Assignment 9 Feedback on Chapters 5 and 6 

"The Socially Networked Classroom"

Chapter 5 - "Venti": Social Networking in an Unlimited Tech Environment

          This chapter is “Venti” which is for those educators who are ready to learn about using social media in the classroom such as Facebook.  This chapter provides a mix of activities that can be done both during time at school and at home or other places such as the libraries, after-school clubs, film festivals, and home schools. "It has been educators who work with students in non-classroom settings such as libraries or after-school programs who seem to have much more freedom in using games and online social networking tools." (Kist 2010)

Kist, the author provides an example of how one teacher used social networking site as a platform for her students that were able to post podcasts and also blogs in which they were able to get feedback from experts in the field. The teacher was able to create a secure group where the students and experts in the field could view the content and interact with the students. The teacher used the content and feedback from the interactions with the experts to create discussion and used the issues discussed to provide exams to show level of achievement.

Another example the author provides information on hybrid courses in which students are able to work on course work on campus and at home to provide flexibility for the students in which they do not have to attend class every day. Wiki Role Play Assignment is another example where students are able to used blogs and wikis as a learning platform where they are able to learn and interact with other students at any given time. The last example Kist, provides is Computer Gaming Club in which it is a multiplayer online role game that provides interactions between players. The author uses this chapter to let the readers know that this could be the future of education for a mixed approach to face to face and online learning.

 Chapter 6 - "Refill": Continuing the Dialogue

    This chapter consists of four questions from Kist, that address the concerns that educators continue to face regarding the use and some negative perceptions of social networking in the classroom. 

Will social networking be used to free students or more tightly limit their freedoms? The author, provides feedback to the readers that “we must protect our kids and students from this mean world and also protect them from ourselves.” (Kist 2010). Kids around the world have access to the internet and all types of social networking that they could become attached to only access social networking. Students will need to be able to access social networking as well as other platforms to allow them their freedom when it comes using it in the classroom and not just limit the resources that they can use toward gaining knowledge and also providing them with a choice. Some educators will not be allowed to provide other social networking platforms as they are not allowed to use them in the classroom.

The second question Kist provides the reader is about entertainment and education. What is the relationship between entertainment and education? According to Kist, the relationship between entertainment and education is not seen as a negative one. According to Kist, "All this cyberspace activity is seen as too much fun for the kids with not enough 'rigor'." (Kist 2010). Today the perception is that kids are seen as using technology and social networking for fun, not some believe that it is not for educational purposes. It is good to use social networking in the classroom, but there is a possible price to pay. According to the author, the perception is that kids get, "caught up in the fun of the media and losing sight of whatever academic content is also involved." (Kist 2010). This is an advantage that the kids are having fun with what they are possibly learning from doing these fun activities.

Is there enough time in my schedule for social networking? According to Kist, "teachers tend to feel that they need to get students completely comfortable with whatever tool they're using before making an assignment." (Kist 2010). The author has interviewed many teachers who have found ways to integrate the new media and social networking into the classroom. One of the suggestions that a teacher gave during the interview is to briefly demonstrate the technology skill to the class and rely on other students who are more tech savvy to help with tutorials for the other students. The teacher also suggests to not spend too much time on teaching the latest technology skills as they tend to change overnight. Kids will learn more from watching a tutorial or video than listen to the teacher on how to create a blog. According to Kist, "if it's not true that all students are 'digital natives,' we need to make sure that, yes, all students are exposed to breadth of curriculum content, but they are also able to 'read' and 'write' about this content in all the forms that are now available to them." (Kist 2010).     

What should our schools aspire to? The answer to this question is it depends on the school, educators and students on the outcome and the usage of using social networking in the classroom and to have the choice to use it or not. There can be a school reform or not, it just depends. One of the teachers that were interviewed for this book discussed that the biggest obstacle was the filing cabinets that are in the classrooms with old lesson plans and ideas. The filing cabinets should not be in the classroom and start from scratch and try new tools and learning to do things differently than the old way of doing things in the classroom. Overall, there is no definite answer.   

Reference

Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked classroom: Teaching in the new media age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

 

The Socially Networked Classroom Book Feedback to Chapters 3 and 4

Chapter 3 - "Tall": Social Networking in a Medium-Tech Environment

                       In this chapter the author provides activities that can be done in a school setting and also gives information about media applications, and talks about communicating with online safety, an understanding of what fair use in the media world, and the rules for a beginner who wants to start blogging.

            Communication online safety has been a concern for many educators and schools. Educators feel that social networking in the classroom and the dangers of online like cyber bullies, and exposure to the students with other fears of internet responsibilities. According to (Kist 2010) the examples of internet safety using curricula are Cybersmart Curriculum, iSafe, and Digizen were some that were listed in this chapter. Other educators have worked on developing Web-based educational sites are still concerned with online safety such as Zoey’s room (www.zoeysroom.com) that is an afterschool club that meets online and launched in 2002. This online club was designed to get girls interested in (STEM) science, technology, engineering, and math in the female roles in this profession.   

            The understanding of the “Fair Use” is addressed in this chapter as a concern for educators’ fear of plagiarism, which tends to be another reason why they limit the usage of the new media in the classroom. By educators using this topic of discussion with their students they can educate them on what is allowed and what is not fair use.

            Rules for blogging in the classroom can be safe for students when they are within a completely closed school network. The students should be introduced to the rules of and guidelines when providing feedback and not to be mean according to (Kist 2010). Another example in the chapter is for an educator to create a fake internet, which many schools and companies have that is known as an Intranet. This would allow students to have the same benefits of a social networking experience but it be restricted to the students in the classroom.

            Other activities that the author provides the reader is by mixing the two worlds of offline and online. The use of Hyperlinked Double-Entry Journals can be seen as a way for students to practice to have a dialogue and a reaction to the section or quote. This helps students to use their feedback and not plagiarize because it is their own opinion.

            Another activity example the author provides us is with Online Reading Portfolio and Online Writing Portfolio: this is an interactive portfolio system in which students can upload their work that was created and submitted throughout their classroom assignments. The portfolio can provide the student with a way to display their progression of work over the semester or the years. The portfolio can also allow the teacher to see the progression of the student and can be shared with other students.

 Chapter 4 - "Grande": Social Networking in a High-Tech Environment

    In this chapter, the author focuses more on how to incorporate blogs into the classroom and activities that can be used in areas that have can have a less restricted for internet use. Kist, discusses the use of social networking in a high-tech environment by using the web 2.0 classroom as he titles this chapter “Grande”. Teachers were encouraged to discuss online etiquette before allowing students to use an unfiltered access to the internet. Some teachers first became part of the world of Web 2.0 and started to blog and then started using it in the classroom. Teachers were very cautious about turning students loose into interacting with strangers from other blogs that were not part of the community. One way for teachers to interact with the students is to provide blogs that align with the school’s rules and regulations and the curriculum of the course. According to (Kist 2010) , he mentions in this chapter that students understand what is social networking etiquette he calls in the book net etiquette, that students will be interacting with and leaving comments on the blogs of strangers, those outside the classroom community and a part of a community that is international. Kist also addresses that blogs provide a way to interact and discuss with people across the world. The author interviewed a teacher named George Mayo who conducted a project with students in six different countries to collaborate on writing a story, all doing this through Twitter.

            Some examples and activities of how blogs and social networking can be used in the classroom and provide a less restricted internet usage environment is Blogosphere Tasks where a teacher selects certain blogs that support the curriculum. Students are expected to read and provide comments for their assignment.  Another example is the Social Action project Kist used in the book is for students to start to inquiry about the activities and provide feedback.

Reference

Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked classroom: Teaching in the new media age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

 

 

Assignment 5

Can Google Classroom, legitimately benefit from and could contribute to be used regularly in the classroom and related to the use of technology and social media or networking in the classroom? 

Future of the Classroom of today’s classrooms use technology and can contribute to prepare students for their future and their careers path. Education is evolving faster in recent history due to the rapid changes in the education sector due to the COVID-19 pandemic that challenged the way students learn in and out of the classroom.

Fauzi, A., et al., (2021) a study on exploring students’ acceptance of Google classroom during Covid-19 by Using the Technology Acceptance Model in West Sumatera Universities provides findings and benefits of using Google Classroom for teaching and learning during the pandemic Covid-19. E-learning is a media that aims to increase the effectiveness of the learning process (Chao and Chen, 2009) and is designed to be applied remotely (Oztekin et al., 2013). One of such widely used platforms in Indonesia is Google Classroom, which, according to Appbrain.com, holds the first rank for the number of downloads in the country. (Appbrain.com, 2021). Similar results were also obtained from a survey conducted by Lembaga Arus Survei Indonesia (ASI) from October 7th to 11th, 2020, which showed that it was the most widely used e-learning platform for distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic (ASI, 2020). Google Classroom is considered the best for improving educators' performance, as ideal for students (Iftakhar, 2016), and is very effective due to the support by various features that facilitate teaching and learning (Al-Maroof and Al-Emran, 2018). Therefore, using this platform can improve the quality of the learning process (Mafa, 2018). Also, Google Classroom is accessible by smartphones, an educator can create rooms for specific subjects consisting of all students in the class (Bhat et al., 2018), and more than one teacher can share a classroom to manage the courses easily. It can also be effortlessly operated and adapted by students (Hussaini et al., 2020), which can facilitate distance learning (Shaharanee, Jamil and Rodzi, 2016).

Google for education has created tools for today’s classrooms in which students can be supported individually based on their learning styles and needs. The tools that are provided can benefit the students, teachers, and the education sector. One of the benefits of using Google Classroom everyday use is it’s free and a handy way for teachers to keep track of student’s learning, organize learning and teacher lesson plans. The advantages of using Google Classroom that it provides, video streaming, easily accessible tabs for learning materials by categories, google calendar can sync to keep students due dates on assignments, and a fun interface. Teachers can also use other programs and apps that are compatible to use with Google Classroom in which they can use to assign work to the students, track student progress, and a way to communicate with the students and parents virtually. Some of the tools used in today’s classroom is Wakelet tool that you can bookmark anything and is used for organizing and sharing information that the teacher can create a lesson plan and collecting media all in one place including teacher’s notes. This tool helps students to apply the information learned to create presentations, book reports and study material for exams.

Another tool used in today’s classroom Flipgrid that is free from Microsoft, where students can record short videos to communicate with the class on any given topic. This tool allows teachers to assign reading assignments and have a way for students to provide feedback on a book review by sharing a short video to the class. Flipgrid has provided for teachers to collaborate with other countries by practicing world language and engaging students around the world to build skills around the world in the same language.

References

Fauzi, A., et al., 2021. Exploring Students' Acceptance of Google Classroom during the Covid-19 Pandemic by Using the Technology Acceptance Model in West Sumatera Universities. The Electronic Journal of e-Learning, 19(4), pp. 233-240, available online at www.ejel.org

Poore, M. (2016). Using social media in the classroom. SAGE Publications Ltd, https://www.doi.org/10.4135/9781473962187

https://www.edutopia.org/article/9-new-ways-use-flipgrid-classroom

https://wakelet.com/

 

The Socially Networked Classroom

Book Summary

  
   Chapter 1 - The Writing Is on the Screen: Social Networking Is Here to Stay

     Chapter one, the author describes three different incidents that as the reader one can actually picture themselves in that scene or place. The use of technology has changed with this usage of social networking. Kist addresses this by using three different examples that people every day are seen using social networking. The first example the author asks the reader to picture yourself at intermission on a Broadway show. The curtains come down and you seem to question where are you and what are you doing? The second example the author describes children from the Midwest are racing to get their bookbags and coats after they have been disconnected from their cell phones, blackberries, and laptops to get back in touch with the world. The last example the author asks the readers to picture a pregnant woman giving birth in her last stages of labor with her husband by her side and medical staff. The pregnant woman is going through contractions and reaches for her cell phone to periodically post messages on Twitter to give updates on what’s happening throughout her labor and will soon give birth to her son. The author provides these examples as a way to let the reader know how the internet can keep people connected in which this is called “social networking.” There are three main topics of discussion throughout the chapter: social networking, protection of kids' childhood, and structure of this book.

Kist believes that social networking is transforming into an important part in people's lives. One can question is then has social networking also transformed the way that we "do" school? Attempting to answer this question is the goal of this book. It seems as though we are becoming a screen-based society, for instance reading and writing, are now all done on a computer screen or other forms of print communication. Many different forms of multimedia such as video, sound, visual art, and advertising are all elements of technology. Kids are more connected to others through social networking than any other time in history. The internet provides the kids to connect with others who they would probably not meet face to face. The other fear is that kids can come in contact with people who are trying to connect to cause harm to them. According to Kist, he argues that the protection of childhood from social networking now is no different than what happened years ago with children who barely had any protection had to defend for themselves. "We have an assumption that childhood is safer now than in those prescript days, but of course, that amuses everyone is following the script." (Kist 2010). As part of the state standards documents regarding this script gives clear directions on what needs to be covered, which mentions including new media, but teachers don't have time to use new media within their classrooms. Some new teachers are caught between their knowledge and the new media practices have been set for the school. It is also seen that some teachers are not comfortable or not experienced enough with new media.

The schools have not implemented new media in their classrooms, this can be sending the wrong message to students about it, and we should be incorporating it into the classrooms. Students are then networking outside of the classroom without adult supervision.

    The structure of the book “aims to mention that incorporating social networking can be messy for educators who are attempting to include social networking in schools. The teachers are dealing with all the challenges that come along with this new kind of teaching.

 

    Chapter 2 - "Short": Social Networking in a Low-Tech Environment

    In this chapter, Kist features daily work in multiple forms and that by “reading” and “writing” these new media takes some practice and reflection. The first activity the author uses with his students if for them to complete a “Literacy Autobiography” on paper. The assignment requires the students to look back over their past on reading and writing and how we have been shaped by our media experiences. Multigenre Autobiography is the activity the author uses to show how we are shaped by various forms of communication. The PowerPoint presentation uses many pictures of sitcoms, cartoons, art, book covers, and different types of music to show how these forms of communication have shaped them.

          The second activity the author uses a fun way for student to understand how do we read in a “Nonlinear” Way. This activity helps student to understand reading from beginning to the end and ending to beginning. The students are able to understand on how to put a story in order and learning the difference between linear and nonlinear reading.

        The second activity Kist has for his students is Julius Caesar, The Musical: the purpose of this activity is to get the students thinking about how to create hybrid texts. The author notes that this does not need to be done with Julius Caesar and can be done with different and any text. This shows that many texts we encounter contain multiple forms of representation. The next activity the author uses is analyzing the films element by element pertaining to texts both print and non-print. Other activities include film prompts, snapshot dramas, text comparisons across genres, text categories, finding famous fictional friends and families, and four corners are some of the activities he used with his students.

 Reference

Kist, W. (2010). The socially networked classroom: Teaching in the new media age. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.