Mod 6- Microblogging in Education

As I was looking for an article on microblogging in education, I came across this article. I started reading about Edmodo and decided I had to know more, so I registered for the site. I have to say that this microblogging site kicks butt!

It allows for different "groups" which could be your classes. You can set up an assignment chart. You can message groups, students or other teachers. You can set up calender to help students remember important dates. Students can put messages in their "locker" as reminders. You could message absent students their work. You can send links and files to the site, allowing you to post work and have students print if they lose their sheet! I almost feel as if the possibilities are endless. As the teacher you can see everything the students are doing on the site.

I am going to keep exploring this site, but I enjoy its options more than Twitter and Plurk!

Mod 5- Interesting Feed from Cool Cat Teacher Blog

As I was looking at my RSS feed, I found an interesting post from Cool Cat Teacher Blog. It is about monitoring your children while they are online. While this post is not directly aimed at teachers, I think it has helpful points.

As we look for new ways to use the internet with out students, we have to keep in mind the dangers and pressures they also face while online. I think that as we begin the school year and give the parents information about our class, it would be of their benefit to read these tips. Even though our students' might be middle schoolers or even high schoolers, parents need to be vigilant of their children online.

The internet gives us great opportunities, but we have to use it with caution for out students' safety.


Here is a link to the article:
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/2006/09/11-steps-to-online-parental.html

Mod 3- Social Networking Sites

I found three social networking sites that I feel would be useful to me in my future career as a Spanish teacher.

The first is http://internet4teachers.ning.com/ This site has a lot of good information and ideas for using the internet in your classroom. I think it would be helpful to check back on every couple of weeks to make sure you are in on what is new for technology in the classroom. They have lots of good ideas!

The second was one that Professor Burgos suggested. It is http://edubloggerworld.ning.com/
Since we created our own blogs, I have become very interested in how I could use it in my future classroom. This site has lots of good information and tips!

The last is actually a by invitation only site. I am going to request to join and we shall see if they let me. It is rojasspanishteachers.com . I feel that just from the description it would be really helpful site to belong to.

Another site helpful to Spanish teachers that isn't a blog or a social networking site is http://www.cortland.edu/FLTEACH/ . The forums at FLteach has great ideas for lessons for any language teacher. You can subscribe and get emails, but they will flood your mailbox. I recommend just looking and searching for yourself. At FLteach, they also have an archive of lesson plans. One of the creators of this site was my professor in Costa Rica and I really think she did excellent work here!

Mod 3- The learner of today is like...

I feel that the learner of today is like a race car driver. They have to be constantly alert to the changing environment and the changing technology. The mechanisms of learning, like those of the car, are always changing. You may get a pace lap and a caution every once in a while to help you catch up to the crowd, but once you get a green flag, it is time to go. Learners of today are expected to be on top of the latest technology. They are supposed to be able to handle whatever we as teachers through at them.

I think of my own education. I didn't know what a computer was until I was in fifth grade. I didn't take any school classes until eighth grade and it mostly centered around typing. Now here I am in grad school and I am taking a class through the internet. In my life, it felt as though technology was sink or swim. For example, you can either figure out excel and get the lab report done that the teachers wanted or you get a bad grade. I often wonder what technology will be like for my future children and how much it will change through their lifetime.

As George Siemens says "Learning is a continual process, lasting for a lifetime." This quote sums up what it is to be a learner today, with all the constant changes in technology.


Siemens, G. (2005, January). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. International Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning, Retrieved November 20, 2005

Mod 2- Top Three Ways to use Blogs in an L2 Classroom

As I was reading Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson, I came across a list of why you should use Blogs in your classroom. Three of his ideas really stood out to me.

The first idea was using a blog as a means for discussion. If, say, every week you posted a new discussion question (in the language that you are teaching in your classroom), you could have students post their opinion within the first three days. The for the last four days of the week, the students would be responsible for posting responses to at least 2 or 3 of their classmates ideas in the L2. This is giving them the opportunity to use the L2 in a real life setting, practice using new technology and showing them that their opinion matters. You could use world wide topics, school topics, community topics, etc.

The second idea was to use the blog as a means for students to do and submit work. If each student had to create and maintain a blog I think the final products would be very interesting. They could post their essays/dialogs/opinions/ etc. to their blog. They could show their work to the world and to the teacher. Parents would be able to access the website (I'm not sure they would all understand the language, but who cares!). I think this would be an interesting way to complete a project for a topic in their L2 Class.

The final idea was using a blog as a class organizer. Students could frequently check the blog to look at their homework, when tests are coming up, what they missed if they were absent, what are the project guidelines, etc. I think it would save the teacher time in the long run to be able to just have students look at the website. Parents and administrators would also be able to look at the website and learn about what is going on in your classroom.

All in all I think blogs can be a really helpful tool in the L2 classroom.