A Handful of Blog Reviews

This week, I visited three blog sites about various topics that affect today's and tomorrow's educators. Below, find reviews of the sites and one or two blog posts from each that I particularly enjoyed.

Traditional Elementary Education

The Organized Classroom

The Organized Classroom is written by Charity Preston, organized teacher extraordinaire. A young (but experienced!) educator, Charity has taught in 2 states, at each grade level from Pre-K-8. Her blog focuses on the nuances of running a tight ship in the classroom, and she operates under the motto Less Stress, More Effectiveness. Charity seems to have many followers, and even posts blogs from guest bloggers on occasion.
This blog is sure to be useful for new teachers who need help keeping their wits about them in the classroom. Charity even includes templates for activities that can be reproduced. One of the useful technology-related tips I read on her blog was this guest blog from Natalie Smith about using Prezi in parent conferences.
While I wasn't captivated by the design of the blog (I found the colors and background to be a bit bland), I can't imagine that the content wouldn't be helpful for many or all teachers, since our effectiveness largely hinges on our ability to stay organized.
An interesting post that I read was this one, about curriculum mapping. In the post, Charity describes how she plans her curriculum for the month. I found it extremely helpful that she posted pictures of her calendar so we can see what it looks like. Often, when I read teaching blogs, I look for information that I can't get in a textbook, and Charity's blog provides that information. It's full of things they don't teach you in college!

Educational Policy

Best of the Ed Blogs

The Best of the Ed Blogs is a blog roll with a list of blog posts by a variety of authors from the National Education Policy Center. The NEPC is an organization, based at the University of Colorado at Boulder, made up of professors, students and authors, who dedicate their lives to researching educational policy in our country. Their mission is to inform readers about what's going on in our government and around the world that can affect our educational system.
The Best of the Ed Blogs, which appears to be updated daily or every other day, includes blog posts on topics such as school choice and its role in the upcoming presidential election, charter schools, and standardized testing. There aren't many posts that focus on technology in the classroom, or the use of technology in schools. I suspect that could be because the subject matter in the Best of the Ed Blogs are aimed a little higher, focusing on administration and policy making, rather than in-class activities. However, it does provide a clear overview of legislative topics that I personally wouldn't know how to find. For that reason, this site is a good one to bookmark and refer to often.
In particular, I really enjoyed this post about a recent book by James Meredith, who was a leading civil rights activist in Mississippi in the 1960s. In his book, Meredith outlines a 4-point plan for saving American public schoools, and his ideas really resonated with me. I'm considering buying the book!

E-Learning and Edtech

The Innovative Educator

The Innovating Educator is written by Lisa Neilson, an author, speaker, and of course, teacher. Lisa's specialty is technology in education. Her posts include information about tech products you can use in your classroom and outside of them. This post, for example, gave me insight to a Twitter movement I didn't previously know about. Each Monday at 8:30 p.m. EST, students and their supporters join a TwitterChat with the hashtag #stuvoice. The students post about issues in education that they see or hear about for the purpose of raising awareness and inciting conversation. 
If that post didn't intrigue you, this one surely will. When I saw the title 8 Real Ways Facebook Enriched Ms. Schoening's First Grade Class, I was hooked. Facebook with first graders??? Sign me up! For elementary teachers, this is a must read.
The Innovative Educator is full of great information and ideas to implement in the classroom. I plan to subscribe to it so that I can keep up to date with all the technology out there that can benefit teachers.

Google, iPhones, and Kindles. Oh my.

Compare and Contrast each documentary. What has changed from the first one (Growing Up Online) made in 2008 to the newer one (Digital Nation) filmed in 2010? How did what you watched in the two videos support your feelings about technology or how did it change your views?

The first documentary really focused on younger folks and their personal internet use; the second, on the use of the Internet in corporations, the army, and schools. I found the second video to be much more mentally challenging because it presented ideas for which I don’t have a solution. As someone who loves to shut down and read a good book, can I ever be OK with the idea that it’s OK if kids don't like to do that anymore? I think Sherry Turkle hit the nail on the head when she said that the Internet and its vast capabilities have caused us to rethink our values. And that’s scary! In my twenty-eight years, I have had the same morals and goals, and I have placed value in the same things. Now, many of the things I've believed in are being challenged. I read my books on a device (and I love my Kindle!), I watch podcasts and lectures on iTunes University, and I work from my living room and communicate with co-workers online. I was intrigued by the comment from Mark Prensky in the second video, who said that, with each innovation, something is lost. His example was that, with the invention of writing, our memories were no longer quite as necessary. We can no longer remember things the way our ancestors could, because we no longer need to do so. So, I would argue that we can lean on technology to do tasks for us, so that we can use the excess mental energy to do what we were unable to do before. And I don't think that's a bad thing at all.

Your thoughts on multitasking. Do you agree? Can you multitask? Do you disagree with the video on the topic of multitasking?

I can NOT multitask successfully. I try, but I often fail. When I attempt to read a book and watch television, I find that I miss out on information in both. When I try to write a paper or an email while listening to music, I find that I've typed the song's lyrics instead of what I intended to write. However, I also find that when I’m listening to a lecture or reading a textbook, sometimes I need to stop and check my mail to switch gears a bit. Then, my mind is ready to focus back on my reading or listening.

Is there an addiction happening in society today with technology or is it just a new way of living? Should we be concerned?

I am constantly connected with my iPhone. Constantly. It is never away from my hand for longer than the amount of time it takes to shower in the morning. When I first “gave in,” and got a smart phone, I didn't think I’d use its features. Slowly, I began to see the benefits it offered. During conversations with my husband, if we couldn't remember the name of “that actor” in “that movie,” I’d whip out my phone and have the answer in no time flat. Over time, my phone became an integral part of my life. I feel safe when I have it with me, because I know that if I need something, I can rely on my phone. However, I feel that the word addiction is too strong. I don't constantly think about the technology at my disposal, and I'm perfectly comfortable tuning out and relaxing tech-free. I think that our devices have simply become like appendages; there when we need them, and necessary to our success. They are a part of us.

Do video games serve a purpose in education or are they a waste of time?

In my current job as a technical writer, one or our company initiatives is to add gaming concepts into our documentation and training. The reason behind the push is not so that our deliverables can be cool or new age, it’s so that we can better keep our audience’s attention so that they will better learn the information we are presenting. Aside from its obvious attention-getting uses, games on sites like Tumblebooks and Starfall, which engage children with game-like activities, are actually serving a very important educational purpose. Tumblebooks is a great site for students who are auditory learners as well as those who need images to comprehend text. Starfall helps teach phonics, phonemic awareness, and other literacy skills. These sites allow students to interact with text one-on-one in a way they probably couldn't otherwise in a classroom of 18 other students. 

Do you believe that digital tools such as Google tools can save schools that are struggling?

Absolutely. Google provides information that used to only exist in expensive textbooks, encyclopedias, and periodicals. Using it in the classroom can offer your students the world without the price tag. While I don’t think it is a substitute for a functioning library or a subscription to educational publications, it is a great stepping stone that can help schools save money while still educating their students. In addition, it provides great (FREE!) communication tools like Blogger and Gmail that can help teachers and administration keep in touch with parents and with each other.

Do parents of today have any idea what their kids are doing online? Whose job is it to teach them the safety and digital responsibility? Parents? Teachers? Community? Government?

The technologically advanced parents probably know what their kids are doing online, and the parents who have established an open line of communication about online safety probably also know. Unfortunately, there is a sizable gap between the time when the Internet became popular and the time when parents became tech savvy. Therefore, I think there are many families out there with kids who are online and their parents are in the dark. These are the kids who are making the mistakes that future generations will learn from. At this stage, as an elementary school teacher who knows that the Internet isn't going anywhere, I think I need to teach digital citizenship skills to my young students in the classroom. Hopefully, they will then take this information home to their parents, who are also somewhat knowledgeable.

Are kids and adults today ruining their digital footprints by sharing too much information online without realizing that it may be detrimental to their future? Should they care?

Yes and YES! Posting pictures seems like such an innocent thing, especially when your expectation is that your friends are the only ones who will see them. Unfortunately, you need to think about your future while you’re living your present. It’s part of growing up and accepting responsibility for your own life. Big decisions can have big consequences. We should teach our young students the importance of diligence in maintaining privacy. You should check your privacy settings often, and always err on the side of caution. If you wouldn't want your mom to see your blog/post/picture, give it the most restrictive privacy settings.

“Stranger Danger” and predator fears are often overblown by the media on shows such as Datelines “To Catch a Predator.” What are the real dangers of technology in this day and age?

I think cyber bullying is much more of an issue that online solicitation or pedophilia. Parents may watch to make sure their kids are not talking to strangers, but that won’t help when it’s their so-called friends who are doing the most damage. Also, at this point, law enforcement officials have become very tech-savvy, and have put in place many fail safes to ensure that users leave a trail that can help identify them if need be. 

Keep Calm and Protect Your Virtual Self

According to some, there is danger lurking behind every URL, IM, and hashtag. Parents and teachers are all atwitter (pun completely intended) about e-predators, cyberbullies, and identity theft. The fact of the matter is, people are more courageous when they can hide behind usernames and avatars. As you may imagine, this false sense of anonymity often leads to speaking out of turn or blatant lawbreaking.

As teachers who need (and want!) to use the good stuff out there on the web, our jobs must include lessons about digital citizenship so that we can show our little surfers how to protect themselves, and possibly change the way we treat each other online. So how can we do that?

For young students, the highest level of security must be employed. The tools used in the classroom should be password- and firewall-protected, and students' names or likenesses should not appear in any location that is visible to the public. (To generate avatars for your students, you can use one of these sites.) In addition to the behind-the-scenes security, we can teach students to use make the best decisions to keep themselves and their property (intellectual and physical alike!) safe.

For some great ideas on digital citizenship unit and lesson planning, check out Common Sense Media. I've also taken a peek at NetSmartzKids, which is an amazingly informative site maintained by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Among the ideas presented are benefits of the Internet (research, blogging, and virtual pets), and eBooks whose main characters get into pickles when they do things like forget to set a password.

At the elementary level, we have the unique opportunity to teach children who may not yet have experience on the Internet. In this first digital citizenship lesson, the classroom rules can come in handy. If worded carefully, you can probably reference them in any situation. Rules like "Treat others the way you want to be treated" can be applied in many ways, including circumstances surrounding online correspondence. When given the right combination of rules and responsibility, I can see a classroom where the Internet is used successfully and respectful online learning takes place.

Before they embark on their first e-voyage, we first need to teach our students an important, all-encompassing rule of thumb:

If you wouldn't do it in person, DON'T DO IT ONLINE.

Digital Citizenship Dog Pays us a Visit