Pinterest; creativity integrated

I think Pinterest could be a great tool for education.  A virtual brainstorming tool to bring ideas from all over the internet to one place!  It is a great way to find ideas that you haven't thought of yet.  I could see it being really useful for service projects.  Groups or individuals could pin ideas for projects before deciding on one.  It could also serve as a place to put new ideas to improve a project while they are working on it.

Sometimes Pinterest can be a little bit distracting, so I could see students losing track of what they were supposed to be doing.  At the same time, while students are on Pinterest for other reasons they could run across a good idea for their project and pin it right away without the risk of forgetting it!  Basically, it would integrate creativity instead of separating it between academic and personal endeavors.  

scavenger hunts, twitter and teaching

So, last week I sent my undergrads out onto campus for a scavenger hunt during class.  Okay, so it was on that day when it seemed like there were buckets of water falling from the sky and it never seemed to stop, but that wasn't my choice.  They were troopers and barely even complained!  I was pretty impressed.   I would have been much worse as an undergrad if I were sent out into "The Great Flood" to complete an assignment.  It was our first chance to use the twitter account we had set up for this class.  Part of the way they earned credit for the assignment was tweeting pictures of their group with the people they were supposed to be interviewing.  It went pretty well!  Just a few mishaps and technological problems, but they were minimal compared to what I had expected.  I attribute this to the fact that they are all so familiar with twitter.  All but two of my twenty or so students already had active twitter accounts prior to starting this class.  They knew more than I did, that was for sure, but I am working on that.  : )   

Over the past few weeks, I have realized that I wasn't nervous about interacting with the students or even teaching them, but being the center of attention and lecturing.  After last week's teaching perspectives it makes a lot more sense.  I think that I kind of thought of "teaching" as equivalent to "lecture" which is absolutely not my style (my dominant was Nurturing and Lecture was the bottom for me).  So far, we have done activities and group work in the discussions I am teaching and I have loved it! This week we are supposed to present material and I didn't know how I wanted to do that because I dreaded the idea of making a powerpoint and standing up front while students stared at me with glazed eyes and took notes.  Now that I am starting to realize what it is that makes me anxious I also realize that there are much better ways for me to present this material in my own way.  I am actually thinking of modifying the carousel activity from last week, so that the students can put the information together themselves.  Maybe they will even remember it better this way! 

my relationship with technology

Generally, when faced with new technology I have the urge to run very quickly in the other direction and pretend that I never heard anything about it.  Now, if I could just have the information directly implanted into my brain I would be new technology's biggest fan.  Once I know how to use something then I can't remember how I ever lived without it.  That is why I am taking this class!  It will force me to learn new technology that I will be glad I know later.  

When I first started my graduate program here at UGA, I was worried about the fact that many of the my core classes would be taught online.  I wasn't familiar with the online format and didn't see how it could be as effective as a traditional class.  It took me most of the semester, but by the time it was over I realized that I had really started enjoying my online classes! So, it might take me a while to adopt a new technology, but I know that once I understand it I usually love it! 

I believe that while some "oldies are goodies" others need to move forward with the times.  Fighting progress is futile and, frankly, a lot of unnecessary work.  Education is about teaching the next generation, but they can teach us as well.  By at least making an effort to utilize current technology you can pull in students who would otherwise check out.  Now, not all technology belongs in the classroom, but it all deserves a chance.  Some will stick and some won't.

Anyway, I think that is about all I've got for tonight.