Emerging+Trends+Instruction+Application

 Emerging Trends Instruction Application Directions and Process 

To begin this assignment we were instructed to visit the WIKI page for our EDT 6020 class and choose an Emerging Trend. I chose the Emerging Trend Twitter. I chose Twitter because I was familiar with what Twitter was but wanted to learn more about it. Once having an Emerging Trend we were required to create a voice thread that contained a description, some history, characteristics, the purpose, software and hardware requirements, and instructions on how to use the emerging trend using different types of media within the voicethread. Once our voicethread was complete we were to go back to the EDT 6020 WIKI page and post a link to our voicethread.

Effectiveness as an Emerging Trend in Education  Through my research of Twitter, I found that it can be used for educational purposes. I believe that it can be used best as a communication tool in the classroom, especially to introduce blogging, which can be used in collaborative projects and work in the classroom. Students working together could communicate outside the classroom and an instructor would be able to monitor the interactions and progress of their students.  Reflection

This project made me nervous and I was very overwhelmed with the criteria that this project required. Once I figued out what my Emerging Trend was going to be, I found it easy to put together the PowerPoint research on Twitter. However I did think that it was a little too long to upload into the voicethread. I found my research on Twitter to be quite interesting. I didn't realize that Twitter could be used in business and in education. I think that Twitter would be very interesting to use in the classroom and I think it would be an effective tool as well. After uploading the PowerPoint into the voicethread software I found it quite difficult at first using the voicethread. I tried to upload different files into my presentation and was unable to do so without buying a different version of the voicethread which I don't think should have been a factor in completing the project. So I did the best I could with the version I was using. Although I think my presentation would have been better if I was able to upload the various files that I wanted to. I did use the communication tools for making comments using the microphone, webcam and the typing tool. I found the webcam the hardest tool to use because of trying to get the best angle and making it look like I wasn't reading my screen or the paper in front of me. I did like using the writing tools as an aid for explaing the "how to" section of my presentation. Overall I think the project was beneficial and I hope that I will be able to use a voicethread in my classroom instruction in the future.

Link to Voicethread

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