Technology will always be changing, and as teachers we will need to adapt to this change. Within middle school and high school almost every classroom had a ceiling projector within the classroom, but some teachers still chose the wheel chart projector. Teachers are preparing students for the future, then we need to question why are we using technology from the past. Within every education class you will be taught to adapt, and this is no different when it comes to technology, teachers must adapt. I was recently at the STF conference and the idea of online school was a large topic. How do we keep children in school rather than online, especially in high school? One way I believe will help with that problem is integrating more hands on technology in the classroom. It is fun to learn through online videos and games, many of which can be done at home, and it is even better when you get to create something practical with the technology in person, for example a robot.

To think how much YouTube has changed since Wesch’s video. There is no longer need to bookmark separate websites to show what is popular, YouTube does it all. The YouTube algorithm gives viewers videos that connected to their previously watched videos to give new suggestions.  As the increase of vloggers comes into YouTube, I would like to see what age group is must often represented in the videos and who is most often watching those videos. There are things, like YouTube kids, that try to control what kids are watching but these are not perfect. There is no way to control what your students watch on their free time but try to guide them into healthy choices. An important part of what we teach is to train students to be critical of what they are watching, so that they can discern what is real and what is simply entertainment.

As Wesch explains the internet is all connected, posting a video on one website can then be shared all over multiple different platforms. Students can find a video on YouTube and then do a deep dive in to that person’s social life through their videos, Instagram, Twitter and snapchat. It is later explained that YouTube has become a community, even YouTube now have names for their followers to make it feel more personal, for example Molly Burke calls her followers the killer bees. Though this is great and you are able to meet people who have similar interests as you, it is still a connection made through a screen. Making a community within your classroom, where students are able to make connections with one and other and with their teacher creates that critical human contact.

Students are becoming more private from parents but have much more information shared with the public. Within the class lecture, Katia explained that children are no longer using the phone or internet with their parent’s supervision. Everything that once was watched by parents including phone calls and computer usage can be shared with others such as screen recording personal phone calls.

Though it is hard, there needs to be a healthy balance between using technology and working with others.

Back when Twitter first came out I never used it, as none of my friends did, and soon after it was no longer considered popular so I never thought of using it. I first joined Twitter for another education class but I did not understand it so I deleted the app. From what I have understood Twitter is used mainly for politics rather than a social media site but once you get past that it is a simple way to find others with common interests. I think that it is a great resource for sharing information but it is similar to any other message board. As of right now I am only following the people within my class and a few other well-known Twitter teachers, which makes my feed primarily education based but I am sure I would have a different point of view with other followers.

Coming from a generation were phones and social media were not used within the school, it is weird to think of using it with my future students. For students in either middle years or high school, Twitter could be used for current events especially, so students can find events that they are interested in. Twitter could be used as an online version of pen pals, where teachers pair up classroom and choose a hashtag in which the students share conversations. The article 50 Ways to Use Twitter in the Classroom by Samantha Miller is packed full with different reasons to use Twitter in the classroom. One idea she had was using Twitter to have conversations with industry professionals to find out the truth about career options. The other suggestion, acting like a character from a book, is similar to an assignment I have participated in the past within elementary and high school but with the social media twist. A student chooses a character from the book that they have read and they act like them online, which demonstrates how much the student understands about the character and helps bring them to life.

This week I participated in my first #SaskEdChat. I wish I would be able to go back through the chats from previous weeks to see the other topics that they discuss, but that will wait for a time when I am not taking a class. It was interesting to see who were in attendance and the topics that were talked about. Though I found our session beneficial and welcoming, I struggled with the wording of the questions because most were based for standard classroom teachers not pre service teachers. Being that the hashtag references “Ed” not just “teachers” I would think the class would be more inclusive to education aids and other resource workers. Over all it seems like a great resource and it helps show how different schools are all over the province.