technology in education PK-20

Karla, This one was new to me, but a s website hoarder, I am drawn to anything that could help me to organize them. I downloaded the app and began to set up some tiles and so far it looks like it could be very useful! I love that you can create different pages for different sections, so I can have graphic design, publishing, photography, e-learning, etc. Thank you!

Thank you for the resource! I have to explore it some more, but at first glance, it reminds me of the Windows 8 desktop. It looks to be a great way to stay organized.

I have personally found it very useful in the elementary setting where we must be more careful as to the sites students visit. This allows teachers in elementary to have some control while allowing studetns to explore independently.

I love that, for special education elementary students, there are icons to help non-readers organize and identify apps and websites.

@sharonmahabir Yes, it does remind me also of Windows 8 tiles. I like the visual part as compared to regular bookmarks which are text only. I wonder if the tiles? are responsive to fit on a mobile device. I think anything that is visually appealing works better than text based information.

Standards include Common Core State and National standards. Why is it important to use follow such standards?

Easy to use. Educators can easily browse by grade level and subject.

Free access to many resources. This is great to try out before a school or school districts buys it. Educators can still use PBS learning media as a source for digital resources.

This is a short video that will give you a brief overview on what Piazza is and how it works!! Excellent way to interact with your students online!!

It is amazing how complicated FERPA can be, but it is a very important part of an educator's job to know the guidelines

Gena, yes FERPA is huge here on our campus. Although it has not been done since I started here, I know we are looking to make sure that all our faculty members go through a FERPA training. It's important to know as much as we can with these regulations!!!

It can be very tricky, especially when you are dealing with dual credit students. Parents feel as if they should have automatic rights to their child's information, but we have specific guidelines that we must follow that are designed to protect the students' rights.

That is so true Gena. We deal with dual enrollment students all the time and it's difficult when parents call and you have to tell them that you are not allowed to give out any information. Some simply do not understand. I've even had grandparents calling. Go figure.

@ Elizabeth Rodriguez- Yes, you're right on about the importance of FERPA compliance within schools. It is so important to ensure that student information is kept as confidential as possible, and sometimes as teachers- we may not know which programs comply with FERPA. Therefore, we can get in so much trouble if we violate FERPA, and student information gets released online. We run the unfortunate risk of getting sued. Therefore, after having reviewed Gena Jean's Piazza link, I am feeling much more comfortable in being able to use this medium in my classroom with my netbooks, and continue to add on to my flipped classroom.

My initial response to Gena Jean's Article Post- I like that students can ask questions, that anyone can answer and that it's in real time, much like Google Drive. It's collaborative and so thank you for sharing this with everyone Gena Jean I am definitely going to definitely start looking into this platform, because I think that my English Language Arts and Reading class will greatly benefit from it. I thought it was so neat to see that a woman is the CEO and founder of this particular online program. Actually, it's quite inspiring to see that educational tools can be used in this way, and brought to the forefront by women.

Very interesting tool. I will give it a try. I like the fact that it integrate to major LMSs such as Canvas, BlackBoard, and Moodle. Currently I am using Moodle 2.8 and I would like to see how it works. I also like that it is FERPA compliance. I will definitely bookmark this and give it a try. Thanks for the resource.

Since I work for a higher ed institution, this is a big one for me because we are always looking to see how we can integrate different web 2.0 tools to assist our instructors in their classroom! Especially online tools!

Since almost half of the 1000+ teachers surveyed agree that social media can improve learning, why aren't schools being more proactive about training and protecting their teachers when it comes to using social media for the classroom?

The funds have a lot to do with it because the schools cannot allow for these types of trainings. Another reason could be the older teachers refuse to learn technology. Final reason could deal with the fact that there aren't enough computers for this type of learning.

I hear you Kim but at the same time see these as excuses given by administrators who generally aren't very forward thinking. Region ESC's should be able to provide this training for free. I think Region 10 does but I would have to double check that. And as far as the older teachers refusing to learn, that's a teacher I don't need on my campus. I tend to be pretty blunt and have little patience for ANY "teacher" who refuses to learn.

I wonder if other than financial reasons, if many administrators are worried for liability reasons. Even if they properly trained teachers would they still be worried about people crossing the line using social media. I know that our district has a pretty strict policy that as long as a student is enrolled in the district, they cannot be your "friend" on social media. It's too easy for negative things to come of it. I personally have a Facebook fan page for my classroom. My principal is on it and posts are public so everyone can see what is being said and posted. I invite students and parents to "like" my page so they can get review information & videos, test reminders and things of that nature.

I strongly feel that teachers need to be up to date with technology and get to use it and etc... It is very important that teachers understand technology well so they can teach their students properly. The old teachers must be able to adapt with change for the better of their students. Technology is the way of life and it is very important that they embrace it and have a positive outlook on it. There are no excuses because technology will continue to be used everyday in life and will continue to evolve.

I agree that some may not want to provide these trainings because they may need to use the money elsewhere or do not want to bring in technology to the school. Some see is as a negative thing but our society today has changed. We cannot get away from technology because it is the way of life nowadays and you're right Jose, it will continue to evolve.

@kbanda- I think that you have a point, a lot of school districts especially smaller ones do not have extra funds to allocate to these types of trainings. In fact, they may want to be more proactive when it comes to technology and the use of social media in their teacher's curriculum, but there is a lot of liability to it if teachers aren't trained on this type of medium. It all comes down to the bottom line. Technology is in our TEKS and we must teach it…however, social media is not in our TEKS and until the day it is, then trainings for this type of technology usage may not be priority when it comes to balancing the school year's budget.

@ksspurgin There can be many factors involved. I believe it can be money and time which means some schools do not have the resources. Another reason can be that social media can cause a distraction for the students. Also privacy is a huge concern. I know school districts can use Google Apps which limits the use of YouTube and Blogger to only the school, but some schools do not want to use Google Apps. I wonder if someone has a site out on the Internet that educates the teacher and parents on social media.

How is this different from (or similar to) the rules for teachers around the turn of the 20th century such as "Teachers will not marry or keep company with a man friend during the week except as an escort to church services.  (The only man a woman teacher could be seen with was her father or her brother)"? (source: http://www.ameshistory.org/contract.htm)

This rule has changed? When did this happen?

Yea, it was a while ago Chris ;)

I think this article really touched base about what is rocky territory when it comes to what is appropriate student/teacher interaction. Therefore, this could be the reason why schools are not being as proactive on training and protecting their teachers when it comes to social media in the classroom. On the one hand social media is a wonderful outlet for students to learn, because they have grown up with the tablets, ipads, smart phones and they know "that language" per say. In my classroom, I engage my students on the regular by using Edmodo and I absolutely love it. It allows me the opportunity to set expectations, provide reminders, send well wishes, but most importantly turn my classroom into a true flipped classroom environment where learning doesn't stop when the last bell rings. As an educator, I have heard of so many unfortunate stories where a teacher or student may cross the line in communication and the teacher ends up reaping the bad consequences of that. Therefore, as the article points out, it makes sense that many teachers would be hesitant to even toil with social media outlets for supplementation of classroom curriculum. According to the article, "teachers are more often using web tools, such as YouTube videos and podcasts, or other types of technology -- such as laptops, interactive white boards or tablets -- over social media tools (http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2014/01/17/check-out-that-selfie-how-to-use-social-media-in-the-classroom)," which says to me that they try to stick to "safer" technological modes of communication, and interaction. I currently work for the largest Net Zero School in the nation, where the school districts expectations run high when it comes to implementing technology in the classroom, and I love that. I use and invite students and teachers to follow me on Twitter, however- I do not put anything personal on that account. I tweet or retweet a lot of links to excellent educational websites such as Edutopia. The reason

There is a very thin line for this. Maybe the teachers or students should not post about their personal lives and keep it strictly school oriented. I know that it can be tough for the students, because students are more prone to talk about personal lives. Maybe one solution is to agree that teachers and students will use one platform, such as Edmodo for education. As far as posting personal post on other social networks, what constitutes grounds for termination needs to be clearly defined and training will need to be offered.

Teachers often play it safe and for good reason! Effective training could free teachers to use technology to engage students in learning.

The problem seems to be that some types of social media eliminate the separation between student/teacher that physical distance usually creates (i.e. going home at the end of the day.) If teachers receive training that makes them well-aware that they are erasing this boundary by interacting on FB or Twitter, then let them go for it. I second Brook's idea that having a separate, professional social media account for interaction with parents and students is probably wise. - C Hilgeman

No doubt about that Chris! We did have a short training at our school 2 years ago about setting up professional social media accounts to use with students and parents. This is a MUST for educators!

@texttravelor- I totally agree with you Chris. I try to implement the flipped classroom model into my curriculum structure, and I find that it is very difficult to separate the two. When I'm at home, I am always carrying around my iPad, attempting to be super teacher by answering all of my student's questions. I try to provide them with accurate and grammatically proper assignments online through Edmodo, and I find that there tends to be a thin line between my work and personal time. That "physical distance" that you speak of is often frayed, of which has caused me to lack in other areas. However, it's important to note that if one can find a happy medium between the two- as an educator one will greatly benefit. In addition, I definitely agree that separating professional social media accounts with personal accounts is also "wise."

I believe social media can be used, but teachers will need trainings and administrators will need to be clear on how one needs to use social media. If I was an administrator, I would look at research to see which social media tool actually increases learning. I would even go as far as creating a pilot program to measure the learning. If it did not work, then I would say concentrate on the tools that do increase learning.