Tara Cooper

Futureteacherofamericaoklahoma.weebly.com
EDU-225
7/05/2015

Entry 1: Technology to Support Communication

As educators, communication is a very important part of teaching, not just with students
but other teachers and parents. Technology is a way for educators to communicate with students
without being face-to-face. There are so many forms of communication: blogs, skype, e-mail,
remind101, etc. Technology is an easy way to communicate with others but being safe is critical
in an educational setting.

Blogs:
Blogs are used to help communicate with parents about the activities and lessons in their
childs class. Parents can see if there are field trips, find the teachers contact information or look
at their childs homework assignments on a blog. Students can access educational websites that
are age appropriate for their use at home or read class announcements and post a response if
needed or wanted. Educators from around the world can see what is going on in the classroom
and give feedback or get ideas of things to do in their own classroom. With this type of
licensing, educators from throughout the world share innovative classroom practices that
transform teaching and learning with technology (On Classroom Blogs, 2014). Technology
such as blogs is helping to enhance the learning environment in schools and in the home.

Skype:
When students sit down in front of the webcam, they can see and talk to other students
from around the world. Students will learn about different cultures by interacting with students
from foreign countries or even students from other states. Remember when you were a student,
did you have a pen pal? Well now, students do not have to write a letter to their pen pal, using
Skype they can talk directly to them. If a parent cannot come to parent/teacher conference or a
child is in trouble, educators can use skype and have a video conference. From YouTube to
Twitter to Skype, social media offers many benefits to both educators and students alike, such as
encouraging real-time student engagement in courses to enhancing the connection between
educator and student (Abe and Jordan, 2013). Skype is a way that individuals that cannot be
there in person can still be involved in their childs education.

E-mail:
If a parent has a question about their child, this is a quick way for a teacher to respond
back. When a student is absent, a teacher can send the parent a quick email about assignments
their child missed or important messages the parent needs to know. Students have 24 access to
their teacher or easily submit any written work that needs turned in that day. Students can set up
a group e-mail so they can do a class project without being in the same room. E-mail is a way
for teachers to share ideas and give feedback. An active e-mail box offers a "contact zone" that
acts as an investment in the shared enterprise of schooling (Doherty and Mayer, 2003, p7).
Email can help teacher communicate with their students, parents and other faculty.

Remind101:
Teachers can send a text message to one or more students at a time. As the name says,
Remind101 is for teachers to send out a group text to remind all their students when an
assignment is due. With Remind101, students and teachers phone numbers are concealed so this
is a safe way for all students to communicate with each other without giving out their numbers.
Parents are welcome to join the group text to monitor the conversations or receive information
on their childs assignments, updates, upcoming events or new blog posts. Teachers can create a
group text to communicate with each other on lunch dates, staff meetings, IEPs and school
closings. A group text with teachers from around the world for teachers to discuss what is going
on in their classroom in order to share ideas for classroom projects. Findings indicate that
participants found text messaging to be beneficial for increasing course-related interaction
(Thomas and Orthober, 2001) Students are much more connected with their cell phones in
todays society which makes this a great way to communicate with them.
With so many children using the internet, it is important that all children learn how to be
safe on the internet. NetSmartz is an online learning program that teaches children and adults of
all ages how to be safe while using the internet. It provides learning programs that a teacher can
use to make an internet safety course. Success in this area requires that teachers not ignore the
dangers, rather be mindful of them and turn them into learning opportunities. One strategy is to
take one hour per week (Four 15-minute periods will work just as well) to explore and
investigate websites (Schuth, 2007). There are many dangers in using the internet and it is
important that students understand these dangers and how to avoid them.

Communication through technology is a way for teachers to communicate with students,

parents and other teachers. Technology gives students the opportunity to talk to teachers when
not in a face-to-face setting. There are so many ways to communicate through technology such
as blogs, skype, e-mail, remind101, etc. While technology is a great tool in education, safety
must be emphasized.

References
Abe, P., & Jordan, N. A. (2013). Integrating social media into the classroom curriculum. About
Campus, 18(1), 16-20.
Doherty, C., & Mayer, D. (2003). E-mail as a 'contact zone' for teacher-student
relationships. Journal Of Adolescent & Adult Literacy,46(7), 592.
On Classroom Blogs. (2014). Reading Teacher, 67(7), 528-531. doi:10.1002/trtr.1243

Schuth, S. (2007). From the little red schoolhouse to the world: teaching, learning, and safety on
the internet. Lutheran Education, 141(2), 129-133.
THE SECONDARY Thomas, K., & Orthober, C. (2011). Using text-messaging in
classroom. American Secondary Education, 39(2), 55-76.