So, last week in Digital Technologies we looked at various social media based sites for professionals and learners to communicate through. My time in school allowed me to come into contact with Glow at the very beginning of its rise in power within the primary school classroom. My primary seven teacher was very involved with Glow so I was lucky enough to use most of its features from time to time. As a class we did live video chats with authors of books we had been reading and with judges of competitions we had entered. I always thought of this as an extremely exciting way to connect and learn with others.

Sites such as Yammer and Glow not only allow for pupils and teachers to connect with other people, but with each other. These sites provide the materials for online homework diaries which can have dates of due homework, projects and details of school trips, which could hopefully mean that less paper copies of letters have to be printed and sent out (twice) as pupils and parents will always be provided with information and access to it through these sites. As well as convenience, experience of these sites allows pupils to begin learning about how to carefully and beneficially use the internet way before they create their own social media accounts. Furthermore, for second level pupils, I would be able to put a range of facts about a topic for them to read or a link to a video for them to watch on the account as homework. This would mean that when they came into class the next time we were looking at that particular topic, the pupils would hopefully have some background knowledge on it and we would be able to save time in the classroom, leaving more time to focus on activities, questions and understanding, rather than building up basic knowledge of the task.

I think that the whole idea of using resources such as this in the classroom is exciting and would carry a vast number of benefits! I can’t wait to try them out in the classroom!