I have chosen to take a “Personal journey into media” for my major project for this course. I feel that taking on this project will best allow me to really understand my students (not to mention my kids!) and how they interact with others using social media.
I feel that to teach digital citizenship, and to perhaps someday provide leadership to my colleagues in the subject, I need to know on a deeper level what being a good digital citizen means. I think that by exploring some of the most popular applications that kids are using, (and many adults too) such as Instagram and TikTok, I will gain a deeper knowledge into their digital lives and be in a better position to guide them with their media literacy and digital citizenship.
I also plan on investigating the Flipgrid platform as part of my research as an educational tool that can be used in class. We all know that our students’ interests lie heavily in the online world. By incorporating some of these more “educational” platforms into our everyday teaching, it will allow us to better connect with our students in ways that are familiar and important to them.
I know I have a lot of work to do as I am more or less a social media virgin. My experiences with social media include scrolling Facebook and rarely posting pictures to Snapchat or Instagram. It will be an exciting and enriching experience and I look forward to it. My kids on the other hand, think it’s totally weird that Mom is going to be using TikTok!
Leah, Flipgrid is great! You will really like using it once you get the hang of it. I know that there is a lot of resources out there, but following #flipgrid on Twitter is super helpful. I know that this was an educational technology tool that many people have explored in my last few courses, but it is always changing and evolving. I look forward to seeing what you come up with and how you use it to deliver the content. Good luck! Excited to follow along on your journey!
Thanks Kelly! I will definitely follow them on Twitter!
flipgrid is a great tool. i have used this tool in my previous class to record my views on a research. its really helpful for teachers & students in their studies. I am looking forward to learn new about new tools with you. best of Luck!!
You echo so many of my thoughts in your post Leah! The lines between education and entertainment seems to be growing closer together. Maybe it is just at a different rate with the different innovations at the disposal of students and educators. I’m looking forward to seeing where you end up on your journey.