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Educators find themselves with mixed opinions about the role of social media in higher education and its importance in the classroom. Some see it as the technology of tomorrow, an important piece to the puzzle of connecting with students, while others try it doubtingly in their classrooms, assuming that the traditional face-to-face contact cannot be replaced.

list of communication tools for the well-connected teacher.

This is a fascinating conversation about connecting, symbiotic relationships and more with some powerful, spot on answers. The teachers in our current Flat Classroom 12-1 cohort are amazing (and we have another cohort starting soon -- here's what we've been talking about this week. "This is happening now. Live Mocha and other sites have tandem learning - each learner teaches the other a different language. In my classroom, I have the older students teach younger students about computer hardware. But we could be doing so much more. Some professors like Dr. Leigh Zeitz (his students have served as expert advisors) and Dr. Eva Brown (her students helped run Eracism last year) are flattening their college classrooms with preservice teachers by having the teachers connect with high school and younger classrooms. These preservice teachers are understanding the nuances of the global collaborative classroom before graduating from college! There are so many ways we could be creating these types of learning relationships. This week, let's publicly talk about our ideas and also experiences in creating these experiences. We can learn more and do more in this area and technology opens up limitless possibilities. What do you think?"

Ever wondered what the internet looks like? Well, not like this site, but it does provide a stunning visual representation of thousands of the biggest websites and how they are connected geographically on the network. This is a great way to start student thinking about web and how we are all connected. http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/ICT+%26+Web+Tools

I love this story from Donna Roman about her students Skyping with students in another classroom. it was very powerful. This is through iEARN but she is also connecting through Flat Classroom. Great teachers connect in many ways to many places. Wow. Love it.

You can connect with your students. Here are five ways I strive to do this in my own classroom. (In a piece I wrote for the Atlantic.com) 95% of what you accomplish is because of your habits. What are the habits in the classroom that will help you reach more students?

Connected Classroom - virtual field trips on Google+

Coming up this week is a book club with +Roald Dahl and a hangout with a Google Doodler at the Connected Classrooms Field Trips space by Google.

Some of the great tools you can use to connect with students remotely. My sister uses Adobe Connect and loves it.

These aren't really about creative engagement of parents in your school, but rather parenting suggestions to help maintain consistency of expectations both at home and at school. -My first post on 'Connected Principals'

We need to remember that the 'personal' is about emancipation, not about being alone. Learners need to remember that the connections are still needed, they just need to go out and make them, they will not be provided. The side effect to the power granted, is that simply 'doing the work' (read: posting my response to my blog) is not the end of the work. The work needs to be connected to others, learning is still about people.

Talks about how to contact other schools to build video chat connections-specifically Skype-for your school.

How to get your google profile organized and ready for Friend Connect.

Leadership and taking criticism

Another must read motivational post for those in leadership from Doug Johnson. I love the part where he says this time of year he needs to wear iron underwear b/c everyone seems to want to take a bite out of his a*%! Criticism is so tough to deal with, especially when you feel a lone. This is something I've been taking on the chin lately at our school and sometimes it really makes me want to quit. I think it is because as connected as I am with all of these amazing educators, right now in terms of technology, I don't feel very connected with the teachers at our school, largely because my workload barely gives me time to go to the ladies room! I love this post!

A great presentation by Kim Cofino

Great post on Connectivity

This is an excellent example of how a globally connected classroom can provide students with an experience unparalleled to classroom not using tech!

Learning algebra is difficult for most students. Ask any student what they are learning in algebra and you will probably receive an answer similar to this (after - Why do I need to know this?). "Using Xs and Ys a lot, a bunch of numbers and symbols, and memorizing a lot of rules." This often comes with learning algebra without connection to anything students can relate to. When students learn basic math, they can make a lot of connections.

A framework is provided for making connections between everyday math problem and solving real world math problems. Connections are made regarding project based learning for teachers new to the process, along with recommendations for teachers who are veterans of project based learning.

Teaching Algebra is always a challenge with students, because it is procedural driven and typically taught without any connection to the real-world.