Social Media in Education

Do you have a difficult time understanding social media and all their fancy updates? When Twitter first came out, I was completely lost. Tweets, likes, retweets, only 140 characters? It was all too confusing for me. That's why I sought out to find easier ways to understand and explain these platforms for people who were just as confused as me. Mashable made a list of 12 Essential Social Media Cheat Sheets (infographics) of different social media features.  

Twitter Etiquette? 

I didn't know there was a Twitter etiquette. This is a good infographic that relates Twitter to talking on the phone. Interesting for students to learn how to respond to others on Twitter!

Google+

How cool is this infographic? Was I the only one unaware of hotkeys? Students should be aware of privacy issues and how to prevent just anyone from looking at their accounts.

Google+

Where was this when I first joined Google+? This is super helpful for those are new to Google+ and would like to optimize their experience. Students can use Google+ to share photos of projects or events. For these infographics and more tips, visit Mashable.

Thoughts? 

I loved this website. Super useful but could be updated. I will say that the Google+ infographica were my favorite, as I still have some proficiency issues in that area. Students who don't use these platforms every day can use these tips and tricks to catch up or learn quick and easy. These infographics can be made into handouts or worksheets for students to carry with them and refer back to. 

Looking back, looking ahead

Technology in the Classroom



Source



I don't think my opinions on this has changed. I think technology in the classroom to enhance education is beneficial for educators and students. It becomes an interactive experience that makes students look forward to learning and be more engaged.

Kids today are advancing with technology at home and have become more proficient than we can imagine! We need to keep up with them in the classroom, and help them succeed with the tools they are familiar with. As you can see from these photos, classrooms have already changed and adapted to the students needs. Technology isn't going away. Students need to excel in the areas of technology to be proficient in their future careers. Telling students not to use online tools in the classroom is unrealistic, as we have access to almost anything at all times at our fingerprints.





Bouncy ball and laptops

Benefits of Technology in the Classroom

In discussing technology in the classroom, there's three main points I like to mention.

• Again, it helps students stay engaged
• Helps students become more responsible. Owning or borrowing electronic devices and taking care of them is a big responsibility (and we trust them!).
• Teacher becomes an encourager, advisor, and coach. You have more control than you think

 

You may be unsure of what kind of technology to put in your classroom. This link offers great beginner tips. If you're still unsure, or don't have the funds to incorporate technology in the classroom, remember: the electronic device does not need to be in your classroom. This means you can have students work on online assignments at home on personal/family computers or at the library. If you're an educator, and you use technology in your classroom, please share your tips for other educators!



Digital Tattoo

Data Mining!

Have you ever heard of data mining? Well, I'm here to tell you, it's more serious than you think. The easiest way to describe this is: the ability to find new data from existing data to find patterns (data collection). Sounds harmless, right? Well, sometimes it can be. For example, in instances of networking, data mining can be a good thing. That being said, data mining is a controversial subject because it does create privacy and security issues.



Parks and rec

What I Found

This was really surprising. Not only did I find my parents home address (my previous home), I also found cousins, uncles, and other family information. Creepy! Have you ever looked yourself up on Google? Who hasn't! There are tons more websites that have personal information on there than you think. Here are a few websites you may have never even heard of that you can use:

• Spezify: As this website searches for information, it asks a series of questions to get the best results.
• PeekYou: The intention of this website is to connect with friends/family/classmates but tends to go a bit further
• BlockShopper: Look up your address (or a friends!), I lucked out on this one, as my house wasn't listed. BUT I did see my whole neighborhood on here. So, a bit invasive.
• Radaris: You can look yourself up here, find any sex offenders as well. I found myself here, but all the information is wrong so I question the accuracy.

Students and parents:

It can be worrying to find all your private information on these sites. If you find any information on these websites that you don't want on there, you're able to call customer service and request they take it down. I've had friends do this with success. However, if they end up pulling information from a different database, your information might end up back on that website. You can check back on those websites periodically if you're really concerned about this.




Ron Swanson

PLN

Twitter

Twitter is huge right now, especially with all the celebrities using it to create awareness and conversation. I use Twitter here and there, but I'm not up to date on the newest trends on there. I'm more involved with the main features of Twitter. I didn't really understand what live chats or live videos on Twitter were, because I wasn't familiar with that platform and format. Upon more exploration, I found it an interesting place to have good conversation. I got lost in everyone else's response, that I would change my opinion often. I've read so many different opinions on this topic. It's roots from a ketogenic diet. Some believe that this is the diet that may reverse diabetes. I read some conflicting information and a lot I've agreed with. 

Registered Dietitian chat, do you think keto diet can reverse diabetes?

Link here

More research! 

Reflection

I tend not to use Twitter for this type of purpose. Originally, I made a Twitter account for personal use and immediately forgot about it. Then, I went back onto Twitter to find the latest news and to stay updated in what's happening in our crazy world! I'm not totally on board for using it for conversing about nutrition or dietetics, but I'm not against it. What do you use Twitter for? 

I've linked my Twitter, feel free to follow me! @iamranaahmad

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 Tools

Web 2.0 tools are a great way to give educators and students a different way of accessing and sharing information. There's a good chance you use a web 2.0 tool and don't even know it. Pinterest, Twitter, Youtube are examples of the some of the most popular tools. There's tons of different tools that we have yet to discover, or don't use as often. If you remember the digital space map blog post, then this pyramid below may look a bit familiar. Using Bloom's Taxonomy, these educational web 2.0 tools were organized into learning domains.  

Creating: Putting parts together
Evaluating: Make judgements
Analyzing: Separates materials for better understanding
Applying: Use concept in real world situations
Understanding: Comprehending information
Remembering: Recall or retrieve previous learned information

As you can see, there's many different web 2.0 tools that can be used in the academic setting. This is a great way of integrating technology into the classroom without distraction!

Univ. Pittsburgh

Diigo

source

Diigo stands for digest of internet information, groups and other stuff. In regards to my last post, we talked about how important research is in the academic and education setting. Well, this a great tool for educators and students to use when researching materials. It helps organize, store, manage, and search for bookmarks of resources online. This tool makes it easy to highlight, create sticky notes, and screen shots that gets saved into the cloud, how cool!

In the academic world, it's easy for students and educators to get unorganized from the many tasks they need to accomplish. This is a great tool for students when writing research papers because it helps organize thoughts into one place, and can gets stored in the cloud. Click on my video to see how I'm currently using this tool! 

Educational Technology Research

Source

Why Do We Look at Research in Education? 

Many people avoid research because it seems too confusing or difficult. However, if we don't use research, then we don't expand our knowledge or engage in critical thinking. At times, research can be used to challenge ourselves, as it can raise questions we weren't aware of asking. In education, research is important for improving practices, systematic analysis of topics, and develop new understandings related to teaching and learning. 

Even as a nutrition professional, I have to look at research often. Keeping up with the research helps me give the best nutrition advice. It also helps me defend or argue conflicting information in the media about nutrition (and there's a lot!). If you're interested in nutrition research, here's a link from the University of Virginia that I visit often! 

Common Sense Media
Media Use by Children Ages zero to eight
As many of us know, children are starting to use tablets and phones at a younger age now. The amount of children who use these technologies have increased exponentially. Below is the percentages of homes with mobile devices that have 0-8 year olds. Is this surprising to you? I have to say, I'm not really shocked by these results.

Research article

Here are just a few things this study found:

Article

1. Mobile media have become a nearly universal part of the children’s media landscape, across all levels of society.
2. The average amount of time spent with mobile devices each day has tripled (again), going from 5 minutes a day in 2011 to 15 minutes a day in 2013 to 48 minutes a day in 2017.
3. Contrary to recommendations from pediatricians, many children use media shortly before bedtime, and many families leave the TV on in the background most of the time. (Who else is guilty of this?!)
4. Children from lower-income homes spend an average of 1:39 more time with screen media each day than those from higher-income homes (3:29 vs. 1:50). Children from homes with lower parent education consume more screen media than children from homes with higher parent education (2:50 vs. 1:37; a 1:13 difference).
5. The amount of time children spend reading each day has held steady since 2011, but many children under 2 are not read to regularly.

See the rest of the findings here.

I believe tablets and technology have their place in education when used properly but some of the findings from above are created from bad habits and abuse of technology. I'm not really surprise by some of these findings but I have to be honest, I was the most shocked at #5. As an aunt, I do see my nephews that love to read books but they love their tablet more (ha)! Which finding are you most shocked about?