Middle School Science Teachers’ Confidence and
Pedagogical Practice of New Literacies
The article was interesting but not surprising. I had read many articles that had similar outcomes and I have spoken with teachers who also had the same sentiments. I agree their are a lot of teachers who are willing to accept and integrate technology into their classrooms but they get discouraged because of the lack of technology. These teachers are willing to use technology to help enhance their lessons with a Smartboard or laptop and would love to use more technology but are not able to fully embrace the new literacies. Without having technology and not just any technology but updated technology the teachers can not and will not be able to prepare 21st century learners. 
Social Networking Sites
The article was very interesting about using social networking sites in the classroom. I remember when Twitter first became popular I had a hard time keeping my students off the site. Therefore, I started thinking of ways to incorporate Twitter into my classroom. I had that "if you can't beat them then join them" feeling. I was tired of fighting with the students about "tweeting" in school. I started researching ways and lessons that dealt with Twitter. We did do one lesson using Twitter and the news and it was very successful. Therefore, I enjoyed this article. I think if teachers incorporate Social Networking sites into their classroom they can see a difference in their learning and their students academic drive. I think students would want to particiapate more and become more responsible for their learning. Personally, I know students love being able to publish, communicate and collaborate using these Social Media sites. My students love when we use sites such as Glogster and Blogger. They enjoy being able to communicate and collaborate online. In addition, I believe incorporating social networking into the academic environment woudl give people a different outlook of the social networking sites. People would begin to see the value of the social networks instead of always looking at the negative.
Cool! Your school doesn't block all that stuff! Unfortunately my school not so progressive in it's thinking. Recently the Board changed its policy on allowing cell phones... but at a staff meeting we were told to ignore it. No phones and the blocks are more tiresome than ever! Edmodo and Moodle cool tools as it imitates the social aspects of FB etc.
ReplyDeleteIt was great that you were able to successfully integrated Twitter in your classroom. It'd be great if you could with us your successful lessons. :)
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