Week 29 Mindlab (activity 5) – Professional Online Social Networks

Week 29 Mindlab (activity 5) – Professional Online Social Networks

Descriptive stage:  My current use of social media applied in my professional development is pretty good and basic, and with professional discussions within my CoP, we all share websites and apps and their positive and negatives uses.  I use a lot of Google search engine, YouTube, TKI ARBs, study ladder, Seesaw, I belong to Facebook groups such as NZ primary, Primary Art ideas and others, I also seek ideas on pinterest, Teachers pay teachers, instagram, and even TED talks.  The access to information and ideas are abundant. I feel the access to this is a blessing to have that can enhance my knowledge.

Twitter on the other hand I do not use and I was introduce to it during mindlab and, was encouraged to set up an account and attempt to use. I am still learning and trying to use twitter, for me personally, I really do not tend to use it. I find it very opinionated. That’s cool for everyone else, but for me, it is not my thing. Therefore, I rarely use it.

Google Suite, over the past two years our school has become a Google school where we use Goggle suite to collaborate and share documents. This is amazing. I love the accessibility, the sharing, linking and the collaboration

Comparative: In relation to the survey of media tools used in teaching / leading, I like and agree with the majority percentage being content of shared documents, slide share, followed by Facebook, G+ forums and discussions. For this would include me.

Based on a discussion I had with another colleague about the graph of social media platforms used to help with own professional learning and development, she helped me understand the networking or forming of different community of practice with the main use of Facebook. We both listed our groups we belong too and the common interest of these groups. Within these groups, we are communication and sharing ideas, understandings and opinions. ‘Being liked minded people’

Critical Reflection:  According to Magette, K. (2014) emphasises the important of embedding social media in the classrooms to equip student’s interactions and learning. Margette (2014) also mentions the importance of well-designed, policies, procedures and professional development to be in place for educators and students.

According to Whitaker, T., Zoul, J., & Casas, J. (2015), they mention the power of all social media. They spoke about ‘the fears educations have of using these platforms as teaching tools and the benefits our students can have’.  They state, ‘Instead of making the use of Facebook or Twitter or Instagram uncomfortable in the classroom and in teaching and learning, we need to look for ways to involve students.’ (p.6)

Therefore, the above researches have helped me understand the opportunities and benefits of social media can have on student dealing with experiences and interactions on line. As long as we educators are well equip with policies, procedures and professional development, we should not fear the unknown that our students are already exposed too.

References:

Jay, J. K., & Johnson, K. L. (2002). Capturing complexity: A typology of reflective practice for teacher education. Teaching and teacher education, 18(1), 73-85.

Magette, K. (2014). Embracing social media : a practical guide to manage risk and leverage opportunity. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.(Available in Unitec library).

Mindlab Social Media Tools Survey Responses https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdV76OthdKeX5BF5lhpi37Qzq6Jf1kV3HV2fuLR4XHdx8T3ug/viewanalytics

Whitaker, T., Zoul, J., & Casas, J. (2015). What connected educators do differently. New York, NY: Routledge.