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.

Week 28 Mindlab (activity 4) - Influence of Law & Ethics in Practice

Activity 4: Legal and ethical contexts in my digital practice

My ethnic dilemma and referring to Rolfe et al (2001), framework on reflective practice

WHAT?  This year I became more familiar with using seesaw app. I designed tasks and activities and that enable my students to be actively engaged in their learning. This year my goal was to get more parent/family involvement and feedback. For this to happen, I emailed parents giving the access to their child’s digital learning journal. Parents were very excited, impressed and proud of their child's work and learning. I was able to share with my students whose parents were leaving comments on their child’s work. Students were so happy and proud to see their parents see their work. I was able to speak with parents and they loved receiving notifications of when their child uploaded work. Parents were coming to see me to be added to the seesaw family to access their child's digital learning journal. This became very popular with families that they wanted to share their child's journal with ALL family members. Some parents came to see me to request me to add their grandparents and other family members to have access to their child's digital learning journal.

SO WHAT?  I found that the dilemma is the potential for outside members having access to student work and information. I believe this would lead to a Violation of privacy and confidentiality and misuse of student data/information. I know I have good relationships with my parents and they always feel comfortable to talk and express their concerns with me. I know that with seesaw app, I have full control and I control what approved in my students digital journal and my parents access and comments. My thoughts on this matter, is that I do not want to share access to outside family members. I wish to keep access strictly to family members for the welfare and privacy of my students.

NOW WHAT?  So, the request of outside family members wishing permission to access seesaw and the potential of violation of privacy and student information, I can clearly say, ‘No’. I do not wish any information and violation of my students to be shared. In relation to our code our standard in the code of professional responsibility, commitment to families and whanau ‘I will respect the vital role my learners’ families and whānau play in supporting their children’s learning by:

1. engaging in relationships with families and whānau that are professional and respectful

2. engaging families and whānau in their children’s learning

(Education Council, (2017).p.12)

References:

Education Council. (2017). Our Code Our Standards. Retrieved from: https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/Our%20Code%20Our%20Standards%20web%20booklet%20FINAL.pdf

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D., Jasper, M. (2001) Critical reflection in nursing and the helping professions: a user’s guide. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.