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A few weeks ago, I wrote that your organization should have a social media policy, and one of the things I heard among all the great comments was: "Okay, but what should it say?" There are generally two approaches to social media policy making. Some organizations handle social media in an evolutionary way. Chad Houghton, the director of e-media and business development at the Society for Human Resource Management, told me that he thinks, "it might be beneficial not to create some arbitrary rules without first seeing where the opportunities and risks really are." Other organizations, meanwhile, feel more comfortable establishing a clear policy from the outset. IBM, for example, has published their social media guidelines publicly for anyone to read. It's a great policy, though rather long. Whether you're writing your social media policy from the get-go, or letting it develop organically in reaction to situations as they arise, here are 10 things you should definitely consider. These 10 tips will help you steer clear of pitfalls and allow you to focus on what's important: engaging the customer.

"Jon Stewart Accepts His Award Jon Stewart was awarded a Media Literate media Award in 2005 for the contributions to media literacy made by The Daily Show. Watch Jon's video acceptance of the award below."

Science News Share Blog Cite Print Email Bookmark Is Technology Producing A Decline In Critical Thinking And Analysis? ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2009) - As technology has played a bigger role in our lives, our skills in critical thinking and analysis have declined, while our visual skills have improved, according to research by Patricia Greenfield, UCLA distinguished professor of psychology and director of the Children's Digital Media Center, Los Angeles. See also: Mind & Brain Intelligence Educational Psychology Computers & Math Video Games Computer Graphics Science & Society Popular Culture Educational Policy Reference Computing power everywhere Webcast Computer-generated imagery Aptitude Learners have changed as a result of their exposure to technology, says Greenfield, who analyzed more than 50 studies on learning and technology, including research on multi-tasking and the use of computers, the Internet and video games. Her research was published this month in the journal Science. Reading for pleasure, which has declined among young people in recent decades, enhances thinking and engages the imagination in a way that visual media such as video games and television do not, Greenfield said. How much should schools use new media, versus older techniques such as reading and classroom discussion? "No one medium is good for everything," Greenfield said. "If we want to develop a variety of skills, we need a balanced media diet. Each medium has costs and benefits in terms of what skills each develops." S

"On the Media explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of "making media," especially news media, because it's through that lens that we literally see the world and the world sees us."

"Twitter Literacy (I refuse to make up a Twittery name for it) Post-Oprah and apres-Ashton, Twittermania is definitely sliding down the backlash slope of the hype cycle. It's not just the predictable wave of naysaying after the predictable waves of sliced-breadism and bandwagon-chasing. We're beginning to see some data. Nielsen, the same people who do TV ratings, recently noted that more than 60% of new Twitter users fail to return the following month. To me, this represents a perfect example of a media literacy issue: Twitter is one of a growing breed of part-technological, part-social communication media that require some skills to use productively. Sure, Twitter is banal and trivial, full of self-promotion and outright spam. So is the Internet. The difference between seeing Twitter as a waste of time or as a powerful new community amplifier depends entirely on how you look at it - on knowing how to look at it. "

Using twitter effectively is a critical thinking skill. Howard describes this in detail.

When I started using social media in the classroom, I looked for and began to learn from more experienced educators. First, I read and then tried to comment usefully on their blog posts and tweets. When I began to understand who knew what in the world of social media in education, I narrowed my focus to the most knowledgeable and adventurous among them. I paid attention to the people the savviest social media educators paid attention to. I added and subtracted voices from my attention network, listened and followed, then commented and opened conversations. When I found something I thought would interest the friends and strangers I was learning from, I passed along my own learning through my blogs and Twitterstream. I asked questions, asked for help, and eventually started providing answers and assistance to those who seemed to know less than I. The teachers I had been learning from had a name for what I was doing -- "growing a personal learning network." So I started looking for and learning from people who talked about HOW to grow a "PLN" as the enthusiasts called them. Learning innovator Will Richardson led me to Shelly Terrell, who genuinely lives out her "collaborate for change" maxim.

Personal Learning Networks can be important in helping you find authorities in a field. A collection of professionals, a network of enthusiasts on a subject, can provide checks on opinion and fact.

Global Voices is a community of more than 300 bloggers and translators around the world who work together to bring you reports from blogs and citizen media everywhere, with emphasis on voices that are not ordinarily heard in international mainstream media. Global Voices seeks to aggregate, curate, and amplify the global conversation online - shining light on places and people other media often ignore. We work to develop tools, institutions and relationships that will help all voices, everywhere, to be heard. Millions of people are blogging, podcasting, and uploading photos, videos, and information across the globe, but unless you know where to look, it can be difficult to find respected and credible voices. Our international team of volunteer authors and part-time editors are active participants in the blogospheres they write about on Global Voices."

"The Florida Curriculum Framework for Language Arts says, "Students must learn how to locate, comprehend, interpret, evaluate, manage, and apply information from a variety of sources and media. They must learn how to communicate effectively in a variety of settings and for a variety of purposes through many different media.""

"Regret the Error reports on media corrections, retractions, apologies, clarifications and trends regarding accuracy and honesty in the press. It was launched in October 2004 by Craig Silverman, a freelance journalist and author based in Montreal."

The News Literacy Project (NLP) is a national educational program that taps experienced journalists to help middle and high school students "sort fact from fiction in the digital age." According to its website, the project teaches students critical-thinking skills that will help them become smarter consumers and creators of information across all types of media. It shows students "how to distinguish verified information from spin, opinion, and misinformation-whether they are using search engines to find websites with information about specific topics, assessing a viral eMail, viewing a video on YouTube, watching television news, or reading a newspaper or a blog post." Working with educators, students, and journalists, NLP says it has developed original curriculum materials "based on engaging activities and student projects that build and reflect understanding of the program's essential questions. The curriculum includes material on a variety of topics … that is presented through hands-on exercises, games, videos, and the journalists' own compelling stories."

a recent New York Times piece, "Wasting Time Is New Divide in Digital Era" (or, as Gawker put it, "Poor People Are Wasting Time on the Internet!") asserts that while all kids are spending more time with media, those with lower socio-economic status were spending even more of it, and on activities like Facebook that aren't exactly conducive to learning. In other words: even when you give poor people access to technology, they don't know what to do with it! Might as well give a paleolithic tribe access to a chip fab, pffft. Jessie Daniels, Associate Professor of urban public health at Hunter College and CUNY and author of a forthcoming book on Internet propaganda, tweeted her displeasure at the piece. (There's even a Storify of all her comments on it.)

"INFORMATION SKILLS RATING SCALE This document was developed as part of a consulting assignment with the library media staff of the Oak Harbor (WA) Schools, who wished to create a rating scale which would help them assess how well students are performing on the tasks associated with the Research Cycle . The document is copyrighted by the Oak Harbor Schools and by Jamie McKenzie, but copies may be made by schools for distribution to staff. Any other duplication or transmittal in any form is prohibited unless permission is granted expressly."

David, This looks extremely useful. How might we get "permission granted" for school-wide use? Jean

"Boost Your Teaching - With Critical Thinking Part of the series: Boost Your Teaching More to view/download/share: links Part of the series Boost Your Teaching Roy van den Brink-Budgen, a former chief examiner for critical thinking, explains some of the concepts involved in helping your pupils developing critical thinking skills. Learning how to analyse, evaluate and produce arguments can help pupils become enquiring thinkers, and skills can be developed across subjects and key stages. Whatever the subject, critical thinking encourages students to take claims and ask questions about them, whether they are made in conversations, in the classroom, or in the media."

Great video illustrating some important skills.

"Definition of Information Literacy Although alternate definitions for information literacy have been developed by educational institutions, professional organizations and individuals, they are likely to stem from the definition offered in the Final Report of the American Library Association (ALA) Presidential Committee on Information Literacy, "To be information literate, a person must be able to recognize when information is needed and have the ability to locate, evaluate and use effectively the needed information"(1989, p. 1). Since information may be presented in a number of formats, the term information applies to more than just the printed word. Other literacies such as visual, media, computer, network, and basic literacies are implicit in information literacy. "

We've finally figured out how to monetize social interaction, and Rushkoff, an award-winning author and media theorist who writes and speaks regularly on these topics, has reservations.

The News Literacy Project (NLP) is an innovative national educational program that mobilizes seasoned journalists to help middle school and high school students sort fact from fiction in the digital age.

One man's version of truth sans evidence.

"Information Skills Community of Practice" Welcome! ISCOP is the Information Skills Community Of Practice and is supported through the National Digital Learning Repository (NDLR) Project. ISCOP brings together people who share a passion for the advancement of information literacy.\n\nMembers of ISCOP can share news, experiences, learning resources and discuss ideas. ISCOP is open to all NDLR partners. The learning resources in the NDLR can be used by ISCOP members and contributions of resources are strongly encouraged.\n\nThis website will be a place for ISCOP members to keep up to date with new learning resources and technologies relevant to information literacy. It will also offer a means for members to communicate."

"Assessments of Information Literacy" links to resources for assessing information literacy. Includes portfolio assessments from many different colleges.