Throughout this course, I have learned a great deal about communicating with students and interacting with them using technology. While studying chapter 8, I learned more ways I could have a relationship with my students through social media such as email and text messaging, teacher or classroom websites, blogs, online discussions and wikis. All these routes of communication seem to be able to match at least one grade level and can connect us to technology ti share ideas and information with different audiences for different educational purposes- which I believe makes them more credible. For a high school level English class, however, I can see myself mostly working with email (text messaging can easily get out of hand) and teacher or classroom websites. Through these websites, I can communicate information about myself, expectations in the class, due dates and post a discussion where my students can feel free to post and ask/answer questions.
I also enjoyed learning more about creating wiki's in the classroom. I thought this was an interesting topic since we have just finished completing our first wiki in this course. I can see myself easily going the route of guiding my students through a wiki and letting them take the lead in their own group project. If I were to assign my students into groups with an analytical essay of a literature feature to complete- (i.e poem, Author, story, etc. ), I would be able to see my students grasp the hold of technology as a tool, provoke teamwork among themselves, and view the participation levels of my students.
Lastly, I learned a great way to be "there" for my students is to hold online office hours. This time would be dedicated for when I can answer student questions and discuss class assignments electronically. I figure I could direct my communication mostly through email- as it can be quickly responded to and students have the confidentiality and privacy they desire. Though there are some drawbacks to the idea of having online office hours, I can manage my online office by using password protected sites, allow myself multiple email accounts to manage professional email with personal and maintain a archival record of communications with students and families.
http://www.bitstripsforschools.com/comics/9ZCVQ1/
Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2013). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. 2nd Edition. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
