As I
consider my first goal of communicating relevant information and ideas effectively
to students, parents, and peers using a variety of digital media formats, I
ponder the best method of communication (International Society for
Technology in Education, 2008). As I ask my colleagues about their form of
communication, I am told email is the way to go, though I hesitate to add my
name to the list of numerous emails going out. Another option would be to tweet
on Twitter, but with the constraints of one hundred forty characters, I would
struggle with the limitations. In addition to a communication tool, I am
looking for ways to display student work. This has led me to consider using a
blog through edublogs.org. I am slowly learning the template options as well as
what I am able to customize, but I believe this may be my answer.
Regarding
my second goal of developing and modeling cultural understanding and global
awareness by engaging with colleagues and students of other cultures using
digital age communication and collaboration tools, I have just begun to explore
options. Researching organizations and sites online, I have found a few that
look to be promising, such as ePals, iLearn, Global SchoolNet and Edmodo.
Developing a cross-cultural project will give students on both sides a glimpse
in to another’s life an world. “Cooperative groups require students to develop
skills that support collaboration such as listening, speaking, expressing one’s
own thoughts and ideas as well as respecting and understanding others’
perspectives, and reaching consensus” (Cennamo, Ross, & Ertmer, 2010, p. 181)
I am looking forward to exploring this goal in depth before I propose it to a
colleague.
Resources:
Cennamo, K., Ross, J., & Ertmer,
P. (2010). Technology integration for meaningful classroom use: A
standards-based approach. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
International Society for Technology
in Education. (2008). National education standards for teachers (NETS-T).
Retrieved from http://www.iste.org/standards/nets
Sarah as I begin reading your post, I immediately thought about you setting up a blog as well! I think blogs are a great way to showcase students’ work, create home and school connections, and introduce your students to how to connect to a global audience. One of my goals is to also improve parent-teacher communication with the help of digital technology. I have been thinking about setting up a blog for quite some time, but I know that a lot of work will have to go into it. When I do start a blog, I want to make sure it stays up to date, is well organized and easy for parents and others to read. Plus with all the other teacher work I have to do, I am reluctant to add something else to the massive pile. However, I know that sending parent-teacher communication folders home daily is not really working.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever thought about texting your parents? A few courses ago, I took this class where the instructor used a program to text the class weekly updates. A texting program like this one may be a great ways to help you connect with your parents digitally. If you do start a blog, you could also text them so that they will know when you have added new posts and other special announcements. Here is an article titled 7 Services for Sending Group Texts to Parents and Students that might be helpful. The link is: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2012/04/7-services-for-sending-group-texts-to.html#.UoV_J-Lc34U
Shonda
Shondra, I remember that class in which the teacher text messaged us. I thought that was a great way to alert students. I wonder if the parents would appreciate the texts? I would love to be able to use it with my eighth graders to remind them of due dates and what they should have prepared before coming to class.
DeleteSince I have just started at this school, I am still learning about the parents and community. Had I thought about the communication with the parents I would have went out a questionnaire as to the best communication method for the parents.
Thank you for the link, I will check it out. I think next semester I may ask students, and parents, for cell numbers to text them.
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteYou have posed some very practical concerns regarding a means of electronic communication with parents. I have found email to be a convenient and effective way to communicate information specific about individual students. As far as group communications you could use a text messaging service. There are a variety of free options out there such as Text Now http://www.smstextnow.com/. This particular service allows you to create distribution lists and send free group messages from your email. That way you don’t have to share your personal phone number.
Considering the public nature of twitter, I would be weary to use it as a primary communication or as a way to share student work. Instead, I would suggest using sites like Edmodo or Wikispace. Both sites provide a wide variety of possibilities. I like that Edmodo allows parents to join different groups. This allows them to participate in the discussions or just observe student progress. You could also send public and private messages to parents and students. Wikispace also has the capability to send private messages and facilitate discussion forums with the members of your page. Besides using it as a wiki, I have used it to display student work. This provides easy access for students and parents but it is secure from web searches. You can make it as secure or public as you want. I hope these suggestions help, I am eager to hear how your plan goes.
Tiffany
Tiffany,
ReplyDeleteYou are so right about the lack of privacy with Twitter. If I really think about using that it would be for only brief vague updates. I really want something that I don't have to worry about length and that I can display work from the students.
I have a little exposure to Edmodo, but not to Wikispaces. I will take a look at both of them. Thank You, Sarah
Hi Sarah, I really enjoyed your post this week and felt that I could really relate to a lot of what you were saying. Sometimes email isn't the best way to go, I think about my experiences with email and have run across issues such as spam folders. In addition, with email it is so easy to read and forget about it, that responses may not be plentiful or what not. I do think blogging can be the answer to communication, when you log into a blog site, you are deliberately going to a specific place that isn't riddled with spam and random emails.
ReplyDeleteI am also working on being comfortable with global communication. Currently, I have yet to play with the sites you have mentioned in your post. I also need to try out some of the sites and decide which I like best for different reasons. This is difficult for me to accomplish right now because I am subbing, I do not have my own students, plans, or room. That being said, I will likely try these sites out with my friends classes if they think it's a good idea.
~Melissa