(ETEC 527) YouTube and Twitter Adventure (Continued)

YouTube Adventure
 

                I have been using YouTube for educational purposes most of my adult life….  Who am I kidding?  Just like many other users I use this Web 2.0 Tool for fun, to watch videos of cute pets being adorable and also people doing stupid stuff on film.  Rarely if ever do I use YouTube for anything constructive like coursework or as an instructional aide and I certainly never bothered to take the time to open an account, that is, until this week, and now everything has changed.  We were tasked with not only creating a YouTube account but also a series of 5 playlists including:

 

·       Videos on using Twitter and Twitter tools

·       Videos on using Wikispaces

·       Videos on Web 2.0 tools for learning

·       Videos related to one area that you currently teach or might teach when you do get to the classroom (LibGuides).

·       Playlist of your choice

      (Incorporating Web 2.0 Tool into the 21^st Century Classroom)

 

     I thought the process would be convoluted and frustrating, much like transferring a Word document into Google Sheets.  I love how it randomly makes changes to my original document including the page layout, spacing, font size and color, etc… that’s 45 minutes of my life I’ll never get back.  But, setting up a YouTube account was a piece of cake and while the creation of playlists and addition of videos took a little experimentation, I had my channel up and running in no time.  This is something which I should have done years ago when I was still teaching.  I could have easily created this channel to incorporate video presentations into my classroom instruction, saving them to be reused year after year, adding to the already strong instructional program I was fortunate enough to be a part of for 15 years.  Wow!  If I had only known then what I know now.  I was raised in the school of “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  I felt that Change was scary, technology is change, ergo technology is scary!  I should have made myself get out of my comfort zone to try new things but alas, I did not.  This technology class has thrown me into the deep-end of the pool and, despite my long held beliefs, I find that I can Swim!       

 

*But remember this:

When introducing something into the classroom, especially a video, it is vitally important to preview it first to insure that there is nothing inappropriate or offensive to the students viewing the material or their parents.

 

The Twitter Adventure Continues

      Last week’s exploration of Twitter left me having to grudgingly admit that “Twitter could have a potential place in my world as an educator, possibly... Maybe, we’ll see.”  This past week I have spent many, many hours exploring Twitter’s potential integration into a classroom environment and I am more than a little impressed with some of the creative ways educators have chosen to use this Web2.0 tool within their instructional model.  For instance, when I was still a 7^th grade honors pre-algebra teacher, I would spend a great deal of time every week posting my weekly lesson plans including information on upcoming assignments, quizzes, tests, projects, etc… through our on-line gradebook program only to have my students and parents tell me that they “didn’t know about the homework assignment” or “when the unit review was due” or my personal favorite “What Test!?!”  This was a constant source of irritation and concern, sometimes I felt like I was just wasting my time and knew there had to be a better way of informing them beside or in addition to what I was already doing.  Enter Twitter.  What an incredibly simple yet effective idea, I could have simply set up a Twitter feed dedicated specifically to important class information, simple, effective, problem solved.  These Tweets could have included a reminder of my tutorial times, assignment & review due dates, late work submission deadlines, upcoming quizzes, projects, or quizzes, the end of each grading cycle, and STAAR testing dates.  I really missed an opportunity to work “Smarter not Harder.”  Any downtime I could find during the day was dedicated to calling and emailing parents, sending home reminders, and reminding students when I could have simply used the direct message feature on Twitter to speak privately with them.  I feel a little silly looking back now in the realization of how much more effectively I could have communicated this pertinent information, “Live and Learn.” 

 Other ideas for Twitter integration within an educational setting which spoke to me include:

·         Connecting Classrooms – Allowing my pupils to interact and collaborate with students from other classes, schools, cities, states, or even other countries on shared projects.

·         Facilitating Exploration – By using Twitter’s search engine to introduce and investigate new concepts.

·         Posting Sample Questions – By using Twitter to post sample questions to upcoming assignments/tests.

·         Facilitate Discussion – By carrying on a discussion, within the classroom completely on Twitter allowing all an equal voice in the conversation especially including those who do not feel comfortable contributing verbally in class.

·         Posting Syllabus Changes

·         Polling Students – Involving students in the decision making process of what types of activities, assignments, and/or projects to use within the class.

·         Teach Probability – By having students respond to broad, general questions and then chronicling and charting the results through @replies.   

·         Post Weekly Math Puzzles – By microblogging a problem of the week which students work on, solve, and then Tweet back their solution.

·         Post Videos – By using Twiddeo, a service which allows users to send Twitter updates via video, to post clips of instruction for students who are absent or those who simply need to review a specific topic.

·         TweetStats – Allows users to input account information to create a bar graph showing how and when an account is used.

·         Networking with other “Like-Minded” Educators

·         Summarization – Twitter can be used as an “Exit Ticket” for students to summarize, in 140 characters or less, the day’s lesson while also messaging any questions they might have on the topic.

And finally,

·         Join #educhat – is a community dedicated to help inform teachers of the latest trends in educational design, philosophy, and instructional technology.

 I’m just starting to appreciate the versatility of Twitter.  There’s so much more to Tweeting than I realized and I am just starting to scratch the surface. 

More to follow…