social media for educators final presentation - kuehne
TRANSCRIPT
Useful Tools● Twitter
o This year our principal encouraged every teacher to create an account on Twitter and to try to tweet once a day.
o Since I was on maternity leave for most of the school year, I didn’t tweet from home, but I found myself checking Twitter often to see what everyone was doing at school. It made me feel connected even though I was at home.
o Since the start of this course, I have become much more comfortable with Twitter. I have followed a lot more people outside of my school building, and I have added many followers as well.
o Using TweetDeck has been a great add-on with Twitter because it allows me to view tweets arranged into categories.
Useful Tools● Social Bookmarking - Diigo.com
o Once the school year begins, I can see using diigo.com with my colleagues to share websites and resources more easily.
o It’s nice that all of my websites are posted in one spot rather than in my bookmark folders on various devices.
o I liked the Outliner function with diigo.com. For some of my units I incorporate several different websites. I was able to create a brief outline of my unit and include the bookmarks in one spot.
● Web 2.0 Tool - Wix.como Incredibly easy tool to make fantastic looking websites. And
it’s all free! I could see using this with students to present information they have researched about a particular topic.
Successes● Web 2.0 Tool - Wix.com
o To become familiar with wix.com, I decided to design a website for my father’s business, Slate Ridge Auto Works. The company is rather new, so we didn’t want to do anything too expensive or elaborate. I was able to create a beautiful looking website displaying their used car inventory. We decided to upgrade to the premium account so my dad could purchase a better domain.
o Once the website was published, I was able to send a Shout Out through wix.com to our contacts to announce that the website was up and running.
o Depending on how business goes, we might even set up a Twitter account and connect that to our website.
Successes● Twitter
o I feel as though I am much more comfortable with using Twitter.
o I have a better understanding of the use of hashtags.o Once school begins in the fall, I feel as though Twitter will
be able to enhance my communication with colleagues and families and also provide me with valuable tips to use in the classroom.
Challenges● LinkedIn
o I see how LinkedIn provides me with opportunities to connect with others, but I’m not sure how much this will impact me in the classroom. (Maybe I will see this more as my connections grow.)
o I think this is a great tool if you are looking for a different job or career.
o Many of the educators and administrators in my district look like they are just establishing their profiles as well. Only a few connections seemed as though they have been on LinkedIn for a while. Because of that, I wasn’t sure how many people would check LinkedIn to accept my invitations to connect.
Moodle and Online Learning● Moodle
o Easy tool to use. I have used moodle in our district for several years.
o All of the resources were in an easy to locate spot.o Didn’t need an additional resource for turning in work.
● Online Learningo This was my first online course, and I loved it!o I can see where topics such as social media lend themselves
well to an online learning course.o Being a mom of two young girls, I was able to work on my
assignments whenever I had free time. o Flexibility of the assignments was valuable because it made
the course more meaningful to me.
Diigo.com
Final Thoughts● I enjoyed the online format of the class.● I feel much more confident and comfortable with
the social media tools presented through this course.
● The concepts learned in this class will be very useful once the school year begins.