Reflective Post #2 EDU 780

Reflective Post #2

By: Deanna Mulay

Image Source: https://www.globalfocusmagazine.com/tag/technology/ 

1. Now that you have finished the course, what is your stance on your role as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy? Has this changed from the beginning of the course?

    Now that I have completed the course, I have learned what digital and media literacy is and why it is important to have in our classrooms. At first, I thought that digital and media literacy was just having students use tools, such as social media or use different sites to research topics. Now that I have learned more about digital and media literacy, I know that it is a way for students to use critical thinking skills, be more engaged in lessons, and allow all students to participate. Digital and media literacy is also a great way for enhancing lessons. Technology is not suppose to replace lessons, only enhance them. In terms of my role as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy, I take more of a stand on different technology platforms for students to use and for me to advocate to enhance lessons for every classroom by  using technology. Technology may seem like a distraction, but educators need to find ways of using the tools to make more lessons engaging for all students. 

2. How can you continue growing as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy?

    I can continue growing as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy by taking risks with technology tools and continue looking into different tools to add in my technology toolbox. I can also create and attend different professional developments to help discover new tools to use for teachers and students as well. During this course, we were asked to find a new tool and also create a professional development. By repeating those assignments, I will be able to continue to grow and develop my skills as an educator of Digital and Media Literacy.  

3. Overall, what will you take away from this course?

    I will take away many ideas from this course. However, the one point that sticks with me is that technology is NOT meant to replace lessons. I think many educators, including myself, thought adding a technology tool at the end of the lesson was a way to incorporate more technology. In reality, technology should be included in every part of a project that students are working on. This course has given me a different take on technology and how I view it in the classroom. It is NOT a distraction or add-on to a lesson, rather an enhancement to the lessons to support all students. 

4. Any other feedback regarding this course (suggestions, questions, feedback etc.)

    I really enjoyed taking this course because I learned so much. I really enjoyed the Cool Tools Show-and-Tell. I think it was a great activity to learn more about different tools. It was also great to read about other educators' tools that they chose. I would like to do a similar activity in the future. I have really enjoyed this course and have learned so much!

Image Source: https://www.chieflearningofficer.com/2021/03/15/reflection-in-action-a-case-for-case-studies-amid-covid-19/

Final Thoughts

Over the last eight weeks, I have been learning about new technology tools and how I can use those tools in my classroom. Technology is only going to become more advanced with time and it will never go away. As I was writing my previous blogs, I often thought about how I can use the tools that I learned about in my classroom. Would the tools work? Would the tools be engaging for the students? Would the students learn from the tools? And so on. I would have to say that I have become more invested in technology and I am now researching new items to use technology more in the classroom. I had questioned myself for so long about if the technology was going to work for me or I was going to mess up a lesson because I did not fully know how to use the site. Here’s the thing, I realized that technology is changing and it is changing fast. I may not be able to fully keep up with it, but trying to avoid technology altogether is not going to happen. Even if a lesson goes wrong, it is fine! There is no need to just throw my hands in the air and say “I am never using technology with my students again!” Let’s face it, that statement is NOT true.

https://rockresearch.com/top-10-views-on-technology/

In the last few weeks, I feel more confident using different tools and exploring new options for my students. I have not been able to use all of the tools that I learned about just yet, but there is one tool that stood out to me the most. Screencastify is now one of my favorite tools to use. I use it to make videos for my students and upload them to SeeSaw. Screencastify is easy to use for teachers. I definitely want to use Screencastify with my students to have them explain a project they created using the computer or even just to share something about themselves. 

Image Source: https://www.gettingsmart.com/2020/06/smart-review-harnessing-the-power-of-videos-with-screencastify/ 

I went back to my first blog and I was rereading it. I think that I have become a better blogger over the last eight weeks. I never thought I would like to blog about new information and new technology tools to use in my classroom. My blogs give me an opportunity to reflect on how to use different tools and what the internet really has to offer. When I started this course, I was so excited to start and learn new information. I even used the following GIF to describe how I felt about the course.

Image Source: https://media.giphy.com/media/Ta2eHM043vhVS/giphy.gif

After this course, I realized that I feel like the following GIF (very confident) about technology and how to apply what I learned in my classroom with my students.

Image Source: https://media.giphy.com/media/wvI1UUF9pygFO/giphy.gif

 

Data Mining for Gold and My Digital Tattoo!

 Data Mining for Gold and My Digital Tattoo!

Image Source: https://www.complexsql.com/data-mining-definition/ 

I have spent some time researching my name and what my name is associated with. I have searched my name on multiple sites, which some sites did not have any information on me whatsoever. However, there were seven sites that were able to give some background to my digital mine. The seven sites that had information on me were: Google, BlockShopper, Radaris, YouTube, Classmates, Facebook, and Twitter. 

Google:

Everyone has Googled themselves at least once in their life, right? Well, I was able to narrow down results that just pertained to me. I first typed in “deanna mulay”, which I was able to see 147 results in about .47 seconds. This search stated my Linkedin account, where I went to high school, a blog that I have written last year for a school, all of the 5k races I participated in, and even showed that I donated $20 to a fundraiser. I was not surprised about any of the information I found online, however, I was surprised to find photos of me from my Linkedin account. I thought that I would see more photos from my Facebook page instead. I was also shocked to see photos from my blog posts from last year with the students. 

I was also able to see that my address was given along with my parents’ names on White Pages. Once I kept clicking on relatives’ names, it eventually started with my name again. All of the addresses were correct and the ages of my family were correct as well. 

After I found all of the above information, I decided to take it one step further. I typed in the search bar “deanna k mulay”. I thought I was going to get so many more results, but I only had 3 results. All of which were from Benedictine University for the Dean’s List in 2016. 

BlockShopper:

As a young educator, I still live with my parents. I was able to locate our home address and how much my parents paid for our house back in 1997! I found it interesting that the names on the website had my mother’s name correct, but it had my father’s name as Saml Mulay Jr., instead of Samuel Mulay Jr. I was also able to find the previous owners of our house, which was over 23 years ago. 

Radaris: 

When I typed in my name on Radaris, what I found, was definitely not what I expected. They actually listed that I lived in Elk Grove Village, IL. What really shocked me though was that they listed my uncle’s house address. I have listed this address for a subscription in the mail, but otherwise, why would people think that I live there? Radaris did also share my relatives correctly. I did also find it interesting that my grandmother, who did live at the given address, was on it twice as Geraldine L. Marra and Geri L. Marra and that she was 61 years old. All of my relatives listed on this site had correct ages and names except my grandmother. When my grandmother had passed away, she was 79 and she lived at that address until her passing. 

YouTube:

When I typed in my name on YouTube, I expected my channel to pop up that I made years ago. Well, my channel did pop up, along with videos that I uploaded for a class that I had completely forgotten about. I also recently uploaded videos to my channel, which the videos are in some of my previous blogs (UDL, Kahoot!). I also found a video that was on my friend’s YouTube channel when we were in our first year of college together. We had to create education videos that related to our readings for that class. However, none of the other videos were related to me. 

Classmates:

As I was typing in my information of where I went to high school and the year that I graduated, I thought to myself that no one that I know is going to be on this site. Boy, was I wrong. There were 8 classmates that graduated the same year as I did. I did not remember all of their names, but this site actually jogged my memory a bit. I also viewed the other people who went to Montini Catholic High School from 2010-2014. 82 results popped up and I knew almost everyone that was on this site. 

Facebook:

I was not able to find my profile on Facebook directly. However, I did find my Avon Facebook Group that led me to my profile. After I found my profile, I was able to see that I live in Glen Ellyn, went to Benedictine University, pictures of myself and my dogs, and went to Montini Catholic High School. Other than those few points, I was not able to find additional information. 

Twitter: 

About five weeks ago, I created my Twitter account for my PLN. I also had a private account many years ago, but never really engaged with it. When I went to look for both profiles, I was not able to find any information other than that I was an educator. I am not surprised that this is the only information that popped up because I rarely use Twitter, but I still have a web presence using this site. 

Reflection: 

Image Source: https://www.javatpoint.com/data-mining-cluster-vs-data-warehousing 

I am not one who is always sharing information online or posting information that I would consider private. After completing this data mine, I realized that there is so much information on myself and I had no idea what was really out there. There was a blog I wrote last year, all of the 5k races I participated in, my address, my relatives’ names, where I went to high school and college, and even where I donated money to. I found old videos uploaded to YouTube that I completely forgot about. I even found old classmates from when I went to high school. In the last few weeks, I have been making more of an online presence, but I still did not realize fully what was online before I made myself more public. I guess I should not be surprised what information is really online about me, but at the same time I feel like my private life has been made public by force. 

After finding all of the information on myself, I think that it is important for teachers and parents to talk to students about their digital tattoos and data mines. I found videos of myself from six years ago and believe me, they are not going anywhere. I think students should be aware about what is online about themselves at a young age, but as the students reach junior high and high school, they should be able to create their own data mine to see what kinds of information is really available for anyone to see. A post is not just a post that can be removed with ease, it is permanent, which will follow you no matter where life takes you. 

More information on Data Mining and Digital Tattoos are available below: 

More information on Digital Tattoo.

What is a digital tattoo?

What is data mining?

More information on data mining.

Digital Mapping

When I first heard the term Digital Mapping, I am not going to lie, I was not sure how this was going to go. First I looked up some examples and videos about digital mapping. I also found that this video was very helpful when trying to design my own digital map. I also thought that “I don’t use technology that much”. WRONG! I used several apps throughout my day for personal usage and professional usage. When I was writing down all of the apps I was using and for what purpose over a few days, I could not believe the apps that I was clicking on for professional use and then personal use. 

Image Source: Deanna Mulay, https://mulaydtechnology.blogspot.com/2020/09/digital-mapping.html

Personal Use: 

Diving into my personal use, most of my apps that I use to watch videos, movies, or TV shows, such as Netflix and YouTube, I am a visitor because I do not post any videos. I am also a visitor when it comes to searching topics on Google and even buying products off of Amazon, and even using PayPal for other products that I buy off of the internet. As I was looking at my apps, I really was not surprised that I am a visitor or that I use these apps on weeknights or weekends. I am busier in the day and most of these apps do not relate to my professional life, so that is why they are not in the professional quadrant. 

I was also not surprised that my emails (Gmail and Yahoo), messaging apps, and Snapchat were in the resident quadrant. I am very active when using my emails. I do look at my emails, but oftentimes they need a response or I am the person sending out emails. This also holds true with text messages and Messenger. I respond and send messages to others. I use all of these apps daily. I also would consider Snapchat as a messaging tool for myself. I really only send out messages to a few friends. I use Snapchat less than all of the other apps on my phone, however I still use it about 4 times a week. 

The apps that I was in between a visitor and a resident were Facebook and Instagram. I post to Facebook and Instagram daily with photos of my dogs or my family. I also comment on other people’s posts and add likes to their photos. When I first started to do my digital map, I thought for sure I was a “full-time” resident, but I realized that some days I will just scroll on both apps and visit, while other times I am an active participant. When I visit, I am looking for a recipe or for new articles. I also found that I am more active on both Facebook and Instagram more on weeknights and weekends as well.  

Professional Use:

When I first started thinking about the apps for professional use, I thought to myself, “There’s going to be so many! It’s going to be hard to squeeze everything in the quadrants.” I quickly realized that I do not use as many apps professionally as I do personally. Again I began to think about visitor and resident for my professional apps. I was not too surprised at Google, the Google Docs, Slides, Spreadsheet, Forms, and Pinterest that I was a visitor on. For me, I use Google to research different lesson plans/ideas as well as using Pinterest. Google Docs, Slides, Spreadsheet, and Forms are used by the administrators to send out information to us, but I have never used it because I am a Long-Term Substitute (I forward those types of messages to the classroom teacher). 

I was actually surprised how much I use Twitter now because I recently downloaded it. I did not realize how quickly I became a resident. I really thought that I was more of a visitor on Twitter. I tend to focus on the teaching sources on Twitter than any other app on my phone. I retweet those articles and also make comments. It is rare that I go on Twitter just to read an article, I found that I go there to share and be active with different topics. I also now use Blogger more than I have ever used it before. Sharing my ideas with others has really helped open my eyes to the world of teaching, but I also look to help other teachers who would like to learn more about different topics. I have also been using SeeSaw, especially with Covid-19. I am a resident because I send the students an assignment and I am able to write directions, expectations, model for students, etc. When the students post their work, I am then able to respond to them using the text feature or sending a voice comment. 

One app that I have found that I use for work and personal use is YouTube. I look up videos to show students, but I also use it for my own enjoyment. Though the two ways that I use this app are very different, I find that this app allows me to search for answers for questions I may have and it also allows for fun and engaging videos for all ages. 

Lately, I have been using Zoom for meeting with the students, but also going to staff meetings as well. I also use Gmail professionally as well. Both of these apps I put in between visitor and resident. I am a visitor on Zoom and Gmail because I go to staff meetings for information and other staff members send me information through Gmail. I am a resident on Zoom because I am teaching the students and doing most of the talking rather than listening. I also respond to emails on Gmail, but I also send out emails to parents and other teachers to ask questions, give updates, etc. 

I loved mapping out my digital space in four quadrants. It gave me a new perspective on how I use the internet and how many times I use it as well. Overall, I thought I was balanced between the visitor and resident sections of my digital map. While I was looking at the apps that I use on my phone over a few days, I found that I was more active at night rather than the daytime, including weekends. I am not too surprised at my digital map. I am more surprised that I did not have more professional apps that I use. My digital map has helped me become aware of the apps I use and how often I use them. It has also helped me realize that I need to start paying attention to apps that will help me grow as a professional.