture:  On my blog, I would post authentic French materials: videos, pictures, news, songs, articles, etc., so that students could engage and interact with the culture and language. The idea is that students will see, hear, and interact with the language and culture in a way that they otherwise could not in the classroom through a textbook. The internet is full of resources, and blogs are a perfect way to share this information with our students. 

      Standard 2.1: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the practices and perspectives of the culture studied.

     Standard 2.2: Students demonstrate an understanding of the relationship between the products and perspectives of the culture studied.

3. Community: Blogs are a great way to involve parents and community members with the content of the classroom. I would post briefly what we are doing in each class: my lesson plan and unit plan objectives, what students are working on, and pictures of student work. I would ask students to post comments and reflect after each activity, lesson, or unit in order to give me feedback. Not only could teachers, students, and parents communicate more effectively and more often, but a blog would allow students and teachers to share classroom information such as events, activities and ideas. I would post as much classroom information to my blog as possible in hopes that my parents and students would be able to review the blog together at home and stay connected with the classroom events and activities.

Standard 5.1: Students use the language both within and beyond the school setting.
Standard 5.2: Students show evidence of becoming life-long learners by using the language for personal enjoyment and enrichment.