Technology: Helping Teachers Help Teachers

The internet is a unique platform that allows people from many different places to all collaborate and share ideas. This has helped advance the teaching profession by opening students up to new ideas and viewpoints they might not have ever been exposed to if they had been isolated in their community. While the internet as a whole is a useful tool, some sources are definitely more reliable than others. Below I have listed two websites that I have found and believe will be helpful throughout my career, and my hope is that you find them helpful as well!

TeacherTube

TeacherTube is like the website YouTube, minus all the cat videos and other distractions. This website is a platform that makes it easy for teachers to share all sorts of things with other educators. The site is filled with video lessons and demonstrations, and even includes worksheet and study sheet links! This website can be a "one stop shop" for almost any subject you can think of!

Edutopia

Edutopia is a website that I found while exploring Twitter for an earlier assignment in this class. I followed their Twitter account, and then found out that they have an entire website full of resources. The website includes information about technology and teaching, the impact of social media on students and learning, and even conflict management and resolution in schools. Both the T
witter account and website are helpful, and I would definitely recommend checking them both out!

Why Use Twitter as a Source of Continuing Education?

1. Twitter fits into your schedule whenever YOU have time, which is incredibly convenient for an educator who always has something new to be working on. Free moments are scarce, and the simplicity and length of many tweets allows you to take advantage of those moments.

2. Allows you to meet other people that share the same interests or views as you, and engage with others that may challenge your beliefs. There are more Twitter accounts in existence than most people can even imagine. While that can cause confusion and make it more difficult to find reliable sources; with just a little bit of an evaluation of the accounts you look at, it won't take much time at all to find a few good sources of information.

3. Hashtags are an incredibly convenient way to organize the thoughts of many people on a certain topic. For example, when I log into my Twitter account, I can search "#edchat" and see what people are talking about regarding education in real time. I can even search for more specific grade levels and subject areas if I would like.

4. Twitter is ever changing and updating, and this allows its users to communicate and collaborate in real time. Surveys of groups of people can be done live, and input from millions of people is just a click away. Because of the ever changing nature of the website, information is shared quickly and with a large audience. This also allows Twitter to be used to stay up to date on new/changing professional standards and requirements.

You can visit my Twitter by clicking HERE or by 

clicking the link on the right side of the page.