Social media can be a catalyst to a teacher and a classroom. But it can also drain your time. We discuss that and more in this week’s #DitchPod wrap-up!
Social media can be a deep, wide reservoir of ideas and inspiration in the classroom.
But at some point, it can make a huge shift in effectiveness. The way we use it can go from transformation to entertainment. It can eat up hours of our lives without actually changing our practice.
How can we make the most of the power of social media on the classroom?
This week’s episodes of the Ditch That Textbook podcast cover that and other topics, including:
Scroll down to hear these episodes below!
1. On the Anchor app. This is a great place to follow the show so you can quickly and easily call in to the show and listen to it the moment it’s published. Go to anchor.fm for the app and search “Ditch That Textbook” to find and favorite the show. Click here to view the show on Anchor.
2. Right here on the blog. I’m planning on publishing podcast recap posts here every Tuesday. I’ll embed the shows right into the posts. You can listen to them without downloading anything!
3. iTunes / Apple Podcasts. If you have an iPhone, this may be your best option. Click here to find the show on iTunes / Apple Podcasts.
4. Google Play Music. If you have an Android phone, this may be your best option. Click here to find the show on Google Play Music.
5. Overcast and Pocketcasts. If you use these platforms or would like to, click here to find the show on Overcast or click here to find it on Pocketcasts.
So often, we encourage students to study by putting info into their brains by re-reading notes and chapters. But brain science tells us it’s more effective if we study by pulling info FROM our brains. A great strategy for this is the digital brain dump.
GIFs are super fun. They’re those moving image files you see all over social media. There’s this fun tool you can use to record your own animated GIFs with your webcam. Add them to student work for feedback, to a class website, to Google files … almost anywhere!
Twitter is the BEST thing that happened to my teaching career. It really saved it. However, there’s a balance to be maintained, and if we’re careful, Twitter (and other social media) can consume our lives instead of help them.
I believe in voice typing! Also called dictation, it’s when you speak and your device converts it to text. It’s SO much faster than typing with your fingers (or thumbs). Imagine what you could do if you got through your emails or other work just a little faster …
How to Fix the Future is a book by Andrew Keen, a self-proclaimed Internet pessimist. He’s written five books about how destructive technology has been to our lives, but this book is an optimistic one about how we can act more responsibly for a brighter digital future. It’s a great fit if you use or talk about technology in your classroom and/or personal life. (I think that covers most of us …)
For notifications of new Ditch That Textbook content and helpful links:
Interested in having Matt present at your event or school? Contact him by e-mail!
Matt is scheduled to present at the following upcoming events:
[getnoticed-event-table scope=”upcoming” max=”15″ expanding=”false”]
Session expired
Please log in again. The login page will open in a new tab. After logging in you can close it and return to this page.