Twitter has been, a social media tool I’ve attempted to resist over the years. When twitter first started I signed up but found the user interface a lot more complicated compared to Facebook so I never actually set my account up. Last semester one of my teachers invited us to join twitter so we could network with other educators. Again I signed up, downloaded the app and then never got any further. It wasn’t until I started this class that I actually got the hang of it. Is it my favorite social media tool? No, but I do find myself more confident in my use of it and I do see the benefits. I think with more practice and time I will become a new addiction and maybe even get moved to my home screen. I still find it a bit overwhelming at times but using everyday definitely helps. 

Getting to be a part of the Saskedchat, really opened my eyes to the networking possibilities and made me appreciate Twitter for the networking tool it can be. I think it was amazing to be part of a live chat with people from all over Canada on the same subject, and having it open to the public for anyone to join makes it a great resource not only for teachers but everyone. Having the ability to talk with other educators on important subjects is a great way to network and Bounce ideas, and questions off people within the same community.  I think having apps such as Tweetdeck makes the user interface of twitter even easier to use, by making things more organized/ customize-able. 

As for using Twitter in the classroom I think it’s a great resource for teachers to share with parents what’s happening in their  child’s class. My one friend is a pre-k teacher in Moose Jaw, she has a twitter account for her pre-k class and shares photos of the students participating in all sorts of activities. I think it would even be a good resource for future pre-k students by having parents show their children what kind of activities they can look forward to doing when they start school. I think also as a future educator being able to see what actually happens in the classroom, can give you ideas to use in our own classrooms one day.

As for my Twitter social life, I plan to continue to network and grow my network even after this class ends.

When we think of teaching students in the digital world we have to be aware of the fact that knowledge is at the fingertips of every person now. We can learn things just by typing it into a search engine on our phones now. By having access to this technology we are able to learn more now than ever before. Which can have its benefits for sure, but also can have negative impacts. 

Videos such as the numa numa guy dancing become a viral sensations that become almost a cultural phenomena that gets replicated around the world make people more connected, as more of these videos become duplicated and replicated again.  While some are innocent such as the numa numa dance or the soulja boy dance, there are other more dangerous videos as well that become viral sensations. Such as the tide pod challenge which more and more people attempt to replicate, not knowing the dangers of such challenges. 

I think as educators we need to teach our students about how not everything they watch or read on the internet is true and they need to be cautious about what they are posting and sharing as well. Because everything posted on the internet weather deleted or not is there forever, and sometimes we tend to share too much. I think this is something we need to really engrain in our students minds that not everything they read is true and factual. We  as educators also need to be aware of what we read before sharing as well. I know a lot of people tend to read things from different links that get shared around on Facebook, and believe what is being shared to them. “ It must be true it was on a news website or it must be true it had 10 000 likes.” Or even something as simple as a photo on instagram, might portray a perfect life,body or otherwise when in reality its all filters and setups in order to get likes and shares. It becomes an unrealistic popularity contest with no winners.

 I think for us educators technology can be incorporated into the classroom in many positive ways as well and is something we need to embrace. Students are going to have phones or computers and have access to the internet and instead of fighting it we should be using it as a tool.  One way to do this is to have web based learning you can as we are next week invite classes from other parts of the world to participate in a discussion in your classroom. It could be a great learning tool to show how people all around the world live. Even right now, classes can connect with astronauts up in space. Having the tools and resources to have almost everything at our fingertips is something we should be taking advantage of. Instead of not knowing something we can network with other teachers ask questions, get ideas and enrich students time in the classroom.

After getting a Feedly account I started searching hashtags that I thought were relevant to teaching such as #Edtech #Education #Math #Creativity. I then read the starting of different articles relating to these hashtags  I looked for ones that had a high number of followers and began following the ones that I thought would be relevant and helpful in the classroom when I get to start teaching. 

One of the other sources I started following was  Emerging Education Technologies, They have a following of about 8 thousand right now but I think their following will grow immensely over time. they provide links to articles such as https://www.emergingedtech.com/2014/11/schools-introduce-programming-3-steps/ which help us as educators see why we need to be adding things like coding to the classroom. Students in today’s future won’t be finishing school to get a factory job that requires basic life skills, instead most careers in life requires a knowledge of computers or technology of some sort. Even those who are more creative can get jobs in the field of technology and learning more than just how to use a computer or phone but how the apps  they use work, can help inspire students to want to learn more.

One of the sources I found was  I Learn Technology They have over 36 thousand followers and some great information regarding apps that can be used in the classroom. Their blogs contain photos and examples of apps and ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. One of the authors of the blog seems like she is a big advocate for children having personalized learning for every student. I think following her can help find multiple resources for teaching. 

I think Feedly is a great way to help find and read about new information regarding Education technology, or what ever you want that might be otherwise overlooked or missed on the Twitter feeds.

Hi I’m Nicole Reynolds or as most people know me Nikki. I was born and raised in Moose Jaw Saskatchewan, and currently still reside here. When I’m not busy with school I am usually working at Vanity House Salon, If you want to, you can check out my Instagram. I am currently attempting to watching YOU on Netflix, and in my spare time I also love baking and decorating cakes and reading.  

As for experience with education technology, I personally use Youtube, Instagram and Pinterest and a classic Google search when wanting to learn something new. I’ve also taken a few online classes at the University of Regina, which usually involve a lot of blogging and access to the digital library and other google features.  I did however get to see Technology in the classroom first hand last semester in ECS100 when I did my field experience. It was interesting to see how the teachers are able to incorporate Google Classroom, and Smart boards into everyday learning. I also thought it was neat how teachers/ students have access to educational games such as Prodigy that incorporate Math and English into the games so students are playing games while unknowingly learning at the same time. It will be interesting to see how technology continues to advance the classroom over time.

Anyways thats a little bit about me!