Crazy that another semester in the EdTech program is coming to an end! I can remember when I was considering the EdTech program at Boise State and recall seeing this course as an elective option, thinking how awesome it would be to take a course such as this. I can honestly say that this has been one of my favorite courses in this program so far and have gotten so much out of it! Here are the key components that I have learned from this course and how I will apply them to my professional practice.
Social Media Interactions Set Up (Module 1): The basic set ups for this course helped me to realize that there are several platforms that can be used for classroom communication. I look forward to incorporating this into the courses that I teach, by using something such as Google Sites, a class Facebook page, or Edmodo to post announcements, assignments, and a place for collaboration.
PLE & PLN (Module 2): I now know what these acronyms stand for! I loved creating my PLE diagram and seeing the uniqueness of everyone else. I loved that we got to create our diagram using the platform of our choice. It was awesome to be able to develop a PLN within the course. This really helped with any questions that I had, I always knew that I would have people there to help. Our group ended up working very well together and I appreciate the team effort, as this is not always, especially in an online course. Developing a PLN within this course opened my eyes to see the importance of having a PLN not only where you work, but outside your school as well. There are so many people around the world that you can connect with and can benefit from. I am happy to say that I joined an amazing PLN group on Facebook of business educators that are willing to share ideas and resources with one another. I hope to stay in contact with Katie, Ben, and Jasmine, my amazing PLN members!
TweekDeck, Live PD, & Digital Footprints (Module 3): Before this course, I had no idea what a TweetDeck was. I have learned not only how to use this site, but also utilized it when participating in Twitter chats. The live PD was very beneficial as well. I especially enjoyed the Twitter chats. I was able to make new connections through these chats, gain numerous resources that I can use right away, and expand my PLN. I plan to not only use these resources, but participate in more Twitter chats in the future. I think live PD is an a different, yet rewarding way of learning through collaboration and interaction. I would definitely suggest this to others. The idea of digital footprints was also introduced in this module. I think this was a very important assignment and something that is quite relevant to the business and marketing courses that I teacg. I am excited to incorporate this into a lesson with my high school students and also use it to discuss brand and company images through the words and pictures that they post on social media and online.
Curation (Moduel 4): It took me awhile to understand what the word curation actually meant. I appreciated be able to explore this module with my PLN and I think our group did a great job of creating our curation criteria. I loved using my new resource ScoopIt, and look forward to using it in the future to curate content. In addition, I really benefited from examining my group’s curated data. It allowed me to explore new resources and ideas that I probably wouldn’t have otherwise learned about.
PLE Diagram (Module 5): This was an assignment that I thought I would struggle with to come up with something unique from everyone else, but it ended up being one of my favorite assignments! As mentioned, I loved the freedom to create your own interpretation of the assignment using the platform of you choice. Through assignments such as this, I was able to explore sites such as Piktochart and Canva. This assignment was one of my favorites because I was able to make it personal to me. Through this assignment, I realized the numerous parts that make up my personal learning environment, that it has really grown since the beginning of this course, and that it will only continue to expand!
Research & Social Media Policies (Module 6): The research assignment allowed me to explore how business and marketing teachers incorporate social media in their classrooms. I got so much out of this assignment and can’t wait to incorporate the resources that I acquired next semester! The other assignment had has look at different social media policies and then create our own. Again, I was able to use Piktochart to create my own set of social media policies that I will be able to use in my classes as guidelines for proper social media use.
Social Media Mini Unit (Module 7): This assignment allowed me to work with my awesome PLN once again. I think our group worked very well together and I realized how easily technology and social media can be incorporated into any subject. I look forward to enhancing my social media unit that I had last year for my Marketing II students, I know there is so much more that I can include from this course! I also enjoyed the peer review process through a screen cast. This was a great idea and allowed me to see what others did for their social media mini units. I would like to incorporate a peer-review process such as this in my classroom in the future.
It is obvious that I gained multiple resources and learned so much from this course! I am excited to transfer what I have learned through this course into my own classroom and know my students will greatly benefit. I give myself a 75/75 points on my blog posts because I was always very thorough in each post, made sure that I had everything included that was expected in the requirements, and was reflective throughout. Thank you all for an awesome semester, only 3 more classes to go! 🙂
Ally Gilin: EDTECH Learning Log 