Journal #7

Personal Learning Networks, such as Edutopia, are such a great way for teachers to connect with one another and share their trials and tribulations, especially when it comes to integrating technology into the classroom. Edutopia has an entire section solely for "technology integration" that covers anything from social media, to learning math on an iPad, and even having students use film to learn a topic.
All of these are great ways to figure out how to get students engaged and more active participants in the classroom, whether it's physically or virtually.

For me, being that my profession deals with catering to those in higher education and more on a "high-level" as opposed to a one-on-one type of relationship, some of this is lost on me. It is interesting to see the strides teachers are making to bring their classroom into the 21^st century, but unfortunately, I cannot use these skills the same way. That being said though, I'll go ahead and contradict myself by noting that if students are getting acclimated to technology being in the classroom since elementary school, by the time they reach college, they expect that from their university. There's definitely the likelihood of a college not being on their application list if they are not up and running in the digital world.

While I don't deal with the social media side of the university, I do still need to be informed on certain design styles and how students are using social media so that my videos can reflect the "hip," "cool," and "totally rad" style they've come to appreciate. (That's the lingo kids are using these days right? It's da bomb!)

I think that is where sites like Digg can really come into play for my professional future. Not only have I been able to curate a list of tutorials to enhance my motion graphic skills when I have the free time, but also I am able to create a list of the latest design trends to stay up-to-date. I like to think I do stay fresh with my designs, but I think other designers will admit to this too, once you develop your own style, you sometimes get stuck in a rut and stick with it.

For the upcoming New Year, I plan to make a resolution that at least once a month I'll create a new design piece (motion graphic, poster, origami, who knows!) to reflect a certain design piece that was inspired by my Digg feed. I think not only will this help me stay current with my designs, but also help me from getting designer block. It's so easy to get stuck in a rut and keep churning out designs you just sorta like. It's important to be creating pieces that both challenge you and keep you passionate about trade.


(Oh and of course, I'm not sure how much Twitter will come to use in my professional world. I guess I could say with One Direction taking a hiatus, it'll free up some free time in not being involved in that community, but who am I kidding? There's always fan art and fanfiction to be read/written!)

Q. 1 | Will you keep using your PLN in the future? Or will you broaden your horizon?

I'll probably look for another site to interact with. One site I do frequent often (yet never post in) is Creative Cow. It's more applicable to my field of interest and has helped me learn more about After Effects. I've only really frequented the forums when trying to find a specific help topic, but they do have various tutorials and podcasts that would work for me.

Q. 2 |  Technology has changed rapidly in the past 20 years. How do you see the future of classrooms in regards to technology in the next 10/15 years?

I was eight years old when Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century came out and let me tell you, that is still probably one of my favourite Disney Channel Original Movies. That being said, the technology in those classroom (each student on a computer during lectures; tablet video chatting; online testing…) has all already happened. The only thing missing is virtual teachers, but we already have things like Lynda.com which, isn't that pretty much the same thing without the ability to ask questions? I could say that I can see all classrooms going online and students being able to go from kindergarten to PhD all from home, but I don't think that's the case. Technologically, yes it's possible, but you'd seriously be missing out on the necessary social skills. 

I think we're in an age of major change though. We're looking for that balance between technology and tradition. Students still need to be able to hold a pencil and write in cursive, but we don't necessarily need to have every test handwritten.  I can see technology being used as a tool for learning and not taking over a classroom. Technology is a means to learn, but not meant to be a replacement for learning.