Adventures in EdTech

A major question that schools are faced with, as the trend of tech integration into the classroom continues, is how to keep students and staff responsible and safe in their use of technology. Many teachers (myself included) would obviously love to see fewer moments of games or YouTube being accessed during work time, as the potential for off-task behaviors is something that we will constantly grapple with whenever we incorporate tech-driven learning. But, this is just one of the (smaller, relatively) concerns faced as tech’s role in schools grows. Especially as schools transition to a 1-1 setup, where they are now providing each student with a device that can potentially access every recess of the internet, communicating the expectations for how those devices can/should be used is paramount. Many schools have done this by drafting acceptable use policies, or AUPs, which are shared with teachers, students, and parents. For reference, here is my own district’s policy on use for computers

Algorithms . A term that many of us were not familiar with even just a handful of years ago, and now something that can dominate our day-to-day lives, or at minimum our engagement in media platforms. I have had some awareness and familiarity about the basic workings and influences of algorithms, but before this week I did not fully understand just how far the reach of algorithms extended. Honestly, the first thing that usually popped into my head when thinking about algorithms is this scene from Ron Swanson in the show Parks & Rec: Video Source Video courtesy of Peacock, retrieved from YouTube Numbers Dive I wanted to do a little digging, just to get a feel for how often an algorithm might impact someone on social media. This article reports internet users being on social media around 2 hours and 23 minutes per day on average, the same figure reported by this report from Statista. This is roughly the same level that has been seen since 2018, and with estimates above 2 hours per d

In an earlier post in my second Master’s program, I first delved into what exactly a PLN (Professional Learning Network) is, and documented an activity that I partook in to expand my PLN-creating an educational Twitter (or…X) account, and participating in a Twitter chat. While I did enjoy the experience, I ended the post with a question of whether or not I would continue as an active member with this new social media profile, within this part of my PLN. In terms of what I have contributed to a PLN, I honestly haven’t kept up my end of the deal (admitted PLN leech). But, I have continued to follow those same accounts I originally followed, and have used my educator account for the cognitive benefits that it offers. In this video , Dr. Torrey Trust outlines these cognitive benefits of a PLN-new resources, strategies, and acting as a source to reflect upon the qualities and resources of my own practice. As someone who isn’t a major social media user, that is the main aspect of my career t

Twitter/X Profile Personal Photo Instagram Profile Personal Photo Facebook Profile Personal photo LinkedIn Profile Personal Photo Snapchat Profile Personal Photo For those finding this blog for the very first time, hi! I'm Adam Blazek, and I'm currently a 7th-grade language arts and social studies teacher, getting ready to wrap up year number 10 in the classroom. But other than my bios on X and LinkedIn, it might be hard to find much about me on the social media accounts pictured above, other than my photos. Not a single one of them is less than four years old...and yet, there have been A LOT of photographable moments in the last four years of my life, pandemic or no pandemic. I have... Gotten married (to be fair, my now-wife is in multiple profile pictures, although none of them were taken even after our engagement, let alone our wedding) Gone on a honeymoon Gotten a dog, who my wife and I are absolutely obsessed with Moved into a new house Finished a Master's degree (and