Learning Link

     My PLC book was EdTech Essentials by Monica Burns. In this book, Burns gives multiple examples of EdTech tools that teachers can safely use with or for their students in different learning environments. For example, they discuss ways to use NearPod or Pear Deck to assess students during a lesson. Another example is the use of Seesaw for students to share their classwork.       Educators have many reasons for using EdTech tools. Tech tools reduce administrative time, increase student engagement, and enable faster access to assessment data. Burns shows there are multiple ways to do all of this through technology. Tech tools are ultimately a great equalizer with students. Students come with a wide range of needs, and technology can help bridge many gaps in diverse learning. Teachers want all of their students to be able to access the work they assign in their classroom, and technology can help with this. "In education, access to information is the f...

     Social media started off as a fun way to share happenings in someone's life or to network with your fellow college students. It was not something that was a necessity. Today, you might miss out on important updates from your friends and family, or what everyone is talking about at work or school. Everyone from tweens to the elderly has some form of social media. According to Pew (2022), 35% of US teenagers say they are constantly on either YouTube, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, or Facebook.       I believe that social media use should be discussed, analyzed, and utilized in a digital citizenship curriculum for schools. Productive social media use can teach students about proper online communication, sharing opinions versus sharing facts, and wading through misinformation. However, we must also teach our students to step away from social media for their mental health. "Digital media done 'well' can become psychologically problematic for users. In fa...

 When looking to add to or change technology in schools, all students must be taken into account. Even if it is a piece of technology that aids only a group of students, it would be considered a win. Technology can help with many things, but it can also help with ESL/ELL students. I can't imagine being in a new school, community, and country and being expected to learn while not understanding my teachers and peers. A year ago, I learned about a device that could aid our ESL students and their teachers. That product is called PocketTalk, a handheld device for translation. As Alhamed (2021) mentions in his article, English language learners must listen to English being spoken in order for them to learn English fluently. PocketTalk does not take away from ELL students hearing their teachers speak English throughout their day, but it does enhance learning by being another option for ELL students to listen to. Jones & Kennedy (2023) quote the NELP Standards as a guide for educationa...

    When creating, especially for the internet, there is a lot to think about. Riding the creative wave always starts with knowing who your audience is. In the design process, "Understanding your audience and how they learn best is step one" (Questline, 2022).   Using video helps you reach more people, but the size of that audience depends on where you share it.    Lawrence (2022) writes that you have to ask, "Who is the audience? Or who are the audiences? What do they want or need to know? What is the most effective way to send that message to your audiences?" (p. 21). You have to ask if your audience is older or younger. Are you trying to teach them or entertain them (or both)? What would you like your audience to take away from the video after they watch it?      For many content creators, knowing their audience is essential to their job. "Creative professionals need an audience to consume and legitimize the work they create; without a substan...

Literacy has always been an important milestone for a child to reach. Learning to read and comprehend text is the educational backbone that all students need. In today's visual and textual world, students must be literate in both to navigate and contribute to society. Text on pictures has been around for centuries. Infographics are everywhere (social media, news, etc), helping to disseminate information to the masses. There is a need for students (and really, everyone) to have infographic literacy.  The infographic below is a fun way to display information about infographics.  (Cash, n.d.) An infographic is a way to visualize a set of data. Infographics go back to cave drawings and have been a way to show information for thousands of years (Nivethika 2022).  Everyone sees them on the news to discuss climate change or political polls. People see them on social media when someone wants to share information about something that might not be commonly discussed (i.e., a d...

      If you are online or have been online for the past five to seven years, you have read a clickbait article or link. You probably have even clicked on the link. "You'll never believe what happens next..." "10 Things You Didn't Know About..." These are examples of clickbait article titles that you might see on different social media platforms. Clickbait is used for a variety of reasons, but some are nefarious. Businesses or news platforms use clickbait so that people can click the link to bring traffic to their site. Other times, it can lead to a scam. Many people know they should be cautious when clicking these links, but do anyway for a variety of reasons.     The Veritasium video below makes the point that most people hate clickbait, yet it is everywhere. And on top of that, no one truly agrees on the definition of clickbait.