The article titled "Educators Advised to Be Cautious on Facebook Profiles" caught my eye this week because I have such mixed feelings about all of the technology tools we are learning about in our Ed Tech class. According to the article, teachers and administrators around the country have been placed on administrative leave and even lost their jobs because of inappropriate material posted on the internet. The Ohio Education Association recommended not posting anything that you would not want on the front page of the newspaper. With online profiles, blogs, facebook, twitter, etc., teachers' personal lives are much more visible and accessible to students. Teachers need to be aware and on "high alert" because teachers are held to higher standards.
I can see the value in many of the technology tools we are learning about in our Educational Technology course. Today I was able to work on the debate on Direct Instruction vs. Constructivism by adding my ideas to a Google document. I could then email both of my partners and let them know that they might want to take a look at what I had contributed. Although we are all working and do not have time to meet outside of class, we are still able to collaborate on this project. And yet, this particular assignment also causes me some concern! I know that we will be videotaped and that this will be posted to the internet. I am somewhat uncomfortable with this because I am not sure I want a video "out there" showing me defending direct instruction. What if I am applying for a job and a principal googles my name and stumbles across this video? Taken out of context, namely that I was assigned the role of defending direct instruction in my educational psychology class, the principal might think I am a zealous believer in direct instruction. In reality, I am very aware of the problems associated with this teaching methodology.
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