Educators today have a new dilemma. Students today, use social media to communicate. Facebook, twitter, and texting have taken the place of letter
writing! So how does one engage the children in ways that are meaningful to them? Educators need to learn how students communicate in order to reach out to them. If classroom activities include social networking and use different web 2.0 tools, then educators have found the key that opens the door to meaningful communication with their students.
My students have just learned how to use twitter. Some of these children have no computers at home; others have not used one before. Yet within a week they had learned to create their own twitter identifications. We used this dynamic tool to for a very simple activity where they had to spell out a word from their weekly spelling list.
Web 2.0 tools in the classroom
My students have also learned to blog. Everyday homework is posted on the blog in order to reach out to parents and clarfiy doubts about assignments. At times, I post a video of me teaching them a lesson. In the classroom, the next day, the students participate in an activity that shows me whether they understood the concept. By flipping the classroom, I save precious time. Students can press the pause pause button on the video as often as they like.
Web 2.0 tools play a very crucial role today. They allow students to show their understanding of a concept and be creative and innovative as well.
The students have to create a website as their summative assessment.
Web 2.0 tools play a very crucial role today. They allow students to show their understanding of a concept and be creative and innovative as well.
The students have to create a website as their summative assessment.
Flattening Classroom Walls
Using technology in the classroom
The last term in school was exciting. The students were trying to connect with schools from around the world with the hope of learning more about natural hazards in different parts of the world. Using twitter, I managed to get the attention on one of the teachers in my personal learning network. She gave me the contact of a teacher in her school who was eager to Skype and collect information from India. This school was based in Australia.
The students were excited and nervous. There was a buzz of excitement in the classroom. One of my students requested them to sing their national anthem. As they stood up to sang, my students stood up too. It was a very moving experience.
After we exchanged information, we reflected on our class blog. These reflections were posted by some teachers on twitter. The implications are enormous. This experience was shared within a few seconds with the world. The students were thrilled by the power of technology. They were engaged from the very beginning. By finding an audience that were interested in what they had to say, the students suddenly found a meaningful reason to research and display their knowledge.
This is the power of technology.
Here is the Australian teacher's reflection.
Take a look at other ways we use technology in the classrooom: