"There is a difference between Social Media IN schools and Social Media FOR schools. There is a difference between Social Media IN schools and Social Media FOR schools. While social media in schools deals primarily with policies around how to use (or not use) social media in the classroom with students, social media for schools is about storytelling and getting their stakeholders (teachers, students, administrators, parents, community) to spread these stories."
"While my last blog post was focused on developing shareable content FOR schools via social media, I have taken a step back to look at the bigger picture and the different components schools need to consider and gain fluency in order to best harvest the power of social media for them.
awareness of the difference between social media IN schools and FOR schools
social media strategy for schools
social media platforms and tools: characteristics, capabilities, type of content suited for particular platform, image/video sizes
characteristics of shareable content"
"I spent an intense day with administrators (Heads of School, Directors of communication, admission) at the AASSA (Association of American Schools in South America) Social Media Institute discussing social media FOR schools (not social media IN schools).
You can find the documentation including resources and examples in this post."
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Part I of Using Social Bookmarking in Schools and with your Students attempted to point out the skills and literacies involved and required when using social bookmarking tools to its full potential. I looked at the revised Bloom's Taxonomy as well as 21st century skills to see where social bookmarking fit in."
"This post is part of C.M Rubin's monthly series in the Huffington post: The Global Search for Education: Our Top 12 Global Teacher Blogs. This month we are answering the following prompt:
Can Social Media Have a Role to Play in Managing a Successful Classroom?
As in previous posts in the series, I am examining the prompt from a semantic point of view and ask myself immediately: What do we consider " managing a successful classroom" (and even what does it successful mean)? I also stumbled immediately over the word "CAN" and cringed when I wondered if it could say "Should" or "Must"? Semantics aside and out with an easy and short response: YES, social media can play a role in a successful classroom."
"We are finally getting ready for the ACTUAL writing part with our students. Until now you have prepared your students by:
* exploring other student authored blogs
* talking about online safety, online identity and cyber bullying
* making the difference between social and academic commenting clear
As with commenting, talk with your students about the difference between social and academic writing. A true educational blog is NOT about socializing, but about students and teacher helping each other grow in their learning."
"Pinterest has the reputation of being the social network platform of women. There are hundreds of boards that fit the typical cliché of teenie girls with movie star crushes, women in their twenties and thirties obsessed with their future wedding dresses, bored housewives decorating their fictitious mansions, shopaholics who pin their dream wardrobes. Probably all true, but just as with any other social network platform, there is another side to Pinterest, if you are willing to give it a try, dig deeper, experiment and are willing to become a pioneer of trying things that no one has tried before."
"Difference between social and academic commenting.
You could create a blog for your young students, in order to allow them a safe online space where your young students can socialize and "practice" in an online environment. This type of blog fosters a virtual kind of classroom community that can spill over (positively or negatively) into the physical classroom as well."
"Twitter, without a doubt, has become the social network for educators to take their professional development into their own hands. Twitter allows teachers to connect with other educators from around the world, join discussions related to their interests and have a steady stream of resources (to help them teach and learn) available to them whenever, whereever and however."
"The GIN (Global Issues Network) conference brought together an amazing group of young people, all united in their desire to change the world for the better and collaboratively find solutions to the world's problems.
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"Transliteracy is defined on Wikipedia as
The ability to read, write and interact across a range of platforms, tools and media from signing and orality through handwriting, print, TV, radio and film, to digital social networks. The modern meaning of the term combines literacy with the prefix trans-, which means "across; through", so a transliterate person is one who is literate across multiple media."
"To keep our parents in the loop about Social Media use in the classroom, we have posted the following Twitter Policy and Rationale on the school's 21st Century Learning blog."
"The conversation about visible thinking in Math started with one of our teachers at Graded, The American School of São Paulo, Adam Hancock, wanting to know how he could incorporate having students' use their blogfolios in Math class. It seemed natural to have students write for Humanities (Language Arts and Social Studies), but writing did not seem part of what Middle School Math was about.
How could "blogging" go beyond taking a digital image of a Math problem on paper or a quiz and writing about "how the student felt about solving the problem or passing the test?"or ask themselves what they could have done better?
One of the first steps was to bring more "language" into the Math classroom. In a Skype call with Heidi Hayes Jacobs, she said that Math should be taught more like a foreign language."
"Summer break is here for most of the schools in the Northern Hemisphere. Carefree summer months of vacation time jealously come to mind of most non-educators when they think of the teaching profession."
"Last week at CMI2010, I had the opportunity to talk to presenters, as well as many participants about Twitter. I had the feeling that the teachers, administrators, and superintendents, I spoke with, were genuinely interested in learning about Twitter."
"I wrote about the power of "The Network" in Personal Learning Network Thoughts. I would say that Twitter and my blog are the most important tools to the puzzle that make up my PLN.
It takes time and effort to build, grow, maintain and nurture my PLN. I get out of it what I put in it. The PEOPLE who make up my network are "IT"."
"I came across Docs That Teach this morning " It is divided int three parts: 1) Activities 2) Documents 3) Account ... I think this site has great potential in the Social Studies and History classroom. I especially liked the CREATE area, honoring the highest level in the Bloom's taxonomy (which the site acknowledged on their Bloom's Taxonomy resource link)."
"How is geography being taught in your school? Is it a weekly time block designated under the umbrella of Social Studies in Elementary School? Is it a semester or one year required credit course in High School?"
"There is too much information available. No doubt… Everyone feels overwhelmed by this information overload. EVERYONE…One of my favorite images to visualize this feeling is the one of a fire hydrant with a quote by Mitchell Kapor"