Skyler Huspen's EDU776 Blog

Reflecting It's crazy to me that I'm halfway through my first semester of grad school, and that EDU 776 is coming to an end. When I sat down and really though about how the class went, I realized how my  views of education in technology have expanded. Looking Back Photo courtesy of http://www.pinevillageks.org/ 2016/09/ a-look-back/memory-lane-road-sign/ When I first started this course, I was very comfortable with using technology in a personal setting. I've used it my entire life. But  the only professional exposure I had was when I made a separate Twitter account for undergrad. I had never kept a blog (unless you count Myspace), I had never built a website, I had never really researched using technology specifically for education. I knew people were using technology in education (my elementary school provided me with a MacBook in 4th grade) but I never really explored all the tools that were available. Throughout this class, I explored and learned about the in

Tattoos In September of 2016, I got a tattoo. Even though I was 24 years old, my mom wasn't happy. She didn't like the idea of putting something on my skin forever. I still remember her calling me, telling me that I had put my first permanent mark on my body. While she's right that my tattoo is permanent, it's not my first. I've had a digital tattoo for over 10 years. I created my first social media account in 2005. I was in eighth grade, and Myspace was really starting to take off. Similar to most millennials, I transitioned to Facebook a few years later. I also branched off into Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and more. I have a pretty extensive digital tattoo. However, this wasn't news to me. I've been googling myself since high school, and try to always be aware of what I post before I upload. This  TED blog  does a great job of explaining the idea, and the permanence, of digital tattoos. Data Mining The idea of data mining is about goin

For this weeks assignment, I had the opportunity to explore a web tool I was previously not familiar with. I chose Seesaw , and I was very impressed with what this website can do. Logo courtesy of seesaw.me Described by children as "Facebook for kids", Seesaw allows students to join an online "classroom" with their teacher and peers. In that classroom, they can share their work and comment on each other's posts. Teachers can send messages to students and even have the ability to share the online classroom with parents. This is a great way to allow technology to bring teachers, students, and parents together in one place. Seesaw gives students a safe space online to show off all their hard work in class. Check out the video below to learn more about the basics of setting up an account and navigating this awesome website. Personal video of seesaw.me created with Screencastify One pretty cool feature about this website is how students log in. You can

Photo courtesy of twitter.com I joined Twitter in 2009. Like most millennials, I used it to stay in contact with friends, scroll through memes, and share tidbits about my day. It wasn't until my senior year of undergrad that I actually created a professional Twitter account. I took a nutrition communication class that required I create an account and tweet out helpful nutrition tips several times a week. It stressed writing my own tweets over retweeting others. This was great, but I didn't really focus on gaining followers because I didn't interact much with the rest of Twitter. It wasn't until EDU776 that I truly started utilizing Twitter to expand my professional network.  Field trips can be fun and educational, but they can also be expensive, hard to plan, and difficult to chaperone. One resource that I found particularly helpful was originally posted by Kara Wilkins  and shared through Twitter  by  @WeAreTeachers . They post contained a list of 250 "vi

Our world is constantly changing and evolving. Every day, new research pertaining to our fields is published. As professionals, it is our responsibility to be aware of this research. We don't have to necessarily practice everything we read, but being familiar with new and emerging information helps us to be better and more effective educators. And the better and more effective we are, the more beneficial we are to our students. That's why I thought looking over research for this week's assignment was very interesting. Photo courtesy of http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup/ speak-up-2016-trends-digital-learning-june-2017.html One statistic that really stuck with me came from Project Tomorrow's  Speak Up Report . It states that, "Technology leaders (67%) say that the greatest challenge they face in implementing digital learning or expanding technology use is motivating teachers to change their traditional practices to use technology more meaningfully with students.

QR Code Mysteries  are a fun and interactive way to bring technology into the classroom. QR codes function by requiring the student to actively scan an image to reveal a missing piece of information. This, by definition, ties into active learning. Photo courtesy of https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/active-learning/ But what is active learnin g ? Active learning is a teaching style that is student centered and engaging. I think this is something teachers should consider when planning lessons on a day to day basis. Allowing students to take control of their learning ensures that they will take more away from each lesson. It is a well known fact that people retain more of what they do compared to what they are told. Students will remember more information if they are actively working with a concept, rather than sitting in class and listening to a lecture. Essentially, bringing active learning into the classroom brings better learning opportunities to our students.  While active learning