Flickr

Although I have heard of Flickr, I've never attempted to use it before this assignment. I was surprised at how simple it was to get started. I created my account (kcorbin08) and immediately began uploading photos. The one to the left would be the picture I tagged for the classroom webpage. This is Benny, my nine-month-old lab mix puppy. This picture was taken when we brought him home when he was much smaller, cuter and less destructive than he is now.

After uploading some photos I explored Flickr a little bit and I kept thinking of ways that it could be helpful in the classroom. For one, I'm always searching google for pictures to help with a lesson plan or assignment. Although that method works, it often has a wide range of pictures, some can be inappropriate, and finding the right one can be time consuming. Searching photos on Flickr seemed alot quicker, easier and eliminate those problems. I was also thinking that Flickr would be a great way to organize photos for my lessons. I could not only store them there, but I could also share them with other teachers and students as well.

Reading the article, "The Promise of Social Networks" gave me a lot more insight on how to get the most out of Flickr and other social networks in the classroom. For starters, Flickr has more capabilities than simply uploading photos. It also has email, instant messaging, and ways to make some photos private, others public and tag other people in photos you wish to share. These capabilities are great for a classroom, I've used them a lot in college, however, they could also be helpful in an elementary school class. Students could use this webpage as a way to creatively do an assignment and share with everyone in the class. One great example the author discussed was how teachers in the past often had their students cut pictures out of magazines for a project to share with the class. Flickr would allow students to search pictures online, comment on each, and tag other students with the finished project. This prevents a lot of mess, is more environmentally friendly and gives the students more options than what is limited to a few magazines. On top of all of this, technology makes a lesson more exciting to many students. And sometimes just that would be enough to reach a student that otherwise couldn't care less.

Engage me or Enrage me

"Engage Me or Enrage Me" catches the readers attention by first pointing out the three categories most students fall into. The overachievers, the ones who "play the game of school" and the students who just couldn't care less. The third group is quickly becoming the majority among today's students. These student's, we're told, are the biggest challenge. Children today are exposed to all kinds of engaging and entertaining technologies with endless amounts of possibilities. Because of this, school has become less and less entertaining, less engaging and therefore, less effective. Not just these students, but all students, could benefit from a more engaging classroom. Technology alone isn't the answer. But technology, along with effective teaching and creative ideas could lead to a more fun and effective learning environment for all three groups of students.


Blogs are one way to better engage students. Throughout school, students are expected to learn the material provided often without question. In a world where kids have numerous social networks available to them, where all they do is speak their mind it and voice their opinions, it could be benefitial to incorporate that in the classroom as well. A blog would allow students to design their own webpage filled with their own school-related thoughts and opinions. Here, the teacher could provide a topic or question and have the students all discuss their answers, reactions, opinions, advice, etc... One issue I struggled with in school was feeling like my thoughts didn't matter. I was just a number there, learning the same information as everyone else, taking the same tests in order to do the same thing all over again next year. A classroom blog could give students a sense of empowerment and independence in school. It could make them feel as if they are not just a number in a room full of students. They are individuals with their own thoughts and opinions. And each and every one of them could feel that by sharing those thoughts and opinions, he or she is providing something to the class that no one else can.

Personally, I fear advancements in technology. I use my computer for very basic purposes, internet, homework and so on. I've been putting off upgrading my phone because everything seems to be touchscreen now, and that's just too much for me. I feel like I finally got an understanding of power point and now all I hear about is Smart Board. It all comes down to patience. Touchscreen is different, Smart Board is different and computer programs confuse me. They each require time and patience to learn, neither do I feel like I have. So from this class, I'd like to work on my fear of technology. I feel like technology provides so much more opportunity to today's students and I'd like to use that to my advantage as much as possible. Right now, Smart Board being the prime example of what I would like to develop a better understanding of.