I decided to check out Padlet this week. I heard about it from a peer, and I'm really thrilled about this tool and using it with my students. This app is great for collaborating and presenting work. Padlet users are able to "Make beautiful boards, documents, and web pages that are easy to read and fun to contribute to." Some of the features are that Padlet is "easy and intuitive," allowing for a novice tech. skilled person to participate; "universal and inclusive," allowing anyone to collaborate from anywhere; "perfecting the art of collaboration," allowing users to invite others to contribute and/or modify templates for their own use; supporting several diverse file types; "private and secure," and so much more.
I feel like Padlet is a more creative and interactive way for students to collaborate with their peers and share what they are doing throughout their projects each term. There is so much going on in our building lately with PBL that even we, as teachers/colleagues, don't get to have fun checking out other classes. Padlet would be great for us to share the experiences we are having with our students and other staff. Geez, I am getting excited just thinking about it. I realize most of our kiddos are already social butterflies and all over their phones, but this space seems so much more productive, creative, and valuable. I was browsing through templates and found all sorts of ideas: creating a scavenger hunt around our school or having a field trip photo contest in order to build more of a community feel, a podcast or poetry space for my English kiddos, a favorite recipe space for my cooking class, and the list goes on. How neat! What other apps have you found valuable for your students in the classroom? I love finding out creative ways for my high school kiddos to use technology in a more productive manner and for me to entice students in my classes.
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George Siemens states, "Technology is altering (rewiring) our brains. The tools we use define and shape our thinking."
I rather prefer the words "refine", "adapt", or "grow" our thinking, but I guess that is just semantics. I do, however, agree that technology is altering our brains; it is opening up so many more opportunities to learn and grow, from the technology itself and from others we experience it with. In addition, I believe that as new generations form and old ones are lost, certain skills, abilities, and techniques, thus, wiring connections are lost with them. There are certain things humans are forgetting how to do simply because of technology. For instance, a silly example, a rotary dial phone; many kiddos these days have lost something from the advancement of technology; there are certain things they can't figure out that may seem very simple to us. Stick a rotary dial phone in front of them and see what they do. Is this really the rewiring of human beings' brains or something else? I feel like certain connections are lost as others transpire. Kop and Hill mention in their Connectivism: Learning theory of the future or vestige of the past? report, "...the way in which global networks and communities of interest are currently being formed through emerging technologies is encouraging young people, in particular, to develop new, creative, and different forms of communication and knowledge creation outside formal education." Are our brains still benefiting from this rewiring that may be occurring because of the advancement in technology, or is there something to also be sad about losing? |
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Angelina Valvona-Herndon: a high school teacher, blessed to work with at-risk students striving to succeed in academia and the real world. Archives
October 2019
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