EME 6414

 I never would have thought about social media being used as a learning resource. I mean, what could one possibly learn from Facebook, Twitter (or X), or even TikTok. However, you may be surprised in what you learn. Some say that online social networks (OSNs) "support student formal and informal learning, provide opportunities for students to be exposed to new perspectives for learning through virtual communities, enhance student communication, collaboration, and motivation" (Zachos et al., 2018; as cited in Zgheib & Dabbagh, 2020).  People learn in a variety of ways, whether it be by an adult, fellow peer, lecture, visual arts, etc. So why is it so hard to believe that one could learn from social media? Is it because we are used to social media as a place to check our latest friend requests or to play the next installment of Candy Crush Saga or whatever popular game is out now. However, one can learn from social media and may not even realize it. Have you ever looked at

  As educators, there have been times where we may have emergencies arise where we need immediate sub plans. There may also be times where we need supplemental aids to help engage students in their learning. As a teacher, I have turned to Teachers Pay Teachers on numerous occasions to help me in my time of need. Teachers Pay Teachers has thousands of resources that can help students learn in any subject. For example, when teaching addition and subtraction to students, I would use a resource from this site. On the site, there were resources where students could plan trips to various countries while reinforcing the main math concept of addition and subtraction. I have also used escape rooms to teach the ELA concept of theme. Since I cannot come up with elaborate plans on my own, Teachers Pay Teachers has been a lifesaver to me in trying to engage all of my students on a specific topic.  After a few years of using Teachers Pay Teachers, I thought about becoming a seller, myself on the web

  We are halfway through the semester! Part of me feels like I just started yesterday, while the other part feels like I have been working forever. Up to this point, I have honestly been stressed out. Trying to balance work and school, while figuring out how to effectively complete three classes. On top of this, I was studying for my school counseling test which brings the stress to another level.  However, I learned that I needed social media and technology this week to just take breaks. On those days when I was stressing to the max, I would listen to my YouTube videos or play a game on my phone. That gave me the break I needed so I could continue pressing on.  Now that my test is out of the way and work is done, I can start to relax and destress a little. Will I still stress? Absolutely! I am human, after all. However, I need to realize that my professors do not expect all the work to be done in one day. Maybe I will take time each day to work on assignments. If only I had motivation

 How do you best learn? For me, it is more kinesthetic learning, but I can do visual. However, with visual learning, I need to see how every concept is connected in a way. Growing up, I was a big concept maps person, especially in history class. I would put a historical event down then have it connected to significant events and people. This allowed me to remember the events more effectively. I used to have to write concept maps down on paper. However, this week, Dr. Dennen introduced us to online concept maps. This has made my visual and organized heart happy! With online concept maps, you can still arrange the map however you want, just like you would on paper. One major thing I like about the online version is that there is less mess. With the paper concept maps, you would draw them out then have to figure out which binder to put them in. However, with the online version, you can download the map directly to your computer. The online version also allows you to share your map with ot

 Before this class, I had never heard of networked knowledge activities before. If I had to guess what this term means, I would have said that it is learning and doing activities in your personal network (whether online or in person). Dr. Dennen (n.d.) points out that there are six core networked knowledge activities: collect, curate, share, broker, negotiate, and construct. Dr. Dennen and other authors from FSU (2020) stated that these activities would usually co-exist and not be in isolation. While I may have never heard of these activities or the "networked knowledge activities" term before, I am sure that I have used the core concepts before.  The first core activity is collect. We all collect things in order to learn information. For example, I collect historical documents to learn more about my family history. Students may collect articles for an upcoming research paper. We collect our things using a variety of tools such as Facebook, Pinterest, Google, or various news

We have survived Week 5! This week, we have learned about intellectual property and even more technological tools. It is so cool to learn about these tools that I didn't know existed before this class. With these tools, I can help counsel or help my students when they come to my office.  This week, we also learned the importance of intellectual property rights. We live in a world where we want to use other people's materials (songs, lesson plans, videos, etc.). While this may not be a problem, we must check to make sure it is okay to use and give them credit when using their work. When we don't give credit then we are stealing other people's work. We don't like when people steal our work so we should steal theirs. As a former teacher and now counselor, it is important to teach this to my students.  I haven't started the ultimate challenge yet, but I am looking forward to possibly starting it this next week. Can't wait to see what next week brings.