Technology in Education: Notes from the Closet

Although Digital Citizenship Week is celebrated in October each year this is a topic that deserves year-round attention. Recently, I crowdsourced recommendations from the coaches I work with and created an infographic of some of our favorite sites and activities to keep the learning going. 

This webinar was given on behalf of the Learning Technology Center of Illinois.  You can watch the webinar here:  https://ltcillinois.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_gqyqt_nqSUGZNrn0Ez-2-g

Originally written for LTC blog during #Media Literacy Week 2018 How many advertisements do you come across in one day- ten, fifty, hundreds, thousands? Some sources say we encounter 4,000–5,000 ads a day all trying to persuade us to do something, believe something or buy something (while making money for their shareholders). We may not be consciously aware of seeing these ads, nor are our students who are exposed to the same content we are on a daily basis. Are students equipped to recognize when they are being manipulated? Probably not. Media literacy is a skill, not a topic. It is the responsibility of every educator; in every subject, in every school. The goal of teaching media literacy is to educate our students on how to question what they see. Media literacy has dozens of “subtopics” that can be explored year-round in your classroom. This post shares some fun media facts, concepts, and resources to get you started. Media Literacy “Fun Facts” Media is not good or bad; it ...

Originally written for  http://ltcillinois.org/ Do you have a tattoo?  What’s the story behind it?  What does it say about who you are?  Tattoos have been around for over 5,000 years.  For centuries people have been marking their bodies for a variety of purposes; love, status, tribute, and medical just to name a few.  Today the tattoo industry is busier than ever, although an internet search for “tattoo removal” proves there are clearly some that regret the decision.  Is our online existence that much different? Do we not post statuses that declare our love, tribute, medical dilemmas and more, much like people tattoo their skin?  If that is the case, do we not regret some of our social media posts as well? The term “digital footprint” is well known and represents what trace of us we leave behind when we are visible and active online.  It is a catchy phrase, but in my opinion not completely accurate. Footprints can be washed away. They...