Variety within Twitter

I have always had a twitter, but I don’t think I’ve ever used it to its full capacity until recently. I’ve always just used it as a way to communicate with friends and keep up with their lives as we all have started to separate onto different paths. Recently, I have learned to engage with the many professionals in my field around me. I have started to follow them, as well as having some of them follow me in return.
Through this I was able to read some of the incredible posting they put out on twitter. As an education major, I have followed many people within that field. They have put out ideas that not only are interesting to read, but I keeps me up to date with the advances in education.
For example, I started to follow MaryAnne, @mamasmiles. She is currently a stay at home mom, but has the background of a masters in education. Besides tweeting, she also has her own website, which is mamasmiles.com. Through her twitter, I have viewed countless ideas that she has posted. They’re educational and allow for the children to engage within the actives, as well as learn.
I tweeted her myself and expressed to her that I was extremely impressed with what she has posted and for my future classroom, I hope to be able to use some of those ideas. She was gracious enough to tweet me back and express that she was glad that I was enjoying them.
Through twitter I’ve learned that it is not only for socializing, but it is a tool that I can use for my future career.

Technology on a Budget

Literature and media on the topic of technology in education talks about tablets and personal computers and their endless possibilities, but not all schools have the funds for this kind of technology. Actually most schools don’t have that kind of money. It’s hard enough to get updated textbooks let alone a brand new iPad for all the students. How are teachers from those many districts without the money, supposed to incorporate technology in their classrooms? They could go out and buy some themselves, but that doesn’t seem quite possible on the restricted salary. Well good news is, it doesn’t mean they have to give up and stick to traditional ways of teaching.No. There are many ways to enhance teaching using technology without the need of all of those fancy devices. Jennie Mageria lists many ways to do so in her article 7 Ideas for Going Digital without Devices.

A classroom can be fun an innovative without costing a fortune.Using programs like Youtube, Twitter, KidBlog and many others, teachers can enhance their students learning without a need for a large budget. Students can use these programs at home, in the classroom, on shared computers in the school, and even at the local library. Students are able to engage the class in a variety of locations. Even if the students did not each have access to a computer, many classrooms are equipped with at least one computer and a projector of some sort to share the screen. This way the class can work together on a project or watch a video related to what they are learning about.

These programs engage the students leaving them with more meaningful experiences. When an experience is meaningful students are more likely to take away from their learning and apply it to real life.