Kathy Cassidy (Blog Post #10)

Kathy Cassidy is an elementary school teacher in Moose Jaw, Canada and she uses technology in her classroom.  Mrs. Cassidy uses a wide range of techniques and devices to keep the kids interested in what they are learning.  She uses blogs to help with reading and writing, as well as Wikis, Skype, and even Nintendo DSs in the classroom.  One child discussed blogging for class and he said he enjoyed that other people could see the work that he doing, another said that blogging has helped when trying to sound out words.  The Wiki pages allow the students to interact with others. They had one particular project where they were learning about traditions and rituals, the students created a Wiki and students from other areas were able to comment and discuss their own traditions and rituals.  These kids even talked to a group of students from Alabama using Wiki! Mrs. Cassidy uses Skype conversations to have the children interact with professionals in different fields. What I thought was the most interesting, though, was her use of the Nintendo DSs in the classroom.  The children play NintenDogs to help their decision making skills and they also discuss what they did individually on their game in groups.  

Mrs. Cassidy began using technology in her classroom about ten years ago.  She has had a lot of time to work on and improve the way she uses certain tools. I really enjoy the many techniques Mrs. Cassidy uses to incorporate technology in the classroom, although, there are a few factors that may get in the way of the learning process.  Mainly, what the children may encounter online or what they post on the internet themselves.  There is a lot on the internet that is not suitable for children in elementary school and it can be difficult to screen for this. It is very important that the teacher be an active observer of what the children are seeing and doing.  Mrs. Cassidy said that she teaches her students how to be respectable digital citizens.  They are to be nice when they comment and just watch what they post in general.  Mrs. Cassidy added that she was not running into many problems keeping the children seeing only age appropriate materials, but the trouble came with keeping them off online games and making sure that what they were engaged in was educational material.  The distractions that come with technology are innumerable. 

Using technology in the classroom, in ways similar to Mrs. Cassidy, would help students become educated digital citizens, create deep rooted personal learning networks, and it allows them to help others.  The students are being introduced to so many new and interesting people through their blogs and Wiki pages.  The connections they make through these sites and tools allows them to grow socially and create personal learning networks that help them succeed.  In addition to having others help them succeed, the children can answer other student's questions.  This makes the student feel more confident when they are able to show off their knowledge of certain subjects.  One of the EDM students asked if Mrs. Cassidy was worried about students cheating because they are exposed to so many other student's work.  Her answer was that she was not worried and the point of using technology for learning was collaboration so it is not necessarily a bad thing that the children are using all of the sources provided to them.