Professional Online Social Networks


Step 1 (Descriptive stage): Briefly describe how social media is being used in your teaching or in your professional development.

When I started I thought that I wasn't using any form of social media in my teaching as I perceived this as Facebook, Twitter etc and as I have discovered I am a very private person and I try to keep my life separate Family / Work.  I look at others and  I think I don't want to be them. We laugh at the coke ad but this is so much our life. I sat in the staffroom and watched half the staff pulled out their phones while others read out the local news headlines from their phone. Our PD this year is all online, flipped learning where we do readings/ videos then respond in our google drive.
How have you used social media tools in your teaching/professional development?
I thought that I wasn't really inclusive. But looking at the model below which was found on Education council site https://www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/what-social-media.
But in fact, I am using several types.

  • What characteristics of the social media you have you harnessed in your teaching/professional development context?
Definitely youtube for all subject areas and with my students. As a teacher, Pinterest, google doc's and different forums as a lurker never to post.I like the instant ideas that just pop up and also how I can get instant information on any topic.
  • How could social media be used to benefit the teaching and learning?
Technology engages learners. There is increased collaboration among all stakeholders. Increases in digital skills. It allows virtual learning. 
It is a quick way to connect with the community. It allows classes to be involved in authentic real-life activities seamlessly within the school setting.
  • What are potential challenges that teachers need to be aware of when they are integrating social networking platforms into teaching activities?
  • Lack of technology skills or support.
  • Always thinking that whatever we do there is a digital record that is always there.
  • Online abuse/ cybersafety 
  • The time required to monitor
  • kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) which is the preferred method of learning for Māori students and teachers (Pere, 1992; Pihama, Smith, Taki & Lee 20014 as cited by Ferguson, 2008)
Step 2 (Comparative stage): Reflect on alternatives and other viewpoints, for example how other teachers/ educators have been using social media in their teaching or in professional development, or what has been published in research.
·        This is great examples of what other teachers are doing, Who would you have in your PLN/PLE  https://padlet.com/florence4/tq18v3gnvy23
  • “Something that quickly became apparent on social media was the apparent absence of pressures or social restrictions identified by some Māori students as whakamā, meaning shyness or embarrassment,” Mark said.
“Students weren’t reluctant to ask basic questions, make comments or raise ideas in front of the entire online community and also seemed happy to accept public praise from their teacher. Even better, this lack of whakamā was observed by teachers to survive the transition from the ESN back into the  classroom, demonstrating increased bonding and bridging social capital, and incorporating tuakana-teina (peer group learning) relationships.”

  • How should the challenges be addressed?
Through continued collaboration with other teachers and keep looking out for innovations
  •  What are the resources that could provide you with helpful information?
Netsafe for support with online safety
TKI, provide support on many different topics.
  • In what ways could social media be used to support teachers’ engagement in professional development?
It provides different idea from a variety of different school, instant feedback to questions and online support at the teacher's pace.
  • What are the challenges that you think social media brings to professional development?
It allows the teachers to set their own pace and direction, which may impact on school-wide PD. The teachers own technology knowledge or confidence may restrict progress.
  • In what ways can teachers address the challenges and harness the potential benefits of social media in their professional development?
By having a purpose to try new approaches and through support with technical issues.
  • Step 3 (critical reflection): Given these various perspectives and the implications, use the following questions to guide your thoughts:
    • What are the implications of using social media in teaching and/ or professional development?
New ideas, a greater pool of resources and teaching professionals from which to draw on.
    • In what ways does this reflective process inform and change your perspective?
Through reflecting on the use of social media and through reading different blogs I can see that the potential outweighs the safety concerns that I have.

References:
Dashper. M, Ph.D., ‘Te Waha Tieke: exploring the educational potential of social networking environments for Māori students in Northland Schools’.The University of Auckland.

Ferguson, S. (2008) Key elements for a Maori e-Learning framework. MAI Review.2008, Article 3
   
Connected Educators video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=216&v=K4Vd4JP_DB8


Vanwynsberghe, Hadewijch, and Pieter Verdegem. "Integrating social media in education." CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture, vol. 15, no. 3, 2013. Literature Resource Center, http://link.galegroup.com.libproxy.unitec.ac.nz/apps/doc/A349722107/LitRC?u=per_unit&sid=LitRC&xid=b1acc7f0. Accessed 10 Mar. 2018

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teaching and Learning Inquiry.

Image
Without evidence, you are just another person with an opinion. (Andreas Schleicher, OECD) The main purpose of a teaching and learning inquiry, as described in the NZ curriculum, is to bring about improved outcomes for students through a cyclical process that is guided by 3 key questions. What should students achieve? Where are our students in relation to these goals and priorities? What do students need to learn next? (focusing inquiry) Which strategies, interventions or programmes will support students to achieve these outcomes? (teaching inquiry) What learning happened for students as a result of these strategies, interventions or programmes, and what will teachers do next to ensure that students continue to progress? (learning inquiry) ERO found that inquiry typically took two forms - teaching and learning inquiry, [ 4 ]  and professional learning inquiry.  The following model is found on the MOE site and also the ERO site The following link has a se...
Read more

Influences of Law and Ethics in Practice.

Image
what is ethics? It  is  the   rules   of   conduct   recognized   in   respect   to a   particular   class   of   human   actions or   a   particular   group,   culture,   etc.:  medical   ethics;   Christian   ethics. It is the  moral   principles,   as   of   an   individual:  http://www.dictionary.com/ It is here tha t the   conundrum   starts. Our code and standards clearly state" We have agreed to uphold high standards of ethical behaviour.... If one of us breaches the code, it can affect us all, changing how others see us and how the profession is valued. (2005) I am going to use Elrich, Kimber, Millwater & Cranston model(211, p.178) To analyze my ethical dilemma.  The critical incident: One morning it was brought to my attention that one of the girls i...
Read more

Writing a literature review.

Image
On our last face to face session, we were told about our literature review. The word then went around how difficult this would be, and how much time it would take. Our school is right into Personalised learning and we were all going to set up a learning hub within the senior cluster of the school. So this was an easy subject to do my review around, or so I thought. I started with Personalised Learning and then changed to modern learning environments, innovative classrooms, 21st-century learning, and so the list goes on all have got the same underlining principles but the variety of terms used and acronyms MLE, PL, ILI would make your head spin. So after reading all the fellow Mindlab students posting on Google communities that they had their question sorted I felt envious so I thought I should go to the Ministry of Education because surely they should have the term sorted. But no ”. “the term personalized learning has been used perhaps too broadly to cover a whole host of strat...
Read more