Twitter Chat 3: #edtech

Last week's Twitter chat was hosted by Nick Sarkinen and Duke Smolin. The main topic of discussion was technological integration into curriculum and how to successfully do that. More specifically: TPACK. TPACK is the intersection of technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge. The idea is that most effective learning takes place at the intersection of these three factors. As 21st century educators, we must put in effort to use all three knowledges when teaching a class. First, we must have content knowledge. Especially as secondary teachers, we need to make sure we are endorsed in the content knowledge that we teach. This will ensure that our students are learning the most they possibly can from us. Second, we must have pedagogical knowledge. Knowing how to teach is just as important as knowing what you are teaching. There are tried and true methods of managing a classroom, conveying information, and creating assignments that work better than other methods. As educators of the 21st century, we must look for best-practice pedagogy and apply it to our pedagogy. Lastly, using technology in a 21st century classroom is just as important as having the necessary content and pedagogical knowledge. Technology can augment and even change the way we teach and learn which is vital in an ever-changing society.

Another topic we discussed is community involvement through technology. We were asked to brainstorm some ways we can encourage community members to be involved in education and how we can use technology to do it. Some of my classmates came up with great ideas. One great idea that stood out to me was to create a classroom website that parents and others could look on to see what is happening at school. Another way is to have Twitter chats that allow community members to participate. Social media is an effective way to get people to know what is going on because many people have some kind of social media account. In fact, one may argue that a big percentage of the population in a given area are connected via social media.

One other thing that we talked about on Twitter was the way technology can change students attitudes towards learning. By using an avenue that the students like, such as social media or other technologies, the students may be more interested and invested in their education. In addition to making education more interesting to the students, technology allows students to be take more ownership of their learning. Technology can help students show off what they learned and it gives them more resources so there would be little to no excuse for a student not understanding or finishing an assignment.