Rip.Mix.Feed
Social media is a powerful platform which grants users an opportunity to share thoughts/ideas/opinions/experiences experiences with their given community. I enjoy utilizing social media and experimenting with different apps and websites both in my personal life, as well as my professional life. As a teacher, I believe social media grants students an opportunity to express themselves in a way that they deem relevant to their own life and culture. Subsequently, I was very excited to explore various websites and platforms for this rip.mix.feed assignment.
One of my favorite apps to utilize is Instagram. I use this app in my personal and professional life. I believe the instant capture and sharing of life’s moments is a very powerful thing. This being, I have also used and explored other photo sharing apps such as: Vine, Snapchat, Cinemagram, Pheed, Pinterest, Tumblr, Path and Flickr. A brief description of each app can be found here: http://webtrends.about.com/od/Iphone-Apps/tp/Apps-Like-Instagram.htm
Due to my interest and use of photo apps, I decided to experiment with a photo application for this assignment. I hoped to achieve the pictorial representation of the history of text using simple yet powerful pictures using PicMonkey. PicMonkey is a simple website that can consolidate photos in to one image, in a collage-like style. Options for displaying images are vast, using PicMonkey. It is simple, clear and I believe, creates a concise image. There are different layouts a user can choose from, as well as the option to add backgrounds, clipart and text. You can then post your image to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Flickr, Tumblr and other social media apps. A potential drawback of this application is that it is not necessarily an application that can be “added” to by others. The image is somewhat “final” in its production.
This website granted me the opportunity to display my knowledge and the development of text over time, in a simple and powerful way. The final image contains multiple images that are powerful on their own but make an even greater impact when combined with others, in an attempt to describe a history/story.
Great post! I enjoy social media on a personal level, as a means to connect with family and friends who are not here, but as a primary teacher have not had much opportunity to use it with my students. I do use an app called Class Dojo that allows many of the advantages of social media, without some of the disadvantages, but for older students, social media and the app that you demonstrated could certainly be a useful tool.
Social media is such a two-edged sword! On one side, it has many advantages for our students, such as the ability to express themselves and communicate with others. For individuals that have trouble expressing themselves in groups, it can add an element of security for them to voice their opinions. Students are more able to collaborate from home without the difficulties of meeting for group work. It can also be used for collaboration to help with concepts that may need clarification. For teachers, it provides easy contact with students and parents, allowing everyone to be in touch and up-to-date with student assignments or progress in school.
On the other side, many fear that social media is impeding our students abilities for face-to-face interaction. There is the worry of cyber bullying, access to inappropriate content and the possibility of the students posting inappropriate content as well. It is important when used in the classroom, that we are aware of both of these sides and that we overcome the disadvantages and ensure that the advantages are achieving the outcome we are looking for.
I agree with Jenn!
— Well said Bre.