JUNE VASQUEZ

Blogs can be used as an educational tool and may be integrated to accommodate all learners. The four basic functions include: classroom management, collaboration, discussions, and student portfolios. 

The instructor may use microblogging to: 

• Tweet reminders of or changes in due dates or upcoming assignments
• push out sample quiz or test questions. This can be done effectively as a test review session. 
• take a poll of students’ opinions.
• post a definition and ask students to respond with the correct vocabulary word. 

An example from the suggested activities: Using media hosting and sharing sites also helps remove barriers to learning such as socio-economic barriers, physical distance, learning disabilities, and even language barriers when information is provided with captioned text and in various languages. Therefore, activities can include students accessing the hosting and sharing site and finding videos to meet their needs and embedding them into their own project or assignment. For example, if students are required to conduct research, they may find a video to support their research and embed that video into a slide show for an oral presentation.

It is important to work with students to develop good social networking habits. As the teacher, be sure to include a good social networking policy, and educate students on the proper use of social networking in the context of the course. 

In New Knowledge Assessments: As technology continues to change and affect how students think and process information, instructors must realize that there is an opportunity to now capture and assess in ways not formerly possible. Research continues to reinforce the importance of learning as a process, student engagement, and learning outcomes. Technology does not change those realities but it can provide new ways to evaluate learning through clear demonstration and new ways to challenge students in the process.

In Customizing Student Output: One benefit of learning what instructional technology tools can offer is to promote the production of learning. Learning outcomes for any course of study should demonstrate a direct application to the real world in relevance and use. Through good instructional planning and realistic assessment, teachers provide students with opportunities to see first-hand how what they have learned applies to real life, employment, and ongoing learning. Creating a learning environment for students, using new technology tools, within which students can produce their own work and see it connect to the real world is critical to encouraging students… >>>

In Exploring Input and Today's Students: Customization is key here. This involves providing multiple ways to assimilate subject material, such as textbooks, audio files, digital books, or images and graphs. It also implies customization and flexibility within those formats. With this kind of flexibility, students have access to the material that best suits their needs. This is useful for children with disabilities such as dyslexia, as well as for average students who simply perform better when listening to instruction than when reading, for example.

I like the diagram on dynamic forms of communication because it illustrates the potential interaction within a dynamic learning environment: student to teacher, student to self, student to student, and student to content.