In our first week of digital technologies, we each set up our own Glow blog, calling it our ‘reflective journal’. We were given the time to customise our own blog. Having a blog allows us to reflect and then record our experiences and the things that we have learned over the past week. Furthermore, you are able to create your own ‘launch pad’, adding tiles that you find most useful or use most often. Updating our blog regularly will benefit us in the future as we can look back and read over things that we have done in the past. For example, when on placement and are planning lessons, you are able to look back at your blog as it may contain ideas for you to use. In my opinion, having a blog is a great idea, as you are analysing your week and experiences as you experience them. It is a fantastic thing to encourage in schools as it practices both children’s literacy and technology skills.

Through glow, we were also introduced to the software, Yammer. Again, this is a software that was new to me. It is a social media site that can be used for educational purposes. Unlike other social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook, Yammer only allows members to connect with other members who belong to the same email domain. This means that only relevant information will be seen. Furthermore, you can create private groups within the site, meaning only the people within the group will be able to see this. We made one within our Digital Technologies class and this helped us to get used to the site, by experimenting through uploading media files and posts. This is a great idea as if you choose to use Yammer in your class, it will be private and safe for the pupils to use. Yammer is a great way of communicating and sharing ideas with your co-workers and others within your profession.