Social Media in the Classroom

How does social media affect learning and the classroom community?

I believe that this issue is very important for a number of reasons.  What really made this issue come to mind and stand out to me was an article on the upcoming Olympics.  This summer Olympics is being referred to as the first “social Olympics” where social media is going to play a large role in how we experience the Olympic games.  In this article they had statistics of the massive jump in social media users since the last Olympics.  Facebook had 100 million users last Olympics, this Olympics it has 900 million.  Last Olympics Twitter users were sending 300,000 tweets per day.  Now there are over 400 million tweets per day.  (Laird, 2012)  

This just goes to show the trend of how people are using the internet.  More and more people are gathering and sharing information from social media and as educators we had better be aware that our student population is definitely among these users.  It is important for us as educators to really see and understand the impacts and effects that social media has on both student learning and building a classroom community. 

I believe that this question is significant to all educators.  Social media can be a great tool in the classroom if we understand how to use it effectively.  To use social media effectively we must first understand the impact and effects that it has on student learning and collaboration to build a community of learners.

There is also the topic of cyber bullying and several articles that I have found on the link between a person’s social media use and their self-esteem.  These are the kinds of factors that need to also be considered when thinking of how and/or if to introduce social media into the classroom.

In a study conducted by University of Salford in the UK on how social media can actually increase our anxiety and lower our self-esteem because we are constantly comparing ourselves to others online and many of us have forgotten how to switch off.  We are in control of the technology, not the other way around. (Indvik, 2012)

Despite these negative points I believe that addressing and using social media as educators will become and should be very important.  I believe that the negative impacts should enhance this reason rather than subtract from it.  We should take the opportunity to teach students about social media and help them learn how to deal with it and not let it control their lives.  Social media isn’t going away and is very prevalent in our daily lives so how would we be helping students by ignoring it in the classroom?

Works Cited

Indvik, L. (2012, July 08). Social Media Fuels Low Self-Esteem, Anxiety [STUDY]. Retrieved July 09, 2012, from Mashable.com: http://mashable.com/2012/07/08/social-media-anxiety-study/?WT.mc_id=en_top_stories&utm_campaign=Top%2BStories&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

Laird, S. (2012, July 08). Why Social Media Will Reshape the 2012 Olympics. Retrieved July 09, 2012, from Mashable.com: http://mashable.com/2012/07/08/2012-olympics-social-growth/?WT.mc_id=en_top_stories&utm_campaign=Top%2BStories&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter

Lesson Plan Reflection Paper

Brief Lesson Description:

My lesson plan involved teaching a 4^th grade class about the Lewis and Clarks expedition using Google Lit Trips.  Students would be responsible for a chapter of a book about Lewis and Clark.  What this means is that they were required to summarize the chapter, note the location and find images that would go along with this part.  The students would then take this information that they summarized and the pictures they gathered and plot them on a Google Lit Trip.  Once the whole class had posted their different locations, summaries and pictures, we would have a complete Google Lit Trip of Lewis and Clarks adventure.  This Google Lit Trip would allow us to see their entire journey that Lewis and Clark took using Google Earth.  We can see where they started, how far they went and all of the different places and things they encountered along the way.

Implementing the Lesson:

The students were a 4^th grade class.  Everything went very well with this lesson.  Students were excited to use Google Lit Trip once they saw the demo at the beginning of the lesson.  Some students did try to rush through just so they could play with the Google Lit Trip however.

Lesson Question Set:

Students learned about the expedition of Lewis and Clark and about the struggles and challenges faced by early settlers that moved west.  In general this lesson focused on constructivism.  Students came up with their own observations and conclusions using the Google Lit Trip as a tool.

The benefits of this lesson are that students work in pairs which allow the teacher to provide support to students who struggle with reading by pairing them with a strong reader.  That way they can still be a part of the lesson even with weaker reading skills.  The nature of the lesson is also very open with a few guidelines focusing student effort.  In this way students that want to strive to go above and beyond or include more information are free to do so.

This lesson was intended to supplement existing curriculum.  According to the curriculum students are required to learn this information.  The goal of this lesson was to use technology to give them a better understanding through visual representation of the adventures of Lewis and Clark and westward expansion, specifically settlers that moved west which is a big focus of the Michigan curriculum.  Through the use of Google Lit Trip students were not only able to achieve this goal, but they were also able to acquire background knowledge that will greatly help them in the future when talking about other parts of the United States and events such as the gold rush.  Having an idea of what the map of the United States looks like along with images of different areas is a resource for students.

Differences amongst learners are taken into account in this lesson through the flexibility of some options students have.  Students are required to read a chapter, provide information from that chapter and plot it on the map but as far as which information to provide, the image and other important information they want to present and how they want to present it is where there is some flexibility which allows students to show their unique talents and learning styles.

This lesson requires the teacher to do some work to become proficient in Google Lit Trip.  This takes a little time learning how to plot points and add information like a summary and images at each of these points.  It is a bit challenging at first however once a teacher uses Google Lit Trips, I can almost guarantee they will be using it more than once.

The assessment comes from their demonstration of their knowledge when they present the Google Lit Trip at the end.  The Google Lit Trip is an amazing tool that allows students to have a clear and interactive visual of journeys in literature, it is only a tool.  The assessment needs to be of what the students learned about the information itself or it’s like a hammer with no nails.  The hammers really cool and fun to swing around but you need those nails to build something permanent.  Students are held accountable for the work they did by being responsible for one chapter and placing a point on the Google Lit Trip. 

Technologies Role:

Technology plays a large role in my lesson.  It is the overall product that students are creating.  The advantage of this technology is that it gives students an interactive visual to follow the adventures of Lewis and Clark.  The reason that this is different from just plotting a point on a map is that students can add images and summaries to each point.  They can also go through the journey virtually showing them the distance, time, geography and several other features.  It also can be easily saved and stored for viewing later.  The challenge of using this technology is just that, using it.  Google Lit Trips is something that takes extra time to learn and to teach but it is well worth this extra time.

Students loved using this technology.  The demo at the beginning of the lesson to show them how a Google Lit Trip looks as a finished product was a big motivator because it looks really impressive when it’s complete.  Students biggest question, once we got into the lesson, was how to know where they needed to plot their point on the map.  The book doesn’t come out and tell you longitude and latitude so I told them to look for clues and write down what they though could be used as locations.  I told them to look for names of states, cities, mountains, rivers, forests, and anything else that might be used to help us plot their point on the map.

Most of the time students focus on the challenges that Lewis and Clark faced or the obstacles and difficulties of the settlers.  They know they had a hard time but I’ve never really seen students understand the distance of the journeys.  When reading a book and trying to imagine it on a map or even with a map to use as a resource, this can still be a difficult abstract concept.  However seeing all of the points that we plotted on our map and going through the expedition virtually really gave the students a good idea of the distance that Lewis and Clark traveled. 

Misconception Interview

I was unable to get into a classroom and interview students to understand what misconceptions they have about the concept of measurement.  So instead, after seeing a clip on Youtube of some Harvard graduates that didn't know the correct reason we have different seasons on Earth, I decided to see how well my college educated roomate would do and see if he had any misconceptions about measurement.  What I found is that even though many people assume only kids don't quite understand things, there are areas that are still difficult for adults and that they still don't fully understand.

Misconceptions Interview

Digital Story Telling

Here is the digital storyboard I put together that outlines my plan for training new employees how to use the computer system we use to manage and monitor customers

Google Lit Trip Lesson Plan

Overview: 

4^th Grade lesson – the class will read and reflect on the book Seaman:  the Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis and Clark by Gail Langer Karwoski.  Students will use Google Lit Trip to plot Lewis and Clark’s expedition to highlight important events.

Materials: 

·         Computers with Internet Access

·         LCD projector

·         SmartBoard

·         Printer

·         15 copies of Seaman:  the Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis and Clark

·         Graphic Organizer

Procedure:

1.   Introduce Google Lit Trips and tell students that they will be creating one together as a class for the trip they are about to go on with Lewis and Clark

2.   Introduce the book and read the first chapter to the students

3.   Students and teacher will then use the graphic organizer to summarize the first chapter together

4.   Students will then work in pairs and work on their assigned chapters reading and filling in the graphic organizer

5.   Students will then present their graphic organizers and summaries to the class

6.   Teacher will take students on a tutorial of Google Earth and Google Lit Trips allowing students to experiment with the tools and features along the way

7.   Students will then input their place markers, summaries pictures and discussion questions about their chapter

8.   Upon completion students will then have the opportunity to go through the entire Google Lit Trip to see all the work they and their classmates did and to go on Lewis and Clark’s expedition.

Content:

Content Standard 3: All students will describe, compare, and explain the locations and characteristics of economic activities, trade, political activities, migration, information flow, and the interrelationships among them. (Location, Movement and Connections) II.3.4 - Describe some of the major movements of goods, people, jobs and information within Michigan and the United States and explain the reasons for the movements.

SS4H6 The student will explain westward expansion of America between

1801 and 1861. The student will

a. Describe territorial expansion with emphasis on the Louisiana Purchase, the

Lewis and Clark expedition, and the acquisitions of Texas (the Alamo and

independence), Oregon (Oregon Trail), and California (Gold Rush and the

development of mining towns).

Using the story of Lewis and Clark students will learn about why people went west to explore and expand our country.  Students will be able to identify a number of reasons that are illustrated in the adventures of Lewis and Clark.  They will be able to use what they learned to make connections and draw conclusions.  Students will be able to identify what makes a certain location important or significant for migration within the United States.

Pedagogy:

Students will be responsible for summarizing a chapter of the book Seaman:  the Dog Who Explored the West with Lewis and Clark by Gail Langer Karwoski.  Students will be given a graphic organizer to help them with their summary.  After summarizing, students will create discussion questions to help teach the rest of the class about their section of the book.  Using Google Lit Trip, the class will create place markers with pictures, summary and discussion questions to create a virtual map of Lewis and Clark’s exploration.  To support students the teacher will provide scaffolding by modeling and working with students on how to fill out their graphic organizers to create a summary.  The use of Google Lit Trip as a technological tool is also engaging to students and helps them stay focused on the essential questions.

Content & Pedagogy: How do these particular strategies help you teach the content mentioned above? Why choose these strategies over other approaches? Are there any technical or physical constraints that figured significantly into your choices?

Technology:

The technology that I will be using is called Google Lit Trip.  This is a way, using Google Earth, to map out where main characters traveled in a novel and mark significant locations with images and/or a summary of what happened there.  It then allows students to see the entire journey from start to finish with all of the points they marked along the way.  Students will have a visual representation of the journey the characters had and a better understanding of the history.  For example in this lesson I have planned to use Lewis and Clark.  In the book it talks about the different places these two uncovered on their exploration.  Students will be able to see a geographical location and images of these areas to go along and support the learning they got from the text which will greatly enrich the learning experience.

Technology & Pedagogy:

The technology of Google Lit Trips is an engaging tool for students to use.  It also helps keep students focused on the essential questions.  Presenting the objectives and essential questions in the beginning of the lesson will let students know what is expected of them.  Knowing what they will have to do with Google Lit Trips, students will have a set goal to help them stay focused.  They will focus on the summary, the location of where things happened, discussion questions about these events and images to go with them. In this way the technology not only enriches the content but also works as a guide to keep students on task and in the right direction

Technology & Content:

The technology supports the essential questions because it lets students see how we can better understand history when we have visuals to go along with it.  Students will be able to use the technology to see where on the globe the actual locations Lewis and Clark explored as well as images to help support the text.

Assessment:

Students will have to know the locations of Lewis and Clarks exploration and place markers on the Google Lit Trip.  Students will also be assessed on their presentation of the place marker they added to the Google Lit Trip and the summary and discussion questions from their chapter. 

Mobile Learning

Poll Everywhere is a very good tool for instantly being able to get feedback from your students.  I really enjoyed the way that this site is set up and how the tool supposedly works.  I say supposedly because since I don't have a classroom of my own I wasn't able to test it out in a real environment.  However if I did have my own classroom I have several ideas for integrating this technology in the classroom.  One technique that I used during my teaching internship was a quick write.  This was something that students would do at the end of a lesson that would allow me to see what students understood the material covered and which parts students still weren't understanding.  I would read these at the end of everyday and tweak my lesson plans accordingly.  It would save me a lot of time if I could get this feedback instantly.  I would also do this polling about 10 minutes before I wanted the lesson to end that way for the last 10 minutes I could cover any areas of difficulty.  If all students understood the content then I could cut those last 10 minutes and move on.  It would allow for the teaching in the class to be much more targeted on what the students need to know and what the already know.  It would help with pacing and keeping students engaged.

As with any tool you want to implement in your classroom though there will always be challenges that you will have to overcome.  The most obvious challenge I see is that fact that cellphones are not allowed in many schools, especially elementary.  This would obviously cause a hindrance in the effectiveness of this tool.  Another obstacles would be the fact that not all students would have cellphones and therefore be able to participate in these types of polls.  As with most things in an ideal situation this tool would be great but most of us don't live or work in an ideal situation for implementing these technologies.  This is why teachers need to be creative to figure out solutions to these types of problems.  I think this has great potential to increase the power and effectiveness of education and I would really love to see this implemented in classrooms.

WPP Final Presentation

1. Text of your problem:  Engage students during transitions and in the instance of lessons not lasting long enough to increase classroom management
2. Text of your solution:  Use of activities through Gizmo and videos from teachertube and youtube to fill these times and keeps students engaged and busy so issues won't arise
3. Text of the TP, TC, & PC questions and your answers:
4. 1.   What is the TP knowledge for the solution?  (i.e., how does the technology you have chosen support the teaching strategies and methods you have chosen?)

The technology supports the teaching strategies and methods that I have chosen by allowing the teacher to have quick access to a variety of transition activities.  It would do no good if the transition into one of these activities lasted just as long as it would moving into the next part of the lesson.  That would defeat the purpose.  The technology allows for these activities to be presented to the students quickly to hold their attention and keep them engaged.  Technology also gives the teacher or substitute teacher the advantage of being able to access things such as videos and music quickly as well.  The technology has the advantage of providing a wider array of options to implement this strategy.  Technology can also be used to differentiate activities for students that may finish with assignments early.  This way you can challenge all students without a set task that may be too hard for some and too easy for others and won’t engage that student.

2.           What is the TC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically does this technology make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible?  Be sure to think about representation.)

Technology makes this content much more accessible.  While substitute teachers should bring things in with them transition and extra materials technology gives these teachers a much wider array of options.  Technology allows teachers access to short videos, music and other activities that can engage students keeping them from causing disturbances during down time.  These down times often occur during transitions or if a lesson runs short.  This is something that happens more often with substitute teachers but is an issue of classroom management for all teachers.  The technology and its ability to let you access a wide array of activities also allows for teachers to differentiate instruction for different students.  An activity that may engage and challenge one student may be too easy and therefore not engage another.  Of course this differentiation can’t happen all the time, especially as a substitute because there would be no time for the lesson.  But if a student finishes with a lesson early this access to several resources will come in handy as it will allow you to challenge that student and/or give them multiple activities.

3.           What is the PC knowledge for the solution? (i.e., how specifically do your pedagogical choices make the content in your problem more intellectually accessible? Be sure to think about how the student will experience the content given these instructional strategies.

Technology is a large part of our culture and especially the culture of the students we teach.  The purpose of activities to support classroom management is to have engaging and challenging activities that will hold a student’s interest during transitions and/or if a lesson doesn’t run as long as planned.  Implementing technology into these activities help make the activities into something engaging and meaningful for the students and not just busy work.  A short video clip of something like current events can be engaging for example because it is happening in the world and is something students can relate to.  It is also educational and gets them thinking about the issues of the world.  Technology can be a great tool for something like this because it allows us to access these types of video clips.  There are also several educational activities online such as gizmos.com.  This is a place where students can learn through inquiry.  There is such a large array of choices with these inquiry activities that a teacher can find one that relates to the topic quickly and easily.  Each activity also comes with questions so that students will have to have something to show for their work and won’t just goof around.  The main goal with these activities is to keep students engaged to help classroom management as well as learning and stimulating their brains.  Technology is a great tool that allows us to accomplish both of these goals