Saturday, September 23, 2017

Digital Citizenship

In the article Nine Elements - Nine Themes of Digital Citizenship, the author gives a comprehensive definition of Digital Citizenship.
"Digital Citizenship are the norms of appropriate, responsible behavior with regard to technology use.” 
I think Digital Citizenship is essential in today’s world and it doesn’t only apply to my personal life but also to my career. As future teachers, we need to educate our students on how and to what extent they should use technology.

Some of the nine themes presented in the article previously mentioned and that I consider the most important for our teaching roles are “Digital Etiquette” and “Digital Health and Wellness”. Digital Etiquette, defined as the electronic standards of conduct or procedure, is very important to consider in our classrooms. Nowadays, almost everyone has access to technology during class but not everyone focuses on class-related tasks. Sometimes, our students play videogames or chat with friends in the middle of our class, and this is definitely prejudicial for both teachers and students. 
Another issue is Digital Health and Wellness, which deals with the physical and psychological well-being in a digital technology world. In my opinion, we need to be aware of the influence of technology on our health, and make our students aware of this as well. In the article Addressing Appropriate Technology Behavior, the authors point out the importance of encouraging the correct use of technology to prevent any long-lasting physical problems.
"Carpal tunnel syndrome is one (though not the only) such danger. Eyestrain and poor posture are not uncommon in technology-related activities".
These problems are produced due to extensive hours spent in front of a computer and the inappropriate use of it. They aren’t only physical issues like high level of stress, but they also include psychological issues, like they mention in the article Nine elements, such as Internet addiction.

It is also important to know that our participation in the technology society should be based on ethical principles which include respect ourselves and respect other “citizens”. There are issues such as illegal downloading, copyright violations and hacking. However, the most alarming issue related to the use of technology in our society is definitely cyberbullying, which can lead to worse problems such as stalking or online harassment. Cyberbullying cases are very frequent, especially among school-age children. In the article What is Cyberbullying?, we can read examples of cyberbullying as well as the big impact it has on our children.
"Examples of cyberbullying include mean text messages or emails, rumors sent by email or posted on social networking sites, and embarrassing pictures, videos, websites, or fake profiles".
The fact that kids can bully others online makes it easier for them because they can do it anytime (they just need a cellphone or laptop) and everywhere, and they can even do it anonymously. As teachers, we need to know how to prevent and react to cyberbullying, and avoid all those long-lasting effects it can have in our children (from low self-esteem to alarming suicide cases).  In my opinion, it is important to discuss this issue with our students, show ourselves open to talk about its effects and cases they’ve heard of or witnessed, and also learn strategies on how to act in case we notice it happening among our own students. Parents and teachers are the people that spend more time with children, and that is why it is so important for us to know how to manage our classrooms to prevent bullying, but also offer a safe and supportive environment for everyone, helping them be come good digital citizenships. 

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Canva (Infographics)

I chose Canva to work on my infographic. In Canva, you can create a free account and make photo collages, cards, posters, flyers and other designs. I liked working on this app because it let me choose from a variety of layouts to make my infographic. It also provides you with different kinds of texts, backgrounds, pictures, and you can upload your own as well. I used free pictures from Canva to make my infographic and could easily find the ones I was looking for. The layout just made it easier for me to edit my infographic and add information instead of working on creating one from the beginning.


Layouts to make an infographic

I think it could be a good idea to use Canva in the classroom to display important information about the topics we teach, as well as key ideas about our classes. For example, we can show steps to do a project or research, or as I did, tips to study a foreign language. If we use infographics (or other visual items) to present content, students will feel more interested. Its attractive pictures, designs and graphics will encourage them to read and analyze the information we are showing them.

In my opinion, this app would be useful for middle and high school, and it might be a little complicated for younger children to use because of all the editing involved in the design of an infographic (besides the fact that you need an email to create an account). Students also need to analyze and select data to use in their infographics, so younger children may probably have some problems doing this. Anyway, I think they might be able to use it for simple things like basic maths graphics or simple step-by-step guidelines, for instance.

I think this app could be beneficial for students as they will be able to design infographics to show the knowledge they acquired and summarize topics. It would be nice to see how students interpret information in different ways and share ideas with their classmates in their presentations or discussions. Another advantage of this tool is that it isn’t time or money consuming. Students don’t need to spend hours designing something and they will have everything on the computer instead of printing lots of papers and buying material for their projects.

Link to my Infographic😃:

When you study a foreign language...



Sunday, September 17, 2017

TPACK

In the video TPACK in 2 minutes we learned that TPACK can “increase students’ motivation and to make the content accessible to students”. I think this is one of the most important reasons why it is necessary for teachers to start integrating technology in their classrooms, especially in an era with “digital natives”.

In her video TPACK 101, Claire Kilbane says,
“Knowledge of the TPACK concepts should enable you to communicate more effectively with other teachers in your community. It is expected that better communication will support collaboration and enable more powerful and relevant uses of technology to transform education.”
In my opinion, collaboration between teachers will helps us to improve and develop new and better teaching strategies. It is true that thanks to technology we can “transform education” by giving students more and varied opportunities for their success. However, I also think that when trying to integrate technology in our classrooms, we will have to face some difficulties. One problem is the fact that some students don’t have access to electronical devices or the Internet. If you work in a school with fewer resources, it is expected not to be able to use as much technology as we would like to. In addition to this, I think another problem could arise from some teachers or principals refusing to deal with technology, because it is “too hard to learn” or “an extra responsibility.”

In despite of the difficulties that we might have, I believe all teachers should try to include as much technology as possible in our classes. This is not only beneficial for teachers, but mainly for students! Teachers can use multimedia presentations and other tools to explain some topics in detail, for instance. We know students have different learning styles so technology can really help us with this, but teachers also need to encourage students to use some apps or websites for their tasks and publish their work when it is finished as well.


I am going to teach Spanish so my main goal will be to help students be able to communicate in this foreign language. I will take advantage of the technology not only to make them practice the language (using audio tools, websites like TalkAbroad, Youtube videos to introduce them to other cultures, etc.) but I will also use it to make them show me what they learned. Just to give an example, I think some students will prefer to make a video roleplaying a conversation in Spanish instead of doing it in front of the class (we know they will also enjoy including pictures and editing videos!). Knowing that they are going to share their work with more people than just the teacher can make a lot of students more motivated and willing to improve in whatever subject we are teaching.

Other references:


SUMMARY OF LEARNING

To show you a summary of my learning process, I created a Prezi presentation, which allowed me to show you different topics in an interact...