Edu Tech Self-Assessment 2/7

Connected Learning

 

Social Networks

1.     I use social networks (such as Facebook, Twitter) for my own professional developer as an educator.

This is 1000% a weakness of mine. I barely use Facebook unless I’m checking to see if any of my family, friends, and/or acquaintances have birthdays that day and I never go on Twitter. While I don’t see myself using either of those sites for personal reasons in the future, I want to improve my proficiency in them because I think they have the potential to help me become a better educator.

 

2.     I know how to use social networks to support the learning of K-12 students. 

This seems to go hand in hand with the above skill and therefore necessitates me to say that this is a weakness. Akin to my answer above, improving this skill is a priority because doing so could allow my students to better enjoy my class and classwork.

 

3.     I know how to connect with other educators via social networks to ask questions/improve my understanding about how K-12 students learn. 

I have the general idea of how to search for the proper groups on social networks and my sister, who is a biology high school teacher can surely show me some of the ropes. Nevertheless, this is a weakness of mine that I would like to improve upon. It does not hold the same priority as the others because I understand the gist of what to do if not all of the specifics.

 

4.     I understand ethical and privacy standards for the appropriate use of social networks in education.

Privacy on the internet is something I have heard about since my first computer class in middle school, but alas nothing stuck. I cannot say that I understand the appropriate use of social networks in education. Improving this skill is also a priority because the internet, and technology in general, are tools for us to use and thus safety measures (such as privacy related concerns) are an important and necessary feature when using them.

Teaching

1.     I can effectively help others to productively collaborate and use social networks in a learning context.

Once again, this is a weakness of mine. Similar to my answer on part one of this assessment, I want to improve this skill because I think it would be very advantageous for me and my students. For that same reason, understanding how to teach these skills is a priority—although first I have to understand how to do these skills myself haha.

 

One Last Note: Wow, I did not expect this to be a section only filled with weaknesses! I know that I hardly use social media so I’m not sure why this surprised me and yet. . .