Wesche talked about YouTube. The most important thing that I can note is the algorithm. When a video is posted on YouTube for example it will move to different platforms. When people keep liking a video it will show up on other people’s feeds. Videos will also travel from all over the world to connect. For example, he talked about this little music clip that became popular in Europe and then went to Japan which is famous for its animation. Then this was shown on the East Coast of the United States where more and more people could see it. Wesche also talked about what is on YouTube. There is a lot of different content on YouTube for different people. It is also important to note that the majority of people who are posting YouTube videos are aged 19-34. YouTube is used for many different purposes entertainment, education, home videos and many other things.
In the lecture, we talked about the reaction of explaining technology to someone from the 1950s. They would be so shocked by how technologically advanced we are today. I can just imagine telling a past teacher from the 50s about how technology helps learning. For my future classroom technology is changing and has changed our world. I would like to use technology to help my students learn. Many great math, reading, science, and other apps are great for digital learning. My favourites include:
For example when working as an educational assistant last year the grade two classroom that I was in got to go on Zoom with an Elder from Nunavut. Technology is great for connecting people who don’t/can’t travel. The students got to learn about the Inuit culture from an Elder as well as ask them any questions that they could think of. I think it’s important to monitor what a student is looking at when on any technology. There is many great tools to block out different apps and ads. Technology for schools has also helped parents/guardians to monitor their kids more closely. The platform Edsby is where a teacher puts in a student’s grades and can easily communicate with the parent/guardian.
Zoom has become a tool used a lot in the past four years for educational purposes. I find it cool how students can be anywhere and just log onto the call and learn from wherever they are. Schools have had to learn to become more digital and use more technology (because of Covid). This is great to see that a lot of things can be adapted to be online but also sad at the same time. We are moving away from the more traditional approaches and trying out different methods.
Hi Jaida,
Technology is a blessing in the classroom. As a current teacher, you forget how much it is truly immersed into your day until you stop and think about it. However, as you mentioned, there can be negatives to student access to technology. In my grade 1 class, I have had to check search histories on Chromebooks to make sure some of my students are doing the correct jobs!
Thanks for the great read!
Lauren.