Blog #2 Twitter

Social media platforms have been transforming how people communicate on a daily basis. I think educators may benefit from using twitter as a tool. In fact, I believe that Twitter is an excellent communication tool for parents and teachers. 

Twitter might be utilized in my classroom for a variety of purposes, including making announcements and providing updates. It can be crucial to share announcements with the parents so they can remain active in their child's educational journey.

It is also a place where students can be involved as well. Students can stay involved and use it as a tool to check for homework or upcoming due dates. Almost like a digital agenda, where all of their upcoming assignments, due dates, and homework is being posted. 

With a simple click from the button students can be engaged as well with the posts. I would use twitter as a resource if used appropriately. Students could be asked to have a friendly debate there as well using a certain hashtag so the instructor could see their posts. It also allows students to see the news which they can discuss in class. Almost like what we have done in class. 

Another way that I would use twitter is by showcasing students' work. As I was exploring through twitter I noticed that a lot of students' projects were being shown. I think that is awesome because that allows students to feel a sense of encouragement and achievement. That way it can also be a motivational factor as well as a mini celebration for the student.

I would also use twitter as a place where students can collect their resources from when they will be doing inquiry based learning. Students should be exposed to the world and understand different organizations, look out for some articles, participate in debates and collaborate and do some big fun projects!

I am not certain what they do in my field placement as I imagine students in grade 1/2 will not be needing twitter as much as the older grades. I feel like that although twitter is a very resourceful place it is also a very frightening one.Twitter in my opinion is something that should be managed by an older student, preferably 15 or older. I think that some students are not there yet; in the mature sense where they can be given a device during school hours.

However, that does not mean that twitter is a negative place. I think twitter is an incredible source with great resources. I simply believe that it should be used responsibly and caution as it would be very dangerous if student information was leaked.

Twitter Account Link: https://twitter.com/Prabh__Grewal

Blog #1 Technology

Technology has constantly influenced my learning throughout my academic career, particularly when I started school. I recall learning how to type in kindergarten and how to navigate through the internet. Students would often times have a competition of some sort to see who was the fastest at typing and who could type words looking away from the keyboard. I feel as if I grew up in a tech revolution because it was apart of my life from such an early age. Chalkboards became a foreign concept to my generation and whiteboards and SMART boards were the new rave amongst us students. 

As generations were passing so was technology, soon the technology that we used for our typing classes in kindergarten became outdated which meant new computers and laptops. With a blink of an eye typing classes claimed their reign and replaced handwriting as it became an optional class and then disappeared. Technology at my school almost became its own monarch, students were now dependent on it. From assignments, group work, presentations, and report cards. It became such a convenient tool students were bound to stick to it like glue. 

Every two years my school would update the laptops which only encouraged students more to almost become one with the technology. This caused students running down the halls to the learning commons begging for the new laptops as the ones that were two plus years old became undesirable. To sum up my experience with technology yes I was very fortunate to have such tools at my disposal. I cannot say the same for the school I am currently at.

At Cappy Smart School the teachers warmth and dedication to their students makes up for not having laptops and computers at the school. The staff at Cappy Smart are admirable individuals who deserve recognition for all the love they produce to their students. It seems as if their smile and positive attitude never fades. Cappy Smart lives up to their school vision and it is evident with the learning that goes on there.

From what I have seen it is a mixture some teachers do have their own laptops and there is a projector but it is connected to the white board and others have the SMART board. In the library there are no computers out for students just books. The teachers all share laptops if they need it however there are 6 assigned laptops for each grade that they could use at their disposal. I found this surprising because this was the first school that I have been too that has no desktops in the library.

Although, the technology that is being used in my third year placement is limited but it does makes sense as the school is mainly students with diverse learning needs. Students with diverse needs do have technology that supports their learning and their needs throughout the day. Such as boards that verbally speak back to help them with communication. 

The burning question that I have about the use of digital technologies in K-9 education is how can you implement technology to a school like Cappy Smart School and how are all students supposed to be on the same page with learning in Alberta; If schools aren't given the resources they need to successfully attain this target? 

This question is important to me because it seems unrealistic to successfully maintain and support students who have diverse needs without the technology they need and should have. This would ultimately mean that schools like Connect or Calgary Academy have almost like an upper hand in learning because they are given so many resources to support student learning. So what does that mean for Cappy Smart students?