Scratch: My Jumping Frog

Twitter - Pros and Cons

Twitter is a very popular social networking site which allows you to set up an account and make posts. Your friends and family or anyone could potentially see what you are posting on Twitter in the same way you can find what other people have posted. Twitter is used daily worldwide, celebrities use it to communicate with their fans and general public use it to communicate with their friends.

Advantages of Twitter

•  Enables you to contact your family and friends – If you have friends that you don’t see often, or family that lives far away, you can keep in contact with them.
• You can keep up-to-date with your favourite celebrities – Almost every celebrity has their own twitter account. They will make posts regularly which allows their fans to find out information such as; where they will be performing next, when their next song is coming out, etc.
• Allows the police to send out public messages to their area – Not only is Twitter a place for celebrities but also the police. The police use it in order to inform the public of any important information.

Disadvantages of Twitter

• Risk of unwanted attention – With the ability to hide behind a username, you wouldn't know for certain whom you were really talking to. There is also a risk of stalkers.
•  Cyber-bullying
• Beginning of the end of face-to-face interaction
• Risk of cyber-bullying – Twitter escalates arguments and disagreements between children and teenagers.
• Unable to retract what you have posted – If you post something offensive, it will be there forever, you cannot get it back.

Wordle: Llangyfelach School

Contexts of Learning

Contexts of learning from beckygriffiths

Blog Review

I have decided to follow the blog 'A new approach' which is an educational blog about how the development of technology effects the development of education. I have decided to follow this blog in particular because having read through it and looked at posts and additional features of this blog I have found it to be very interesting and helpful whilst studying the visual communications module in Swansea Metropolitan University.

One of the reasons I have chosen to put 'A new approach' in my blog list was because it stood out from the other educational blogs at it consisted of multimedia elements, not just boring posts. Some of these elements are; power-point presentations, videos, animations, labels, pictures, mind-maps. Throughout the blog each post consists of one of these features, resulting in a better, more fun way to learn about technology in education. The writer of this blog has also made very good use of the functions available to blogspot users. These functions include; apps, sidebars, labels, and also tools which make it person to the author.

Additionally, as well as very good presentation and display skills, the topics discussed in this blog are interesting. 'A new approach' has also given me the opportunity to improve my blog as it consists of tutorials in the form of videos and written posts. Since discovering this blog I have been able to use other multimedia functions of blogspot that I did not know about before. Other topics covered in this blog include; e-learning, ICT and education, social media and education, and information about future events in my university.

Overall, I have found this educational blog to be very valuable therefore I have added it to my blog list for all visitors to my blog to see.

TEDtalk

Rita Pierson: Every kid needs a champion

This is a talk led by Rita Pierson about the importance of relationships within education. Rita Pierson is an educator and has been in the profession since 1972. She has taught in several areas of education including; elementary school, junior high and special education. She is a truly inspirational woman and this talk reflects this in the way in which she talks about her job and her pupils.
This video is called 'every kid needs a champion'. This meaning the connection a child needs to experience with a teacher or adult and that each relationship impacts their life. Rita Pierson calls this 'human connection'. She believes that significant learning can only occur from a significant connection. During this talk she goes on to say 'kids don't learn from people they don't like', by this Pierson is saying that in order for a child to be able to learn their relationship with who is teaching them must be a positive one.
In the conclusion of her speech on relationships in education Rita Pierson states her belief that educators are 'born to make a difference' and that 'teaching and learning should bring joy'. Also, she states how 'teaching and learning should bring joy', suggesting that in order for this to occur there must be a good relationship with the teacher and student.