Below are 15 links to social media sites. How are these sites used in the K to 12 schools OR how can these sites be used in the K to 12 schools?
WordPress
WordPress is a free service for the creation and hosting of websites, blogs, and apps. The powerful nature of WordPress allows for schools to utilize its resources in various ways. For instance, many educators use it to build a website for a course or classroom, or even for an entire school. The websites will look professional, but will not require to have a dedicated technology staff for the upkeep of the website. WordPress is simple enough to use that an individual with average computer abilities can create a website; to further the ease of use, WordPress provides templates and themes that are designed specifically for an educational setting. Additionally, WordPress can be used to create blogs, which can be run by educators and students alike.
Information obtained from:
colorlib: https://colorlib.com/wp/best-education-wordpress-themes/
The Edublogger: https://www.theedublogger.com/2013/11/11/the-top-10-ways-blogs-and-wordpress-are-used-in-schools/
EduBlogs
Edublogs is similar to WordPress, in that it offers free creation and hosting services for blogs. The blogs can be organized to resemble a website, but the sites function far more smoothly when intended to be a blog. Anyone involved in education can use a blog to benefit the students’ learning. For instance, a teacher could use a blog to post assignments, helpful links, and educational games for the students to interact with. Students can use blogs as a way to submit assignments and collaborate with other students. The fact that anyone can view the students’ work can increase the quality of said work, since it has been shown that students will work harder when they know that people from outside of the classroom will be viewing their work. Anyone with a hand in the education of a student, from educators to the students themselves, can use a blog to help make education more effective and rewarding for all involved.
Information obtained from:
The Edublogger: https://www.theedublogger.com/2013/11/11/the-top-10-ways-blogs-and-wordpress-are-used-in-schools/
WikiSpaces is website that allows for the quick and easy creation of a wiki. Wikis are incredibly beneficial in the classroom, as they provide a place for students to collaboratively create a website. A class wiki can be used to organize and share information and resources with students, by organizing the wiki into pages that correspond to what is being covered in class. Additionally, the students can take additional control over their own learning, by progressing through a wiki at their own rate, through their own path. Since a wiki page typically links to several other pages, each student may decide to further investigate a different facet of a topic. Lastly, since wikis are easily accessible from anywhere with an Internet connect, a class wiki will help the students remain attached to their school environment from home. This can be useful when students need to remind themselves about certain information, particularly if it is in the form of a link that they may not remember, but can easily find from the class wiki.
Information obtained from:
Creative Education: http://www.creativeeducation.co.uk/blog/class-wiki/
ePals is a communications service that is designed to enhance collaboration between educators and students around the globe. When searching for people to work with, search parameters such as student ages and languages used can be selected, so that one can find ideal people with whom to collaborate. A huge benefit of ePals is that students can work with other students who are literally on the other side of the world. This can be useful in building both scholastic and social bridges. For instance, students in New Jersey collaborated with students in Kenya for a project involving water. Once the project was completed, the students remained in contact with each other, and discussed topics such as the pending elections in each country. ePals helped both sets of students become aware of different viewpoints, mindsets, and conditions that may have only been academic curiosities at most beforehand. All students can benefit form learning more about other people.
Information obtained from:
edWeb: http://home.edweb.net/using-epals-in-the-language-classroom/
Twitter
Twitter is a social media platform that allows for the sharing of short messages, as well as links, images, and videos. Each post, of tweet, is identified with various hash tags, which allow for the tweets to be organized according to the use, intended target audience, and topic. Twitter has an enormous potential as an educational tool. For instance, it can be used to perform expected tasks, such as reminders about assignment due dates or posting class news. A news stream can be created about seemingly any topic, and even any language. Why not use twitter to boost awareness of a foreign language, and to encourage that students work to understand it? Sample questions can be posted to help students prepare from an assessment. Twitter can even be used as a way to reach out to parents and the larger local community. While Twitter may have at first been something that was viewed as incredibly trivial, it has grown in importance and is one of the most prevalent forms of social media today. It would be foolish for educators not to exploit the possibilities offered by Twitter.
Information obtained from:
Teach Hub: http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom
Google+
Google+ is the current social media extension of the various services that Google offers. As such, it can be used to share messages, links, videos, images, and even documents amongst a group of people, or even to broadcast these same communications to the wider Internet. A curious feature of Google+ is that a user can organize people into different “circles”, which can be used to control who can access what content, and who can participate in certain conversations. This is a great resource that would allow students to quickly send messages to only those people who they were working on a project with, for instance. Or, content can be shared with multiple circles at a time, depending on the circumstances. Overall, Google+ offers many of the same benefits of the other social media forms on this list, it just combines them all into one place, and provides the further option of selecting an audience.
Information obtained from:
Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-with-google-plus-terry-heick
YouTube is a free video sharing service offered by Google, that as of July 2016 is among the top three websites in the world being visited. Videos provide many benefits to the classroom, and if used properly YouTube can provide those same benefits, and more. For instance, videos can often keep a student’s attention better than a lecture. It is also possible to use videos to employ a flipped classroom model, or to provide additional support to students who need it. While there are many providers of educational videos, there are numerous services that provide a listing of educational video on, of even publish their own videos through, YouTube. Online education providers such as the Khan Academy make great use of YouTube’s ability to easily share content. Lastly, YouTube provides a way for students to share their own created content. While care must be taken to ensure that nothing inappropriate is posted, giving students a way to share their own videos and projects can be just a rewarding educationally as finding videos for them to watch.
Information obtained from:
Daily Genius: http://dailygenius.com/youtube-in-the-classroom/
Facebook
Facebook is the leading social media platform as of July 2016. Educationally, Facebook offers some splendid opportunities, in particular due to student familiarity with the platform. Most students, especially by high school, will not have to learn how to use the platform, but instead can focus on what they are using it for. For instance, groups can be created on Facebook for different purposes, such as classes and clubs. This allows for people to quickly communicate with only those who need pertinent information regarding a class or club. Once students and educator are organized into these different groups, it is a simple task for anyone in the group to share messages, videos, images, links, or even to conduct surveys to get feedback. An additional benefit of Facebook is that it helps teachers stay in contact with parents, which is a necessity in today’s educational world. Overall, Facebook offers perhaps the best overall communication between educators, students, and anyone who has an honest stake in a student’s education. However, it must be noted that extreme care must be taken to prevent any inappropriate communications from happening.
Information obtained from:
TeacherCast: http://www.teachercast.net/2016/03/01/facebook-in-the-classroom/
LinkedIn is a professional social media website, which is intended to help with career development and recruitment, as opposed to being a place to post vacation photos. As such it offers unique educational opportunities not easily found in other social media platforms. For example, as students complete assignments and acquire skills, it may be prudent to include this on a LinkedIn profile. In many ways, LinkedIn is an online, marginally interactive resume, and if used properly it can help student achieve further success. For instance, students can find like-minded individuals that they can collaborate with, based upon both common interests and skill level. While LinkedIn, by it’s nature, is more easily applied in a collegiate setting, it can still be used similarly in a K-12 environment.
Information obtained from:
Intero Advisory: http://www.interoadvisory.com/2015/09/teaching-linkedin-in-the-classroom-and-beyond/
Instagram is a photo sharing service, where users can upload, modify, and share images. The built-in image filtering offers perhaps the most uniquely useful aspect of Instagram. For instance, students can use these filters to try to replicate famous works of art and photographs. Historical photographs can be recreated, with the students standing in for the original subjects of the pictures. While students can post any sort of image to Instagram, the filters are easily to most compelling educational reason to employ it. The student can even learn about how the different filters work, as a technology history lesson. Pictures are great, but understanding how and why certain things can change an image is just as important as being able to take a great photograph.
Information obtained from:
Education World: http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/instagram-classroom-student-activity-ideas.shtml
Pinterest is another photo sharing website, but with the added goal of being more of a list of interesting things to do, then a mere collection of images. Thus, it has several educational opportunities that other photo sharing platforms do not. For instance, Pinterest can be used to create a digital “pinboard” of ideas pertaining to how to decorate a classroom. Additionally, ideas for projects, crafts ideas, and classroom organization can be found there. It is even possible to find books and other educational resources, as well as collaborate with other educators. Pinterest is a great place to start when photos are not the goal, but a way to find new goals and paths to reach these goals.
Information obtained from:
TeachThought: http://www.teachthought.com/the-future-of-learning/technology/37-ways-teachers-can-use-pinterest-in-the-classroom/
Tumblr is a media sharing website, where users can share images, videos, links, and blog posts, as well as control the design of the page. Educationally, Tumblr has several uses. As expected, it can make an excellent class webpage or blog, as well as be a way to share various types of content with students, and even with other educators. However, a unique application of Tumblr would be to foster an online class debate. Posting a question at seemingly anytime will engage students, since at least a few of them will be online and ready to respond at almost every hour of the day. This form of debate can help students stay engage, as well as practical their critical thinking, deductive reasons, and persuasion skills. The questions, as well as the competing answers, can be discussed in a class at a later date.
Information obtained from:
Ed Tech Review: http://edtechreview.in/trends-insights/insights/1504-5-ways-for-teachers-to-use-tumblr-in-their-classroom
Snapchat is a photo sharing service that allows for an image to be sent, viewed, and almost immediately, automatically deleted. While the educational benefits of such a platform may not appear to be obvious, they do exist. For instance, sending students a review question or answer through Snapchat will help to ensure that they pay more attention, since they only have access to it for about ten seconds. Several teachers have tried do this when students are studying, in order to help with the content comprehension. So far, the student response has been that this is indeed a helpful technique to employ, and the results have been positive. It is a way to take technology that students already use, and put an educational spin on it.
Information obtained from:
NPR: http://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2016/03/29/467091289/how-teachers-are-using-snapchat
Skype is an online communications software, which can be used to communicate in written, verbal, and video forms. In a classroom setting, Skype is best used for collaboration. Individual students, and even entire classrooms, can communicate with other classrooms, or even industry professionals such as scientists and engineers, in real-time, regardless of geographic location. For instance, students learning about the Curiosity rover can perform some research and discuss their finding with each other in the classroom, or through Skype with students from different classrooms, schools, and districts. Once the students have drafted a list of questions, it would be possible for the students to contact an engineer at JPL, and ask him or her questions about the rover. Thus, Skype is a great way for students to collaborate and interact with other people, who can help them reach their educational goals, from around the world.
Information obtained from:
Microsoft Education: https://education.microsoft.com/SkypeInTheClassroom
Blogger is a website that provides for the creation of multi-user blogs. This will allow students to work collaboratively in the content creation on a blog, similar to a wiki. However, since Blogger uses timestamps and other identifiers, it is still possible to keep track of what each individual student is posting. Possible uses of this would be for a teacher to post an assignment or question, and for students to respond to the teacher’s posting. For instance, a teacher could post interesting relevant links to guide research, or an image that will be discussed in class the net day.
Information obtained from:
WestEd: https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/www.google.com/en//educators/activities/pdfs_GTA/CribSheet.Blogger3.pdf
DIGITAL BADGES
This is my Ditigal Badge Idea for K to 12 Online Teaching Endorsment Program. The badge was created using Gimp 2.8 and Paint Pad Lite.
