Blog Post #5

 1. I think that using AI in a K-12 setting can be useful to a certain level. I think that at the elementary grade level, there is not much use for AI for the students as much as it is useful for the teachers. Teachers can use AI to do a variety of things. They can use it to make lesson plans, develop activities, etc. However, I think there are better resources teachers can use at the elementary level to do these things. In middle school and high school, I think the students have figured out how to use AI, and it becomes more of a problem than a resource to them. Plagiarism happens, and many students use AI to cheat. 

2. The first social media tool I used was Pinterest. I got this app on my phone because I had found my mom's profile, and I wanted to make one. She had lots of recipes and activities saved as ideas for my brothers and I to do. I wanted to create my own account and save things that I liked and wanted to do. I found it beneficial because I was able to follow my friends and family and see what they had saved on their profiles and could save similar things. I ended up getting Instagram in middle school, and I was able to follow all of my friends and post pictures and stories of my life and let my friends see. These platforms can be helpful in my future career because I will be able to save things on Pinterest as ideas for my future classroom and activities. Instagram will be helpful because I could create an account as a teacher and let parents follow me and could be able to communicate through posts. 

3. Growing up, I went to a private Catholic K-8 school and high school. In Elementary school, we had access to iPads and Chromebooks in our technology class and could do work and play games on those. Teachers also had digital whiteboards and Elmos that they would use to teach class, and students could also interact with those. Then, in high school, we were required to purchase our own devices to use in class, and teachers had TV screens in every classroom. After freshman year, Chromebooks were donated to the school and were given to the students who had not already purchased devices for themselves, and they were able to take them home and do all of their work on them. The early experiences supported me because that is when I was first introduced to that kind of technology, and I enjoyed it. I think the only thing that could have been done better was that there could have been a limit to how many games were allowed on the iPads. Many students would download lots of games and get distracted during class because of this. 

4. Collaborative writing and social annotation help students work together and share ideas. I would use Google Docs so students can write stories or reports together and leave helpful comments. I would also use Hypothesis to let students highlight and talk about what they read online. For a lesson, students could read a short story, highlight their favorite parts, and ask questions. Then, they would write a group summary on Google Docs. I would show them how to use the tools and practice giving kind, helpful feedback.