Blog Post #8: Thursday 10/27 

New Skills Acquired from Web Design Assignment

The Web Design assignment gave me a lot of insight into working with Wix and developing an effective resource for information about a classroom. Regarding Wix itself, I thought it was mostly easy to navigate and interactive. My troubles with the software concern options for the user. I wish that headings, images, and embeddings could be inserted virtually anywhere on a page. However, the software usually wouldn't allow these things to deviate from a specific few spots. Regarding the assignment, I didn't enjoy having to create a class calendar (although brief). However, I enjoyed seeing the website come all together. The things I learned in this assignment could help me in the public health field by marketing myself and my services and creating a website if necessary. 

My website: https://delaneywildermuth.wixsite.com/ms--wildermuth-s-5th 

New Skills Acquired from Diigo

Diigo taught me more about effective annotations and group forums. I also became more familiar with tags and choosing which ones to use. In a classroom, Diigo could be very useful for older students. The task of acquiring relevant academic resources is a great skill to have. Hypothetically, entire grades could form a group on Diigo and share resources. Otherwise, Diigo could help small groups of students create a strong foundation for a group research project via communicative resource sharing in particular categories. In a public health sense, I could use Diigo to share updated science on health with colleagues. As a public health official or hospital administrator, it's very important to be aware of the recent research discourse in the health field. 

Technology and Teacher Professional Development 

I believe that teaching a proper understanding of technology is one of the primary ways to keep children safe in the United States. Therefore, teachers must be hyper-knowledgeable about technological innovation to be good educators. In addition to safety, technology in this age is crucial for professional development. At least 65% of new jobs in the United States mandate medium or advanced technological skills (writersblocklive.com). The field of education is certainly not an exception to this reality. In my opinion, being an educator requires above-average technological skills. To put this into perspective, consider virtual meetings, digital teaching tools, and the popularization of school-issued IPads. Being unfamiliar with the digital resources used in one's classroom results in wasted class time in which the teacher attempts to comprehend their resource.

Science Daily has a subpage all about education technology news: 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/news/computers_math/educational_technology/

Blog Post #7: Thursday 10/13 [Teacher Pages on the Griffin MS Website, How I will use Technology to Accomplish Professional Responsibilities, and My Experience with Canvas Pages]

Blog Post #7: Thursday 10/13 

Teacher Pages on the Griffin Middle School Website

I visited the teacher pages from the Griffin Middle School website. The pages are dedicated to Dr. Delmae Darling and Ms. Christian Ellrich. It was immediately apparent that Griffin MS doesn't require all teachers to make a page for themselves. Many of the teacher names listed in the "faculty" section aren't accompanied by a website address. If the pages are linked, very few of them are finished or have been updated. For instance, Ms. Ellrich's teacher page includes several sections, including "Welcome", "Meet the Teacher", "Discussion", "Student Resources", "Assignments", "Documents", and "Class Calendar". However, only the "Meet the Teacher" section has been edited. Dr. Darling's page, however, is completely filled out. Anyone may view these teacher pages, even those without a log-in. 

https://www.leonschools.net/domain/1672

How I Envision Myself Using Tech to Accomplish Professional Responsibilities

I've really enjoyed learning about new and efficient software. Although I'm not pursuing a career in education, I believe this class taught me many things I will use in a professional setting. For one, I see myself using Canva for all creative projects going forward. I thought it was a really helpful tool for expressing myself in a way I often dismiss. Specifically, I really enjoyed the newsletter assignment. In addition, I believe I will use Twitter much more frequently in the future. I didn't know that there were so many professional uses for typical social media applications. I will also continue using Google calendar for all my scheduling needs. 

My Experience with Canvas Groups

Before starting assignment 2, I had no idea that Canvas offered a mini-website format in the "groups" section. I found the hyperlink function very helpful for our purposes. I rediscovered my own perfectionism in terms of every page heading having the same sentence structure. I did not enjoy the text box that appears when a new page is created. The tables in the box don't orient correctly and feel restricted compared to a typical Word-style page. 

Blog Post #6: Thursday 10/13 [My Initial Experiences Using Diigo and Blogging plus a Review of Tumblr]

 Blog Post #6: Thursday 10/13

Initial Experiences Using Diigo

In general, I'm not the biggest fan of Diigo. However, I do appreciate a few aspects of the extension. For one, I really like that Diigo allows users to annotate and create comments on text files. I imagine this would be very useful in a classroom setting for educators and students who are learning to efficiently highlight text sections. I also appreciate the applicable tags on group posts and a clear section for groups. All that being said, there are many other things I don't enjoy about Diigo. For one, I think the site should be technologically revamped in several ways. For one, the main page always prompts me to add the Diigo extension to my computer even though I already have the extension. Additionally, I don't like how the site is not feed-based (in the sense that groups are the only section for content). Also, I'm still unclear about the use of outlines. 

My Experience with Blogging

I've enjoyed my experience with blogging thus far. I appreciate clear instructions on what to include in each blog section. Blogging in this manner is an excellent way for me to reflect upon our class assignments and portfolio items. The only aspect that I don't care for regards teacher simulation. In other words, I am not pursuing a career in teaching; therefore, I feel awkward discussing "my future classroom". I understand that this is a big part of the class and that many of my classmates are education majors. Nevertheless, it's a little strange to me that in all of my elective classes, it's implied that I'm pursuing those specific careers. However, I appreciate learning more about technology and valuable educational resources which will help me in college. 

Unique Web 2.0 Tool: Tumblr

I always perceived Tumblr as somewhat of an outdated social media application. It turns out that there are a lot of professional uses for blogging and posting on Tumblr.

Tumblr is feed-based, which I appreciate. Rather than the feed algorithm operating based on past usage, Tumblr uses tags. Therefore, it's essential that users are browsing under their preferred tags. Additionally, there is a "trending" page, which suggests that there is recent information circling through the site. Unique to Tumblr, there is a "staff favorites" section; I'm not too sure why that section exists. In terms of professionalism, Tumblr blog pages are highly customizable for companies. Additionally, there are many options for publishing from other locations- namely Twitter, email, text messages, etc. Finally, users have access to a search engine and copyrights.

I was surprised to discover Tumblr's many usages. 

Tumblr can be accessed here

Blog Post #5: Thursday 10/06 [My Early Experiences Using Twitter, the Digital Divide, and Academic Software for Students]

 Blog Post #5: Thursday 10/06

My Early Experiences Using Twitter

Twitter has been an exciting resource for communicating with aspiring teachers. I enjoyed the Twitter chat; I didn't know that kind of thing existed. It's interesting to see how people of all professions utilize technological resources like social media to expand their network. Social media like Twitter are great ways to stay updated on the news impacting your career field. I plan to pursue a career in public health and government health policy. Therefore, I could use Twitter in a few years to stay updated on recent public health news and communicate with colleagues in the field. Relevant to my interests, I could also use Twitter to educate myself about where in the country I might be able to help with my expertise. 

Digital Divide

The digital divide is very relevant to the issue of education equality. Educational technology is often unequally distributed to specific schools for discriminatory reasons. Notably, increased funding granted to high-achieving schools presents a significant concern for the accessibility gap between privileged and underprivileged communities. This leaves children with many fewer opportunities to succeed than they had already. The school digital divide interferes with education equality and leaves minority students behind. As a classroom teacher, you may not have IPads or interactive technology accessible in your classroom. This could be because the school district you work may not be adequately or excessively funded. Teachers in this situation must be creative with their classroom techniques to maintain engagement.

Academic Software for Students

I would like to implement two software tools in my future classroom: Jamboard and Class Dojo. Jamboard is a great resource for displaying student ideas pleasingly and interactively. Teachers can make several different canvases for different topics and manipulate the size and category of their students' sticky notes. Class Dojo allows teachers to encourage and reward positive behavior, display directions, make random groups, etc. Younger students love receiving their Dojo avatar and setting up their digital portfolio. Both software systems are great resources for establishing a close community in the classroom and promoting individual expression.