Professional Learning Communities - Research Paper Example

? The evolution of the social media has changed the manner in which teachers plan and prepare for their lessons. The reasons of these changes are because of the evolution of technology. For instance, there is a change from the use of blackboards for teaching, to power-point presentations. The social media has had a great impact in the manner in which a teacher plans his or her work (Dunlap and Stephens, 2009). For instance, when planning for a lesson, the teachers must consider the materials he will need to use, the procedures of teaching, and the level of interaction he or she will initiate with students. During the process of planning, a teacher will have to reflect on the impact of the lesson in instilling on the students, and the skills they got as a result of the interaction. Other issues that the teacher will reflect on is how the lesson will help students to progress on their learning lessons, and how he as a teacher will help them to get there (Eshach, 2007). During this process of planning and preparing for the lesson, the teacher will also reflect on the likely question he or she will get from the students. This is for purposes of preparing the teacher to address the questions under consideration in an effective manner (Dunlap and Stephens, 2009). The social media is an important tool during this process of planning and preparing of a lesson by the teacher. Social sites such as twitter and facebook enable teachers to interact with their peers. On this basis, they can share their experiences and ideas on how to plan and prepare for lessons. At these social sites, teachers can share their lesson plans, with the hope of learning new ideas, and developing on their ideas for purposes of achieving efficiency when they are teaching (Ke and Hoadley, 2009). The social media also helps in improving communication between a teacher and a student. From the social media, a teacher can create a list of his students, and thereby interact with them in a professional manner concerning issues that affect their learning process. For instance, the teacher can post a comment on his facebook wall on how to improve the process of learning during his/her lessons (Eshach, 2007). He/ She might get feedbacks from his students, some suggesting new ideas of improving the lessons including use of power-point presentations, or issuance of course special notes concerning specific areas that they did not learn. The teacher can also take advantage of his or her student’s presence in the social media to create an online blog and a discussion forum. It is from these blogs and discussions that the teacher can acquire knowledge on the various needs of his/her students (Ke and Hoadley, 2009). Planning a lesson by integrating the needs of the students will ensure that students became active participants in the lessons, making it interesting (Eshach, 2007). Through the social, a teacher will be able to interact with the student’s parents, telling them on the progress of their students in relation to their academic capabilities. For example, facebook has a provision in which an individual can make a list of friends whom he or she can constantly interact with. A teacher can make a list of the various parents of his/her students. From this list, he can notify these parents on the progress of their students, and try to get some feedback on how to improve the academic capability of his/her students (J and Hunt, 2006). From these feedbacks, a teacher can have an idea on how to develop the teaching plan that he or she will use while conducting the lesson. Information from parents is crucial because parents know the intellectual and physical capabilities of their children. Basing on this information, a teacher can develop a plan that will factor in the intellectual capability of his/her students (Dunlap and Stephens, 2009). For example, in a classroom setup, there are fast learners and slow learners. Fast learners have the capability of grasping issues in class in a quicker manner, and do not need a further explanation once a teacher addresses the issue in class. A slow learner on the other hand will need more explanation on an issue once a teacher addresses it in the classroom set up. On this basis, while preparing for his lesson, and developing a plan, the teacher will know the number of fast and slow learners in his lessons (Eshach, 2007). On this basis, he will reflect on how to effectively address their needs in terms of ensuring that everybody in the class understands what he or she is teaching. The teacher might develop some pamphlets, and issue them to students in his class. This will supplement their notes during the process of revision, as a result making the students to fully understand the information in question. Apart from facebook and twitter, teachers can use planboard, a social networking site designed specifically for teachers (Eshach, 2007). This site provides tools that teachers can use to plan and organize their lessons. This site enables teachers to find the necessary resources needed for purposes of handling a lesson. It also provides a forum where different teachers meet for purposes of sharing their teaching experiences, and on how to improve the manner in which they conduct their lessons (Dunlap and Stephens, 2009). It is from these social sites that teachers learn on the new methods of teaching and planning for lessons. This is because of the evolution of the social media, and the emergence of new technologies. For instance, new teaching methods involve the use of Skype and you-tube to offer tutorial lessons. In you-tube, a teacher can post some tutorial lessons for purposes of imparting knowledge to their students (Ke and Hoadley, 2009). You Tube has a special education channel that contains materials and resources for teaching virtually any subjects in school. Teachers can take advantage of this technological innovation to look for materials and resources that are relevant to the courses in which they teach. They can use the channel to manage and plan and their work, since it can act as an important reference material. The Khan Academy is also another important social networking site that has a collection of financial, mathematics and science lectures. Teachers can use this site to supplement their notes, and teaching course materials. This site can act as a reference point on issues that a teacher does not have a great understanding on, since it contains virtually any information on science, mathematics and financial matters (Ke and Hoadley, 2009). The site has a tutorial section that contains videos which can be used to offer tutorial lessons, and this is for free. By using this site, a teacher can manage and properly plan his lectures or teaching sessions because he has an access of supplementary knowledge (Eshach, 2007). That is knowledge that comes from other sources apart from the course materials that he or she is using. Finally, in summary the arguments of this paper, we can denote that the social media plays a big role in helping teachers to handle their teaching lessons in a professional and ethical manner. This is because they are able to interact with their peers, acquiring ideas from each other on how to handle their teaching profession. It also encourages collaboration, between the teachers, students and their parents. This is a positive aspect in education because it will most definitely result to an improvement on the academic capabilities of students. This is because the teacher will acquire knowledge on the weaknesses of his or her students, and build upon those weaknesses, to ensure that the child learns, and achieves the outcomes of the lesson/ course under consideration. References: Dunlap, A., & Stephens, D. (2009). Components of Change in the Evolution of Learning and Unlearned Preference. Proceedings: Biological Sciences,, 276(1670), 3201-3208. Eshach, H. (2007). Bridging In-School and Out-of-School Learning: Formal, Non-Formal, and Informal Education. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 16(2), 171-190. J, I., & Hunt, D. (2006). Adaptive Learning Networks: Developing Resource Management Knowledge through Social Learning Forums. Human Ecology, 34(4), 593-614. Ke, F., & Hoadley, C. (2009). Evaluating Online Learning Communities. Educational Technology Research and Development, 57(4), 487-510. Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More