Journal Post #8

Week 8 has come and gone! So sorry that this is so delayed. Chapter 8 was a very interesting chapter that gave us great focus questions to discuss. I chose focus question 2 as the one that I would discuss with you today.

Focus question #2

How can teachers use email or instant messaging to foster information exchanges with and among students?

First let's discuss what the book says:

• Children and adolescents are the larger users of email and instant messaging (IM) technologies.
• Many teachers use email as a way to communicate with students, families, and professional colleagues.
• Fewer teachers use instant messaging because the kind of informal language found in IM can be misunderstood or misused.

Strategies for using email and IM with your students:

• Use password-protected student communication systems to email and IM.
• Use email and instant messaging to teach about spelling.
• Establish email connections to libraries, museums, and universities.
• Initiate email correspondence with elected officials and other other public policy makers.
• Hold online office hours.

On a personal note: I don't understand alot of what my teen nephews and nieces say when they are texting. And when asked they tell me look it up in the Urban Dictionary. Which by the way is a great website if you want to understand what all those little codes mean. For a parent and/or teacher.  I know that Lee County School district has a policy about contact with students outside of the classroom. Email is used but they are not allowed to be "friends" on Facebook or any other social networking site. So just make sure that you know the guidelines for the school district and follow those. While electronic communications can make communication between teacher, students and others easier and more effective be careful.

Now let's discuss the the Tech Tool. I chose Tech Tool 8.1: Teacher Website and Blog-Building Resources

I love the idea of having a personal website that students and their parents can log into to get homework information, grades and communicate with myself as well as other students. In my first semester here at Edison State, one of my professors had a webpage that we were to go to and gather information, communicate with other students, send her messages but also to upload assignments that she assigned through her site. If I am not mistaken it was Ning. If you go to the website you can create and build your own community through there.
www.ning.com

Of course you can use Blogger as well as I am using currently. It's very user friendly.

There are three approaches to teacher website and blog-building resources

• Approach 1: Website and blog building software. This is something that you will purchase and download to your computer. Examples are Dreamweaver and FrontPage. These are really design programs, you need more tools to use for communication and so forth. 
• Approach 2: Commercially available templates. Access to commerically available website or blog builders for example, TaskStream, GoDaddy, or eBlogger, allow users to create many features and functions but the quality doesn't compare to Dreamweaver. 
• Approach 3: Open Source software. Using a free online management system for educators such as Moodle that provides email, online discussion boards, instant messaging, and discussion forums for school districts and individual classrooms. Numerous administrative functions, like grade keeping, and posting, selective content releases, and various filtering options. These systems are also free of charge and fairly easy to use. 

Of course after reviewing all three personally I would go with approach 3 for myself and many schools and teachers do as well. I recommend that you do research on all three types and decide which approach works best for you and your needs as a teacher. I hope this helps!


Overall this chapter offered a variety of information that will help each of us determine what we will use in our own teaching careers. The information in Chapter 8 is something that I personally will carry with me into my teaching career. And I hope that you will as well.

Again thank you for reading! And until next time! Chau!



Textbook - Maloy, Robert, Verock-O’Loughlin,Ruth-Ellen, Edwards, Sharon A., and Woolf, Beverly Park (2011). Transforming Learning with New Technologies. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. ISBN:10 0-13-159611-X, ISBN:13 978-0-13-159611-5