Group items tagged

#EdTechSN An example of how one instructor uses social media to keep students engaged outside of the classroom. 

This post is from a student perspective about how using social media while studying abroad help keep them connected with students at the home institution. The article does not touch on the possibility of these tools acting as an insulator, keeping the student from interacting with the culture they are visiting. The assumption has to be that while they are in country, they are actively seeking out these interactions. A little focus from the study abroad program could help achieve both objectives. 

I thought that this personal learning network resource was a great fit for our class. This article discusses how schools are using social media to engage students and real-world relevance, for professional development, and school, district, and teacher collaboration. They used Twitter to document and share a paper tower challenge with schools and teachers from all over the world. Twitter was used to connect with experts and students got to see that not all scientists agree on certain topics. They also connected with the community.

I like that this article looks at how Twitter can be used for students and for educators. The idea of Twitter for educators as professional development fits very well with the ideas of COP's and PLN's. While I haven't been a true part yet of a structured Twitter session for PD, I have lurked in many formal PD discussions with hashtags for our public school system and benefitted from what I gleaned.

What an awesome video. It makes me excited to go back in August and really challenge myself to use Twitter or Facebook to showcase my students. Our school district uses a hashtag #bsdpride for teachers to showcase things going on around the district and it's starting to take off. It's awesome that teachers are encouraging each other to use Twitter and begin challenges that involve students. You can tell from this video how important these students feel when their work or projects re used on social media, and are getting attention from other schools.

fThere's an ongoing debate about the role social media should play in education. Advocates point out the benefits that social media provides for today's digital learners while critics call for regulation and for removing social media from classrooms. Finding a middle ground has become a challenge.

How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School

An alliance of community college districts from around the country have started using social media with students in a targeted way. The goal of the project is to use social media with students to positively affect their degree persistence.

A group of students at Iowa City West High School started a social media club. They are committed to using Twitter and other social media to share positive thoughts.

Interesting count of how many users are currently using social media.

This article from ABC News discusses English teachers' perceptions that their students write more, and write better when social media tools are meaningfully employed.

One of the first resources I found when starting my Edtech journey and when creating curriculum for an online course in social media marketing. Rheingold has been around a long time and experimenting with social media and emerging communication tech for himself. His "crap detection 101" course is useful for faculty and students.

This is a guest written article about creating a PLN. It has very good graphics illustrating a PLN. It also describes the different components of a PLN including information aggregation tools and the social media connections. It even shows the step for a beginner to get started including resources to use and also blogs to follow. Short and sweet and to the point.

Hi Cinnamon! Great resource! I really thought some of the graphics and links included in the article were helpful. The section on information aggregation and social media connections at the end of the article was especially helpful.

This article provides a snapshot of how personal learning networks work and their benefits. Torrey Trust explains that PLNs allow for professional development to be catered to your specific needs at that moment. Educators can seek instant feedback for questions or ideas they may share. She also outlines the main tools that make PLNs work, information aggregation and social media. It is a good article to for educators new to PLNs. It provides a good understanding of why PLNs are important to professional development and also explains the ways in which the information is shared.

This post explains how educators are becoming more sophisticated in their social media use which is leading to more shared information outside of the traditional conference or classroom.

This was an interesting read. I also find that many conferences are hard to attend due to funding. I like how many educational professionals are finding ways to connect using their PLNs through Twitter to participate in edchats. Social media has made the ability to connect with others in your field so much easier and cheaper. It also demonstrates the point how learning and professional development are becoming more self-directed to meet each educator's needs. Thanks for sharing!

At my district professional development day this August, there was a session title Twitter for Teachers. While my district is not prepared to get rid of traditional PD, they can see the value in PLNs that allow for continuous professional growth. I think this article provides a great explanation of the transition from traditional PD and conferences to a digital world. The author also notes, however, that personalized learning could lead to "one-sided" information. I think that is why it may be important for districts to educate their teachers on PLNs to hopefully start them in the right direction.

Resource for elementary teachers

An excellent look at social media in the classroom, with examples and ideas to implement

Discusses the difference between online communities and communities of practice and the impact of using social media within a community of practice.

This research effort developed by Barbara F. Hartigan, Ed.D. and Marialice B.F.X. Curran, Ph.D at University of Saint Joseph that looks at connectivism in the context of using social media as a mentorship program for pre-service teachers. It is based off the researchers witnessing teachers on Twitter who engage in the Twitter chat #kinderchat mentoring a first year kindergarten teacher through their weekly chats. This developed into a research project where they embedded social media into the program for 19 pre-service teachers. They used mostly Twitter, Skype, and blogging and found that all of the participants learn from and value learning and teaching ideas and methodology obtained from their social media interactions. They note that next steps would be to follow those educators into their classrooms to see their continued development using social media.

Provides excellent examples from teachers, worldwide, on how they use social media tools in their classroom to enhance learning.

Lists over 100 ways that different social technologies (and tools) are being used by learning professionals worldwide - compiled from various educators.

This is a two page document outlining the Pros and Cons of social networking in the classroom. Part of this document points out the fact that we need administrators and parents to open up about social networking.

A breakdown of pros and cons regarding social media in the classroom.

Summary: Educators from Australia uncovered that the most useful collaboration taken from a course was student-led and student generation conversations. The users were able to exponentially grow professionally with the help of their peers through social media. The collaboration in this case was not mandated by the professor, but merely a suggestion. It was the desire to learn from others that sparked the community created digitally. It was through the social media that the learners were able to share ideas, questions in a way that was organized and beneficial to all.

Very interesting article. I always sign up for MOOCs and find I always take away something but have never had that social connection experience in the course as they did in this article; maybe it was the instructor(s) and their encouragement to connect outside of the MOOC. I am going to pay more attention in the future to see if I see connectivism, PLN, and communities of practice.

Great article. I wanted to dive deeper into the MOOC's but just did not have the time. I am so glad you found and posted this article. I would really like to find a MOOC with the social interaction described in this article. I think that would be a very valuable learning opportunity.

This is a great article about social networking in schools.

http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2010/06/16/03networking.h03.html M. Gottlieb Day School in Jacksonville, Fla. Ms. Tolisano launched her "Around the World With 80 Schools" project with a goal to introduce her school's students to peers in countries around the globe. She built a social-networking site using Ning for teachers from all countries who wanted to participate. Tolisano sets up meetings between classes using Skype, students prepare a list of questions and chat with students in Canada, Finland, New Zealand, and Spain, among a long list of others.

New Milford High School in New Jesrsey has embraced the use of social media. One example of use had students blogging daily during a field trip to Europe to visit Holocaust sites.