The Real Me vs. The Online Me

This week we had a lot of discussion about Digital Identity and Digital Dualism. I had never heard of these terms, although I had a pretty good idea of what they meant. For those who may not know, let me assist you..

Digital Identity is who you are online. What you post, the terms you search, the sites you visit, all of these things make up your digital identity.

Digital Dualism is the conflicting identities of who you are online and who you are in real life. 

It wasn't until I was finished my first degree and into my Bachelor of Education that I realized how significant one's Digital Identity can be. It can truly make or break one's career. I had never given it much thought, that is, what I posted online. (Let me take this opportunity to say that I do not suddenly regret my past online contributions!) I have always been quite cautious about the security and privacy of all of my online services. However, this seems to be irrelevant with the advances and loop-holes in today's technology. It's a scary thought that if someone really wants to get information about you, or anything you've put online, it's pretty easy. 

As EVERY Education student has done in the past year or two, I scanned through all of my social media profiles. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. I made sure there was nothing that could potentially be manipulated to have any negative effect on me, if the situation were to arise. It was calming to know that I didn't really delete much, it was more or less a sweep of photos I didn't want online anymore (ex-friends, ex-boyfriends, all that fun stuff..). As much as I felt confident clicking the mouse and watching the posts and photos disappear from the screen, it's quickly replaced by a feeling of unease knowing that you have no control of where those pictures ended up online. Although deleted, they could be in the hands of motivated strangers. 

As teachers, we all understand that our personal lives are soon to be gone and we will forever be known by the public as teachers. Students, parents, grandparents, etc. will all know us as teachers. The perfect, smart, talented and creative citizens that are in control of the education of the future... No pressure though! As much as we know that our trips to Walmart will soon include many "Hi Ms. Korman"s, it's a tough reality we are going to face. We cannot screw up, all eyes are on our every move. Kids are so tech-savvy today that they virtually have access to everything. 

After giving my fellow teachers an anxiety attack, I will turn to the positives of the situation! Our profession could not put us in a better situation to be great role models for students. We can teach students how to use onlines services in a safe and effective manner. We can teach them the dangers of the online world. We can show them what is appropriate and inappropriate to post online. We can embrace technology and our digital identity, turning it into a fantastic learning opportunity for students. 

My hopes are to show students that online isn't everything. Yes, it is a huge part of our life BUT it does not need to be our entire life. We do not need to vent about a fight with our best friend on Facebook for everyone to see. We do not need to post mean or rude comments about another person to make us feel better. We can use technology as a tool, not as a crutch.  

#twitterthoughts

Source: http://blog.zogdigital.com/2013/04/01/meme-madness-4-components-of-a-successful-meme/

I've been a member of twitter for a few years now. As a regular user of social media, I find it a very efficient way to share information and communicate with people. It's super easy to use, navigating both the app and on-line versions are simple.

When I first signed up with twitter, the majority of tweets were simple words. Now there are endless photos and videos being posted everyday. In my opinion this is a positive. Why not have videos, music, photos, quotes, words, and whatever else on one social media site! I will continue to use twitter, I enjoy keeping up-to-date on what's going on with friends, family and the world. I don't post very often, right now I'm too busy!   

Organizing Yourself Online

Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Email, Weebly, Google Community, Blogs, Webcasts, Podcasts, Vine... the list goes on and on. 

Almost everyone has multiple on-line accounts and services, probably going way beyond the necessary amount. It's often difficult to remember which password and user name goes with which service. An extra number in this password, an upper case letter for this username, a completely new password for Twitter because you've forgot and had to reset it 3 times last month. It can be nearly impossible to keep track of the information needed to use various on-line services. This is why it is so important to keep yourself organized on-line! It can save you a lot of time, energy and effort (not to mention the cost to replace whatever object you took your frustration out on) by taking the time to organize yourself on-line. It's also important to take initiative to keep yourself safe. The more often you have to change usernames or passwords, the more at-risk the security of your on-line life can be. 

Whether you like to admit it or not, everyone has forgotten a password or two in their life. I am no different. To keep myself more organized on-line I try to keep all of the services I use as secure as possible. I do this by writing down passwords and usernames for various services and putting them in a secure place in my apartment. I do not share this type of information with anyone, just to be safe! 

I think it's very important to teach students these skills, as they are growing up in a very technology-oriented world. They need to have the knowledge to be safe while using on-line services. We know that lives can be greatly affected by what we post or do on-line regardless of when we do so. Actions or words posted years ago can affect one's future. We want to prevent this as much as possible. By teaching students about on-line organization and safety, the better equip they will be to live in a world of technology!

In my classroom, I will most likely use Pinterest, Email, Google Communities, Blogs and many more. I am unsure how I feel about using Twitter in a classroom, something to think about... 

Source: http://www.jokeoverflow.com/picture-jokes/funny-signs/organized-people

The First Wake Up Call of '15

The Internet for Educators class has quite the agenda this week. Being the first week of the new semester, there was no wading into the course, we jumped right in! We began the week off with our first presenter, Dean Shareski. Dean posed some very simple yet difficult questions. The hand-in-hand questions that stuck out to me were the following: how is learning different now and why is it this way?

Learning is an ongoing and ever-changing part of society. The way we teach, the way we learn and the way we view education has adapted and been modified throughout history. Our values as communities and cultures have constantly been adjusted dependent on the era. I believe that current education is headed in a very positive and productive direction, however the future will always be the unknown. Currently we are starting to teach students skills that will (hopefully) carry through their adult life. These skills go beyond the curriculum material and into who each student is as an individual. We admire characteristics such as compassion, loyalty, dependability, honesty, effort, and determination, just to name a few. As a society, we value these traits in our workforce and are therefore attempting to create an ideal generation that is productive, peaceful and successful. As up-and-coming teachers we hope to affect our student's lives for more than the amount of time in which they are in our classroom. 

Our second presenter of the week was Jon Finch. Jon had presented to a class I was in last year, so I was familiar with how his presentation was going to go. What I did not predict was the extent of the wake-up call he had in store for us. 

Jon's presentation was an informal discussion about many aspects of education, one being copyright. Copyright was something that I have heard of many times, and understand how and why it is in place. What I didn't understand was how many restrictions teachers have when it comes to copyright and technology. The list of restrictions and obligations seems endless! Netflix, Songza, and iTunes can be great resources when used in the right way, but Jon seemed to put a quick end to those possibilities. As much as I felt a little defeated and frustrated, I found myself having to remember that Jon was only the bearer of bad news, not the creator. Jon went over MANY of the restrictions, regulations, and consequences of copyright, but I still find myself discovering new and annoying rules in the book he gave us. I left class feeling mainly frustrated. Why do they create so many great resources for a classroom if we can't use them? They don't expect me to actually pay for all of these, do they?

The Copyright presentation was extremely informative and great for us to know now rather than later. However, it left myself (and I'm sure others) wondering how we can get around the restrictions in our placement. Having your own classroom is a different situation, but being a student teacher doesn't allow for the extent of freedom we might have this coming September. I think copyright is something we should all keep in mind in the next few weeks, but I'm not sure what we can do to change anything...

Summative

In my last post, I reflected on some of the main things I would take away from this ICT class. For the most part, the effectiveness and simplicity of using technology in the classroom is what I will take away from this course. I had no idea how many tools there were that could be used in the classroom. For example, Scribd, Symbaloo, and EverNote are all tools that are very easy to use. These are also tools that I would have never thought to use or known existed, and their availability (FREE!) is a bonus! 

I would like to use technology in my classroom more often. The school I'm going to for my second placement is very modern and up-to-date with their use of technology throughout the school. They have iPads, many computers, SmartBoards, etc. Many students also have their own iPad. 

As much as I'm a fan of technology and think it can be a fantastic tool for education, there are some faults. I think that teachers need to be careful about how much they depend on and use technology. Using it in moderation is great, and using it as a tool to assist learning is ideal. However, when students are not meeting the lesson objectives because of distraction, this is very counterproductive. As teachers, we have to be careful to balance this line of too much technology and not enough. I believe this is something that I will struggle with throughout my student teaching. Hopefully I can get the hang of it soon enough! 

I'd really like to use technology to assist differentiated learning in my classroom. I think it's a great way to allow students to express themselves and use many skills (problem solving, communication, creativity, etc.). For example, students could be given a research project on a particular topic, and use technology (whatever they chose) to show and present their findings. Another example would be in English, students could read a particular poem or book and represent the main themes/ideas of that piece using technology. This could be a Wordle, EverNote, picture editing, etc. 

Now that all courses are over and done with for the first semester, it is time to enjoy the holiday season and take a quick break before jumping back into the swing of things in the New Year! 

Final Week

It's finally the last week of classes, and these next few days are going to be chaotic! I'm extremely happy to say that my ePortfolio is finished (for the time being). It is going to be a constant process of adding more information and revising what I've already put on the site. I really enjoyed making the ePortfolio, just like I enjoyed making the website. You can guess my only complaint with the process, and yes it was losing my entire finished product! However, I'm happy that I chose weebly to use. It was very easy to navigate and recreate my portfolio.

The main thing I will take away from the ICT course is how easy and effective it is to use technology in the classroom. I thought creating videos and adding audio was a complex process that would be too difficult for me to do using my laptop. Wow, was I ever wrong! I can't wait to experiment with the various technologies and see how I can use them in the classroom. One aspect I'm very excited to try in the classroom is videos. I loved the idea of videoing students at the beginning of a unit and at the end to show their progression. It's a great tool to engage kids and keep them excited for class. It also shows how much they can improve in a short time, building their self-confidence.

I can't express how excited I am for the Christmas holiday! It will be a much needed break and I plan on enjoying it to the fullest!!

Second Last Week

The second last week of classes for the first semester has quickly approached! There is a ton of assignments left to be completed, and I'm slowly but surely checking off my to-do list. The biggest downfall of the ICT class so far happened last week. I thought I was being productive by completing my ePortfolio two weeks early.. However, I went to finish up my editing on Wednesday and it was completely gone.. I was mortified! It was one of the only experiences I've had where I lost everything due to technology. But I regrouped and started over. I should soon be done my ePortfolio, not to the level I'd like it to be, but it will be done. I will need a lot of luck on my side for the next week and a half...