Reflection - Web 2.0 Journey

What a whirlwind these past 12 weeks have been!!! I have never in my life used so much social media or created so many different accounts for tech tools. Overall it has been a great learning experience and I am grateful that I was forced out of my comfort zone to embrace the social media / Web 2.0 world. 

The best part about this experience is that I can take the tools I have been shown and use the ones that are best going to fit into my personal and professional life. Learning about the tools has really given me a better opportunity to learn and grow in the digital world, and not be afraid to take the leap and try something new....especially blogging, it has become one of my favorite things to do! I find myself getting lost in different blogs and on content I never thought I would be interested in. 

As much as I have enjoyed it, I will be taking a large step back from social media for a good long while...hopefully! There is so much to see, track, and read, that a good break from it will bring me back into a head space to enjoy it more. 

After this journey, I take the step into my final course of the ISLT program. I couldn't be happier that one of my final classes in this program was one where I had the most fun engaging with my peers and trying so many new tools and technologies!

Blogging...to be continued?

Blogging started as somewhat of an uphill battle. I was always worried about what to write about or what would be worth putting out there...

Now, I plan to start a blog in regards to my journey with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I have been designing my PLN around this chronic disease and building a community. Blogging would be the next logical step right? So many others are enduring this journey and it has been comforting knowing that I am not alone and others are in the same circumstances. 

Blogging for me now has become somewhat of an outlet to the many thoughts, ideas, and practices in my head. I often times have so much going on, as do we all, that I easily lose track of the thoughts and ideas they have. By blogging, I can hop on the computer or my phone at any moment and just write it all down.

I will say, this was one of my favorite components of this course! :)

Using Social Media in K-12 Education

Today was the first day back to school since June...No students yet, but back to school none the less. At the start of this Web 2.0 journey, I began to contemplate how I could integrate social media into my own classroom.

Now at the end of the course, I came across this article These 5 best practices can help schools make the most of social media. Using the tips here, you can find best practices of instituting social media within a K-12 setting such as knowing your audience and practicing consistency. With that being said, most schools, at least in my district have some form of regular social media: Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram that is monitored by an administrator (s) and is updated frequently with the happenings in the school.

Using a social media account like those mentioned above can be tricky to utilize in specific classroom settings and is not allowed in my district. However, looking from the outside, I think it is important to have these types of accounts because they can appeal and reach a wider audience because most people utilize one of these platforms. 

Challenge Week

 Last week was full of many challenges, and it was so much fun! As I was trying out a few of the challenges, I began to question what made these so engaging? Was it the excitement of trying something new? Or, putting into practice some of the tools we have learned about? Or was it just the fact that it was something different than our normal weekly participation?

I would like to admit that I think it was a combination of everything mentioned above! Throughout the course, we have been focusing on all things Web 2.0. We have engaged in many different platforms and created numerous accounts across those platforms, but I think the challenges are what really sparked my interest in all of these tools. Allowing the learner to use the tool in an activity that may not be clearly academic (journal readings, analysis, etc.) allows us to be more hands on so to speak in such a digital world. The challenges allowed us to do some fun stuff in my opinion, while using Web 2.0 technology.

My favorite challenge was the playlist! It was interesting to see the variety of genres that my classmates turned to when creating a 'summer vibes' playlist!

Sutori - My favorite classroom tool!

 I was introduced to Sutori through an ISLT course back in 2021...and it was a game changer. This LMS is a great tool to organize and manage online learning courses. The platform itself has ready made timelines for a plethora of different learning units or you can create and generate your own! 

I have used this tool in my own classroom (high school) and have found it to be very helpful for students in tracking and providing their lessons all in a one stop shop method. Below is an example of one that I created for an ISLT course as well as a direct link to their tutorials section for more information on creating your own!

Sutori Example

Tutorials