I started EDTC 300 in January and some how, it is already the middle of April and the last week of classes for this semester?! EDTC 300 has taught me the importance of technology in the classroom but also how to create and build my own PLN. In this course, we have been using several different sources which include, Twitter, Blogs and Slack. When using these sources, we had been asked to put in effort into our own learning, but also the learning of our peers in the class and education faculty. In my blog post today I will be sharing and highlighting some of the times I contributing to the learning of others while in EDTC 300. Twitter: During my time in EDTC 300, we were asked to be active on Twitter. This was an area I was pushed out of my comfort zone. I am not used to being "active" on social media. I am known to post on my personal Instagram or Facebook *maybe* once a year. So being asked to be active on Twitter every single day, seemed a little scary. I was also not active on the social media app, Twitter, at the time, so I was worried I wouldn't catch on right away with how the app worked and the correct way to connect with others from the course. But I was pleasantly surprised by the involvement and encouraging interactions I had with my EDTC 300 classmates. I also surprised myself with my own growth. I found Twitter to be an excellent source for teaching and finding information, material, and resources. Twitter is most definitely a professional development tool that I will continue to use throughout my journey in education and teaching. I was able to find material that I actually was able to use during my time teaching as a pre-intern. I was also able to connect with experienced teachers on the app and read their advice and opinions. I think Twitter is a great resource for teachers and professional development. Side note: I was even able to connect with a few of my own elementary teachers on Twitter. As well as teachers I have met through my parents (who are both teachers) during my time on Twitter this semester. It was so special to build those connections through an online space. Another aspect I enjoyed about being active on Twitter was being able to connect with others from the EDTC 300 course. This year was strange with no physical interaction (dang Covid-19 restrictions) with my peers. But being active on Twitter felt like I was still able to get to know my classmates and share and learn new ideas. Twitter allowed us to build connections that normally wouldn't have been possible. Below are screen shots of some of the conversations I had with my peers from EDTC 300 on Twitter: The last reason I enjoyed Twitter was the because of the #saskedchat that happened every Thursday at 8:00pm (I even have an alarm set for Thursday's at 7:55 pm that goes off if I am able to attend the Twitter chats). #Saskedchat was a hashtag that would be used to join Kelly Christopher and the questions they asked. This was an opportunity to connect with other teachers in Saskatchewan and sometimes even around the world. This is where I connected with many teachers that shared great advice and resources. I also followed many of them on Twitter so I can continue to follow along with their journey. Below are some screen captures of the conversations I joined in during last week's chat #Saskedchat: Blogs: Next up was the blogging, which was probably my most favourite part of my PLN. I found the blog to be very beneficial. It was a place where I could reflect and write about my learnings and progress throughout the course. I also appreciated the fact we had access to our classmates blogs to connect with them on their blogs too. We were able to check in on their progress with their #learningproject and weekly posts. Having access to read about our classmates progress and journey helped build a positive virtual classroom "community". Katia, our wonderful professor, created a "Blog Hub", where it gave us access to everyone from our course and their blogs. From there, we were able to read and comment on classmates' blog posts. I enjoyed reading what type of yoga Alex C. was doing, what Shana was baking, what Tina was sewing and how Haley's jewelry was going (along with many others!). The screen shots below are some of the comments I made on my classmates blogs throughout the semester. Slack: Slack was another source we were expected to be actively using. I found Slack like the "homeroom" of it all. Slack was where we went if we had questions, needed help, or just wanted to share something with our EDTC 300 class. I found Slack to be useful a useful tool as a University student and wished all classes used it. I asked a question one day and I had multiple responses with great help and information. I also liked that Slack sent me notifications when someone mentioned my name. The screen captures below are some of my interactions on Slack:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
|