Two of the technology tools we are working with this semester are Twitter, Evernote, and Skitch. We are learning about how these programs can help enhance the classroom experience. This has been particularly interesting for me because I have never used either of the tools before.
While using Twitter for social media and staying connected with friends has always been a well known use of Twitter, its place in the classroom is quickly coming into view. Teachers are learning more about how to integrate Twitter in their professional learning networks.
A professional learning network, commonly known as a PLN, is an informal learning community of colleagues (Lalonde, 2012). These people connect from all over the world, in the goal of learning from each other and sharing information.
Part of the reason that Twitter has taken off as a PLN is because it has provided teachers with constant access to other professional educators, day or night (Lalonde, 2012). Instead of simply waiting for the weekly grade level meeting, teachers are able to ask for help and continue to receive professional development at the tip of their fingers, whenever they need it.
It takes a bit of time and a plan, in order to gain a PLN of quality educators. It requires the sharing of useful information, along with following the right people (Witby, 2013). Instead of just focusing on who is following you or what you are tweeting, it is more helpful to be a follower of professional educators and retweet the pertinent information that you read. You can quickly determine the quality of a useful follower by reading their previous tweets and following the people that they follow (Witby, 2013).
While it is not necessary to write your own tweets, it is helpful to share the ones that you find useful. By sharing what you find, the information continues to spread, helping more people along the way.
This is the part that interests me as an educator. I have not had a Twitter because I haven't been interested in sharing personal information on another social media website, but I can see how Twitter can operate a little differently. I can monitor what type of information I see and I can gather all kinds of updates and ideas, to stay current in my field without having to write my own tweets.
Once you feel comfortable operating Twitter, you can even incorporate it into your lesson plans. The Internet is filled with ideas on implementing Twitter with your students. A few examples can be found on Teachhub and Edudemic.
Another tool that is spreading into the field of education is Evernote and it's partner Skitch. Evernote is a program that allows users to store information that will sync into your computer, tablet, and phone, whether you are at school or at home. It is being used to store lesson plans, write notes on student work, take pictures, and record video. The version on the Internet even allows you to clip images and webpages that are saved directly into Evernote.
One of the best features with Evernote is that it is a free organizational tool. Students and teachers are both able to create notebooks full of information and share them with each other. There are less papers to keep track of because everything is stored right in Evernote. Web clippings and lectures can also be stored in the same notebooks as PDF documents and typed notes.
The Internet is filled with suggestions about how to integrate Evernote in your classroom. One article by Katie Peila, a third grade teacher in Montana, wrote about an abundance of ways in which she uses Evernote with her class. Her ideas were even broken down into categories including professional work, classroom organization, student work, and checklists (Peila, 2013).
While teachers quickly are learning about Evernote, even students, like a 2nd grader on YouTube, know the benefits. Her teacher recorded a video about how her student uses Evernote for reading fluency. She took pictures from the pages of a book she was reading and then recorded herself reading it aloud. Later on, she watched the video, made comments on her read aloud, and made goals for next time.
One of Evernote's programs that can assist with this process is Skitch. Skitch integrates with Evernote seamlessly through the capturing and editing of pictures. The main benefit of Skitch is that you use it to mark up pictures with writing, arrows and images. These photos can then be stored on Evernote for future use.
Teachers have found many uses for editing pictures within their classroom. These include capturing webpages and telling students how to navigate them, pointing out locations on a map, practicing their rainbow writing, or recording student thinking when you've taken a picture of their work (Mere, 2012).
I have found that Evernote can be a real life saver when organizing and saving information. While I have always been the type to hand write my notes, I am still finding the benefits that come with Evernote and Skitch. No longer am I worrying about my notebooks getting old and the pages ripping out. I don't have to go into Paint, after emailing myself a picture, in order to edit it. I can start using these programs. The more time that I spend having them available as tools, the more I will likely use them on a day to day basis.
Lalonde, C. (2012, SEP). How important is twitter in your personal learning network? . Retrieved from http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=2379624
Mere, C. (2012, JUL 20). Using skitch in your classroom. Retrieved from http://reflectandrefine.blogspot.com/2012/07/using-skitch-in-your-classroom.html
Peila, K. (2013, SEP 12). Using evernote in your classroom . Retrieved from http://www.theorganizedclassroomblog.com/index.php/blog/using-evernote-in-your-classroom
Whitby, T. (2013, JAN 11). Building a professional learning network on twitter. Retrieved from http://smartblogs.com/education/2013/01/11/twitter-strategy-101/
