The 21st Century Classroom
As we move further into the 21st century, technology becomes a more important part of the everyday classroom. With the new emphasis on technology and social media teachers need to be able to use tools correctly within the classroom and as a Professional Learning Community (PLC) and Network. Twitter and Evernote are common tools that can be used both in and out of the classroom. There uses in the classroom can greatly influence a student's ability to learn and help spread knowledge and the thirst for knowledge in students. Depending on the age, students are likely to have heard of Twitter or have a Twitter and are there for very aware of the social uses and need to be taught the educational uses. Evernote is not as commonly used by students outside of the classroom but is and excellent tool with many extensions to help students stay organized and grow in their learning.
Twitter
Twitter is a tool that allows users to connect and share ideas with people all around the world instantly. Educators can use Twitter in many ways, they can use it to create PLCs, create discussions, or help students find resources. The important part of Twitter is that students and teachers use proper etiquette online and present themselves in a way that reflects well and they will not resent later on in life. It is important to remember that anything put on the Internet never goes away.
Catherine Trinkle wrote an article about using Twitter in PLCs. In her article, Trinkle states that a PLC is a group of people with a shared vision. Twitter can help promote this shared visions almost completely free by having participants retweet and favorite others tweets. She encourages educators and members of PLCs to only tweet and retweet the highest quality information.
Ideas for the Classroom
In my future classroom I would be working with students who are 4th-6th grade special education students who are likely to be in a resource classroom. These students often have trouble getting out their thoughts and elaborating on other's information. With Twitter, post must be less than 140 characters. This allows students to tweet their ideas and respond to other;s ideas in a short and to the point way. The concept of tweeting student's ideas does not need to be on the actual twitter site but a board in the classroom where students could hand write their ideas but still keep the same ideas of Twitter in a safer way.
Another use for Twitter in the classroom is to use the ever so popular hash tags. Students can create their own hash tags to describe events in stories or passages being read, or any subject matter. Using hash tags is a quick and simple way to share thoughts about the material without taking to much time away from teaching. Students could use sticky notes to write down their tweets or hash tags and place them on a "Twitter board" in the classroom. This way students, especially younger students can get their ideas out.
How I use Twitter
Personally I am not a big fan of Twitter. I like the idea of using the set up and design of Twitter in the classroom as a bulletin board or thought process for students but I am not a fan of the actual social media tool. I understand that a main reason I am not a fan is because people tend to post too much information about themselves which I can unfollow them easily, but I enjoy following news sources in order to stay updated and they tend to post the same tweet multiple times to their page. I mostly use twitter to expand my PLC and follow fellow teachers along with news sources and school systems to stay updated on current events. During the past winter Olympics in February, it was convenient to be able to look up events or memorable moments by their hash tags to look at the recaps and future events.
Evernote is a tool used to easily organize notes and web pages. With Evernote, there are different extensions that can be used depending on the device. Evernote allows you to create lists, notes, and reminders. These creations can include web pages if using the Google Chome extension web-clipper that allows you to take a screenshot like picture of part of the web page. There are also unique apps for the iPad and iPhone that help extend the Evernote experience. Penultimate on the iPad allows for the user to write notes on different types of paper with either a stylus or their finger. These notes can be organized into different note books and/ or sent to the user's main Evernote site and stored or shared with others. Another app on the iPad is Evernote Peek. This app allows for the user to practice flash card like pages by using a smart case top that fold up part way to show part of the answer or the clue. The last main app used with the iPad is Skitch which a photo editor that allows the user to take pictures of documents and add important highlighting and notes or regular pictures and add words and other edits.
While researching more about Evernote I found an article called Lose the Binder: Use Evernote in Your Classroom. This article address how Evernote can be used in the classroom to teach teachers to move towards being paperless and using Evernote to keep track of important information and documents. It describes how to use Evernote for note taking, making lists, audios, and pictures. This article combined with Reinaldo Miguel's article: Evernote For iPad: 6 Ways Students Can Use Evernote In School creates a helpful guide for teachers to work towards becoming paperless in a technology centered world.
Ideas for the Classroom
In the classroom I would use a combination of these apps on student iPads to allow students to create their own organized notes along with studying the previously learned material. With Skitch students can create their own comic like story by taking pictures and adding texts and emojis. Students can better express their ideas when they have trouble writing down their ideas.
Another idea for the classroom is to use Evernote on the computer and create a page for each student so that when they find a website or information for a project on the website, the student can use Evernote Web clipper to take the information and save it onto a note in Evernote where they can access it later on any computer or web enabled device.
How I use Evernote
While working with Evernote this semester I have mainly used the notes for creating lists and notes that I can save on one device and pick up on another. I have also discovered Evernote web-clipper on Google Chrome which allows me to take parts of a web page and save important parts for later which I can then pull up on my phone. I have also been using Penultimate on my iPad to take notes during class which can easily be accessible through different notebooks. This allows me to take hand written notes without using a lot of paper. When it comes to studying for tests, I use the Evernote Peek app to quiz myself on my iPad, much like I would use in my future classroom. The last app I use with Evernote on my iPad is Evernote Skitch which I use to edit photos and add text to post on projects or for personal use.
Conclusion
As Education begins catching up more and more with the technology in the 21st century, teachers need to be able to uses and teach students how to properly use technological devices such as Twitter and Evernote. Twitter and Evernote help students and teachers create a more engaged environment for students. It sets them up for the real world situations where they ma have to create a PLC with Twitter or organize important notes and documents with Evernote and its various extensions. I already have a different outlook on how to use not only Twitter but social media in general and organizational tools such as Evernote that I will continue using not only this semester but throughout my professional career.
References
"Evernote." Evernote. https://evernote.com/ (accessed March 17, 2014).
Fox, Jo-Ann. "Lose the Binder: Use Evernote in Your Classroom." AppEducation. http://www.appeducation.com/2012/07/18/lose-the-binder-use-evernote-in-your-classroom/ (accessed March 18, 2014).
Miguel, Reinaldo . "Evernote For iPad: 6 Ways Students Can Use Evernote In School." Tools Applications. http://www.toolsandapplications.com/back-to-school-with-evernote-an-introduction-to-the-green-elephant/ (accessed March 18, 2014).
[Social media conversation bubble]. (2013) Retrieved from http://www.edudemic.com/2013/05/5-powerful-social-media-tools-for-your-classroom/
Trinkle, Catherine. "Twitter as a Professional Learning Community."School Library Monthly XXVI.4 (2009): 22-23. PBworks.com. Web. 9 Mar. 2014.
"Twitter Logo." Twitter. N.p., n.d. Web. 8 Mar. 2014. <http://twitter.com/>.
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