This week’s class topic was presented by Jesse Miller of Mediated Reality, and expert in the world of effectively and safety integrating social media into business and education. He offered a fresh point of view on a couple topics that I wouldn’t have thought of, and gave great reminders about things like our own digital privacy.
As someone who is not hugely into tech, Jesse’s talk left me with a few tidbits (and kicks in the butt) that I’ll be holding onto in regards to not fighting technology, but rather embracing it in the classroom. He mentioned the practice of some schools taking student cellphones, or not allowing them at all in schools or classrooms at all as being archaic. The idea of disallowing cellphone use was not a hot button topic on my radar, but I can see now that it can be a big deal to students, teachers, and parents alike. I really loved the example he gave of a class schedule he has seen to be effective in terms of incorporating cellphone use at designated times to dissuade students to use them during class time. Even such a simple example as the one he gave was eye opening to me, and absolutely something I want to keep in mind for the future.
In terms of personal technology use, Jesse brought up some great reminders and pointers for us future-teachers to think about. Social media leaves a bread crumb trail of the things we’ve said and the photos we’ve posted; it’s so important for us to think about the people that may find these things, whether it be employers, students, parents, or colleagues. This online version of ourselves needs to be tailored to be an extension of how we’d want to portray ourselves to these people in-person. Additionally, being teachers specifically puts us under a bigger microscope in that even a harmless photo of an educator holding alcohol is reason enough to get in trouble.
It was interesting to do the activity he suggested; doing a google search of your name and location to see what may pop up if someone were to look you up online. Not surprisingly, as someone with an incredibly generic name, I couldn’t even find myself through multiple different searches! I guess this is the upside of only having one social media account that is set to private.
Jesse’s talk was thought provoking and his messages are ones that I will keep with me through the different stages of my teaching career, as the technologies that learners bringing into the classroom change.