Fourth week in.....

So after our Monday night synchronous class, I had some thoughts about my digital footprint. While we all are aware of what we leave behind in our "real world" as evidence of our actions, there is just as much evidence that is left behind in the digital realm....online, the Matrix, or what ever you want to call it. As I use GAFE in my classroom, and my students use their school Google accounts to create work evidence, many do not log out of their accounts when they put the computers or tablets back. This leads to frustration of the next student who uses this device as they now need to log out the previous user, and log in to their own accounts. But it also leave room for students to mess with their peers' work. 

I keep reminding my students about their online activities, and their account settings, etc.... Because if I can see it on various Social Media tools, and I'm not "friends" with them, that means that their account is completely public....NOT a good idea! Especially for 8th graders!

Our online class meetings are always interesting....besides being informed on what is up next, we also have small-group break-out sessions....what is interesting to me, is that- no matter which group I am in, or what class I am taking- there are always people in the break-out session who are completely silent....be it tech problems, or just opting to not participate...that to me is a little frustrating... I understand that sometimes online classes run into tech problems: mic not working, slow connection, getting kicked off...most of the time I experienced that people who do have tech issues will go out of their way to contact the Prof or one of their peers, informing them that they are having tech issues, and need help to get back online....that is NOT irritating, just a little inconvenient. The quiet ones....

I've also been playing with the idea of using 2.0 web tools for my students to create and submit evidence...not sure which ones I'll line up to choose from, but I would like to see less "Paper Evidence" on my desk....and make the process of submitting work a little more bullet proof!

Now off to week 5, and training on my new interactive science curriculum tomorrow!