Technology
This week as we dig deeper into the technologies chosen in a week (podcast and social media), it is important to understand, technologies are a useful tool in the classroom. However, not all techniques should be implemented in online education. I will discuss this week the strength and weakness of the two technologies, why I selected these technologies, and two examples of how I would incorporate each technology into my online classroom as a professor.
Podcast
Podcast
The podcast, one of the advantages of the podcast is its convenience. Students can listen to the stream now and finish listening later when time permits. Students who have work and family can listen while cooking or between chores. Another advantage of the podcast, it is easy to access all you need is a computer or a smartphone. There are several places students can access the podcast, the classroom, and Itunes for their listening pleasure. The disadvantages of the use of podcast are, not all students have access to a computer or smartphone. Therefore, the use of podcast as a tool in the classroom might not reach all students without proper access (Vural, 2015) .
I chose the podcast as a tool for the classroom to keep my students informed about the weekly topics and to send messages to students quickly as the podcast can reach large numbers on students at one time. To implement the podcast into the classroom, I will incorporate the three P's: Plan, produce, and Publish. Plan- I must decide what to broadcast and if it will be broken into episodes. Produce- gather all the equipment needed to record the podcast. Once the podcast equipment is in place for recording, I must speak clear, and slow, to ensure my audience understands my recording correctly. Publish- once the information is registered it must be published online. The next step is to turn the recording into an MP3 format; an MP3 will make it readily available to all students. Lastly, name the file and create my podcast for my students to utilize for classroom use (Vural, 2015) .
Social Media
Social Media
Social media has its advantages and disadvantages. Some benefits of social media are building a network, online sharing, widening business contacts, discussing ideas, post news, asking questions and sharing links. Some disadvantages of social media are the risk of fraud, theft, virus attacks and negative comments. I chose social media as a useful tool because social media helps everyone improve communication skills. Communication skills are something that is needed greatly in online classes to make the course run smoothly and more efficiently. Two ways to implement social media in the classroom is, require students to keep a blog and encourage students to share their classwork socially (Harmon, 2010) .
References
Harmon, K. W. (2010). Blogs, wikis, podcasts, and other
powerful web tools for classrooms. Organizational Management Journal,
pp. 129-131.
Vural, O. F. (2015). Positive and negative aspects of using
social networks in higher education: A focus group study. Academic Journals,
pp. 1147-1166.
Torsha,
ReplyDeleteI think that using IPAD’s in the classroom is an excellent way to incorporate useful technology into the classroom. Students will be able to be more involved in the classroom as you mentioned and be able to participate in blogs or forums. There have been several studies to show that using an IPAD in the classroom relates to student success. Studies show that students using IPADS saw their math test scores increase by 20% in just one year, and studies done at Oklahoma State University showed that 75% of students agreed that the IPAD helped them in their learning journey (Networks, n,d). I would use this technology in my classroom because it would be an easy way for all the students to be connected and it is portable. This would help promote more effective communication in my classroom and the students would be able to be up to date on everything that is going on in the classroom. The link I referenced for this response is: http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/8-Studies-Show-iPads-in-the-Classroom-Improve-Education
References
Networks, S. E. (n.d.). 8 Studies Show iPads in the Classroom Improve Education. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.securedgenetworks.com/blog/8-Studies-Show-iPads-in-the-Classroom-Improve-Education
Hello Torsha.
ReplyDeleteI am not at all familiar with Mini Vote. However, it sounds like a useful educational tool. Assessment and early intervention can make a difference in outcomes for learners. As you mentioned, the iPad is an effective and engaging educational technology. It can help learners stay abreast of classroom matters. Furthermore, it enhances communication among the educator and classmates. Chis Dede suggested there is an increase in engagement when educators participate in technologies alongside students (Laureate Education, 2013b).
Reference
Laureate Education (Producer). (2013b). Engaging adult learners [Interactive media]. Retrieved from https://class.waldenu.edu
While previously not a big fan of social media, I am beginning to see how it has great potential for use in adult education. This is especially true for the nontraditional and online students. Where regular interaction with other students, peers, and colleagues on campus may be commonplace, the lack of this interaction for nontraditional students may add to their feeling disengaged from their academic institution as well as feeling like they are going through their academic programs alone. I see the advantages of using social media to help students to connect with their peers and even instructors outside of the virtual classroom. Social media in this sense takes the place of talking in the hallway, meeting outside of the library, or even group study or tutoring sessions. Providing a platform to help students remain engaged and to help one another is an effective way to encourage their success. As Wyatt (2011) points out, this shows your students that you are committed to their success and are seeking to keep them engaged.
ReplyDeleteReference
Wyatt, L. G. (2011). Nontraditional student engagement: Increasing adult student success and retention. The Journal of Continuing Higher Education, 59, 10-20. doi:10.1080.07377363.2011.544977
Hi, Torsha.
ReplyDeleteI have actually found social media to be an easy way to sort of trick students into participating in mini-discussions. For whatever reason, most students don't like participating on the school's discussion board. So, against the advice of our dean, I sent friend requests to all of my students on Facebook. I was amazed that when the students felt that they were voluntarily participating through Facebook, they were a lot more active and comfortable engaging in conversations. If the discussions had enough substance, I would copy and paste their contributions into the discussion board and grade them based on the Facebook discussion. I have even had students seem to compete on Facebook to post the most interesting article pertaining to class materials and ask me if we could talk about their article posts from Facebook in class. Some students never participated in the Facebook discussions but they always seemed to have seen and read them, which was a huge improvement over the school's discussion board for which they simply posted enough to meet the requirements and complete the assignment. For these reasons, I believe that social media is taking the classroom into their territory where they are more comfortable voicing opinions. This could be very valuable if everyone participated. Again, the problem exist that there are people who don't have Facebook accounts and I feel it would be inappropriate to force them to use Facebook. The reason I feel this way is because I had one student who deleted her Facebook account because she found out that her husband had a criminal record for molesting children. She deleted her account because she separated from him and didn't want him to have an easy way to contact or harass her. I think that the Facebook platform has helped some of my students come out of their participatory shells butI believe that I need to come up with a way to include students who are not comfortable with using the platform.