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"Produced in collaboration with Facebook. Social media is fast becoming as ubiquitous as the air we breathe. In recent months, many schools and districts around the country have taken steps to create social media policies and guidelines for their students and staff. In my work with several districts to draft these documents, I have seen many approaches that work well, and some that don't. That said, there is no silver bullet for administrators; every school, district, and state has a different set of circumstances. With that in mind, here are some steps that will help you determine the best approach for your own community."

The unprecedented uptake of mobile devices, in particular mobile phones, in both developed and developing countries opens up new possibilities for increasing education access, equity and quality. Mobile learning, a growing field of ICT in education, has the potential to significantly impact the delivery of education. However, an enabling policy environment is needed to fully realize this potential. UNESCO's research has revealed a dearth of policies related to mobile learning. To address this gap UNESCO, in broad consultation with relevant stakeholders, will develop a set of guidelines to help national government policy makers and educators create environments that enable the safe, affordable and sustainable use of mobile technologies for education.

A recent report (November 2011) from Symantec highlighted that 15% of teachers have experienced cyber-baiting, and 25% of teachers have formed friendships with students via social networks. There has been quite a bit of media attention around the issue, so I thought it would be a good time to highlight some work that NetSafe did last year with a group of educators around some guidelines for the use of blogs and other social media tools.

"Our students' excessive dependence on digital content is going wild and this obligates us from an ethical point of view ( at least ) to be ourselves aware of the copyright issues related to the use, dissemination, and redistribution of such content and also to teach our kids and students about the guidelines they have to respect when using electronic materials. The "Whatever online is Free" mentality should change and students need to constantly be reminded of the ethical codes and copyright rules they have to abide by to use the online content in an ethically sound manner."

Mastering the art of presentation is not easy. True. Good presenters are natural presenters. Not true. This guide to mastering the art of presentation proves this point. Everyone can present with flair, style and success. Everyone can be effective. This book reveals the fundamentals of good presenting practice. Highlighting the major guidelines followed by successful presenters it offers ideas that you can follow to make your presentations more masterful.

I love the idea of Twitter etiquette. Twitter just like any other social networking site has its own rules and guidelines that any new member has to accept before opening their account. But there are also other rules that are formed by force of actual use and though they are not as binding as the written ones but they are just as much important. As teachers and educators, the purpose behind using Twitter is primarily to connect with other teachers, learn from their teaching experiences and share with them ours.In doing so we build a community of people that we interact with and for this interaction to be effective we need to abide by Twitter code of ethics. Corey Talked about 11 Twitter etiquettes and based on his list I made the graphic below. Enjoy"

Great resource and guide for using twitter in the classroom and for professional development with some down to earth guidelines

this BYOD policy allows you to not only bring your portable device - tablet, phone, or laptop - to class, but to use it throughout. It trusts you to use it for the benefit of your education for the short time class meets each week. When using the device in class, just use your common sense, asking "would my professor approve of this use?" I don't mind the occasional text, but please do not let your device be a distraction. Here are some guidelines for in-class device use.

The purpose of the guidelines is "to encourage decision makers in governments and institutions to invest in the systematic production, adaptation, and use of OER and to bring them in to the mainstream of higher education in order to improve the quality of curricula and teaching and to reduce costs."

Education leaders are re-examining acceptable use policies in light of the increasing use of highly mobile information technologies. While acceptable use policies were developed to manage and control behaviour, a digital citizenship policy takes a more comprehensive approach by recognizing the important role of education in preparing digital citizens. The  intent of this guide is not to ascribe policy, but rather to offer guidance to leaders as they strive to better meet student and organizational needs. The guide provides an overview of digital citizenship policies and practices. It draws from research and the practical experience of Alberta schools. 

This guide examines the use of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) models in schools. It looks at the potential opportunities and benefits, as well as the considerations, risks and implications that arise when schools allow students and staff to use personally owned devicesin the classroom and school environments. Strategies,tips and techniques are included to address the considerations and manage the risks. The guide is NOT a step-by-step manual for implementing  models that enable students to use personally owned devices in school. While teachers, parents, community members and other stakeholders may find the guide informative, it is written with school and school authority administrators and leadership teams in mind. It is meant to inform their decision making and strategic planning should they decide to support a BYOD model in their schools.

This special report features a series of columns by Dr. Lawrence C. Ragan, Director of Instructional Design and Development for Penn State's World Campus, and will help you establish online instructor best practices and performance expectations. The following snippets are just a taste of the insider's advice found in the full report: Principles of Effective Online Teaching: #1 Show Up and Teach - The necessity of this statement is borne of the misimpression that the online class "teaches itself." Since most of the course is already authored and designed for online delivery, instructors may believe they simply need to serve as the proverbial "guide on the side" as the students navigate the learning system. Not true! Principles of Effective Online Teaching: #2 Practice Proactive Course Management Strategies - The online instructor can help create a successful learning experience by practicing proactive course management strategies such as monitoring assignment submissions, and communicating and reminding students of missed and/or upcoming deadlines. Principles of Effective Online Teaching: #3 Establish Patterns of Course Activities - Although the online classroom environment provides tremendous flexibility of time and place of study, establishing and communicating a course pace and pattern of work can aid both instructor and student, and alleviate confusion around how the course operates. Principles of Effective Online Teaching: #4 Plan for the Unplanned - For those small or not-so-small occasions when "life happens," having a strategy for informing students of these changes can go a long way to maintaining course continuity. Principles of Effective Online Teaching: #5 Response Requested and Expected - Timely instructor feedback is essential for the online learner to manage their learning experience. Instructors are expected to respond to student inquiries within one business day.

Sometimes teachers and administrators need a kick in the pants to see what they perceive as problems re-framed in a different way. Adam S. Bellow, author of The Tech Commandments, and founder of eduTecher, spoke to a roomful of receptive teachers at the recent ISTE 2011 conference, and demonstrated some of the ironies and contradictions the education system is mired in. And he had some advice.

"I've been seeing a lot of people on social media looking for a social media policy and / or an acceptable use policy. So I offered to help spearhead an initiative where some of our amazing readers could help craft these policies from scratch. It started out very basic but, 400 edits later, has materialized into a thoughtful and well-organized document that's a great template for any school."