Looking to create a social media or BYOD policy? Look no further. How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School | Edutopia. Districts Tackle Questions Surrounding BYOT Policy. Digital citizenship reality check: Notes from Nairobi's IGF. Asked how they’d rank “digital citizenship” on a scale of 1 to 10 – with 10 representing “very relevant and meaningful” – a youth panel from Egypt, the US, and UK ranging in age from 15 to 22 gave it a 1, two 3′s, a 5, a 6, and an 8. This was in a workshop yesterday involving young people and adults representing the Internet industry, governments, and nonprofit youth organizations from Egypt, New Zealand, the UK, and the US at the Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi, Kenya.
The subject we were discussing was whether digital citizenship is relevant and meaningful to youth around the world, including developing countries. The British teen who gave it a 1 said it “sounds distant and abstract,” and people shouldn’t distinguish between citizenship and digital citizenship anyway. Another UK teen said, “Maybe ‘participant’ is a better word than ‘citizen’.” Aspects of digital citizenship Consensus a ways off Other highlights & takeaways Related links. Student Safety in the Age of Facebook. Online Safety | In Print Student Safety in the Age of Facebook By Margo Pierce03/02/12 "If one life is saved, then it's worth it. " That is the clichéd argument frequently used to justify banning electronic communications, websites, and other forms of technology in schools.
The common belief is that these prohibitions will prevent, among other things, the sexual assault of minors or suicides related to cyberbullying. But that argument can be turned on its head and also applied to unfettered access. In 2001, the federal Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) tied funding for reduced-rate internet access for schools and libraries to a number of mandates. Social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are certainly riding strong waves of popularity at the moment, and already they have caused significant changes in the ways and means by which students and adults communicate with one another. "As long as there's been technology, the concern is, 'How are we protecting kids? '" The Innovative Educator tries to change the mind of an administrator who “thinks” he disagrees with my stance on friending students online. When George Swain read my Tweet, “Told the mayor on his Facebook page, he was inappropriate for judging teachers who friend students he replied with this: georgeswain @InnovativeEdu Very interesting issue!
I think I disagree with you. See my post to your blog. Thanks for getting me thinking this morning. What I’m optimistic about is that George said, “I ‘think’ I disagree with you.” and he thanked me for getting him thinking. A thoughtful comment indeed. @George Swain, I’d like to know what you perceive as the dangers for an educator open to connecting with students in whichever environment they exist...online or offline. So, George, I’m dying to know. Not Letting Teachers “Friend” & “Follow” Kids Online? Think Twice! Almost 70% of 18-34 year-olds expect 2012 presidential candidates to have a social media presence (Digitas, 2011). A 2008 study by Cone’s, Business in Social Media Study,revealed that 93% of social media users expect companies to have a social media presence, and 85% expect the businesses to interact with their clients via social media – it is safe to say that that percentage has increased in the past four years.
Almost 60% of Fortune 500 companies maintain active corporate Facebook and/or Twitter accounts (Sociable360.com). As a school librarian, when I want to check out a publisher or book distributor, I look them up on Facebook and Twitter. I skip the website, because I know that the content will probably be six months old, at best, whereas the social media profile will be current. Seventy percent of American colleges admit to factoring prospective students' Facebook profile into the college admissions process (Schools.com). So yes. We are in the business of education. The World's Simplest Social Media Policy.
25 Ways Teachers Can Integrate Social Media Into Education. Creating Social Media Guidelines...The Handout. Over the past few weeks I have been working on a project for Edutopia and Facebook Education to develop a set of steps to follow when developing social media guidelines in your school or district. This all came about from my presentation at ASCD this year where I outlined how we created a document that promoted the use of social media by our teachers and our students but also gave tips on responsible use. (You can read what we created here.) The goal of the document is to provide a means for anyone from a school or district to create an environment that allows for the use of social media for learning and communication. There are some simple, yet necessary steps that are important for the implementation of such guidelines.
I have embedded the document below for download. What steps have you taken to create social media guidelines in your school or district? A School's Guide to Social Media Etiquette | SchoolAdmin Blog. The Admissions Director's School’s Guide to Social Media Etiquette With everyone entering the social media market and it being the status quo to host links to your Facebook and Twitter accounts on your website and in emails, it’s important to remember that there is an unwritten code of conduct. It’s actually been written a number of times in a number of ways however, a lot of what you’ll read about in searching for social media etiquette is aimed at the casual user (and abuser) of Twitter and Facebook as well as some businesses. But what about schools? Here are some best practices for how you as a school should conduct your social media business that will help boost your online presence.Keep Posting The most important thing for an Admissions Director to do is build an audience of people who are both interested in being part of the school as well as interested in hearing what’s going on with the school. 1.
Keep Engaging Try and always respond to those who reach out to you on social media. Engaging Without Restrictions. Engaging Without Restrictions Restrictive approaches to social media in the classroom are hurting K-12 districts that expect their teachers to successfully guide students into the new media world, according to Steven Anderson. By Bridget McCrea11/28/12 Steven Anderson is shocked by some of the social media policies instituted by K-12 schools and districts nationwide.
"It completely boggles my mind," said Anderson, director of instructional technology at Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools. "I'm not saying there isn't a need for policies around social media usage, but the best practices and guidelines have to allow kids to both explore and make mistakes. " From there, Anderson said it's up to the district to figure out how those mistakes are going to be addressed.
Take the high-profile problem of cyber-bullying, for example. As his district's director of instructional technology, Anderson helps guide a technology program for over 53,000 students in Winston-Salem, NC. Social Media Parenting: Raising the Digital Generation. Who are your kids friending on Facebook? What are they really texting to their classmates? How much online time is too much? Too often, parents who are misinformed about the social web (willfully or otherwise) will shut their kids out of it completely, only to find they are logging in anyway. If you're not taking an active role in your child's online life, you may be missing important opportunities to ensure they are on the path toward "digital citizenship," and protected from inappropriate content and people.
To help shrink the tech-culture divide between parents and their kids, we sought advice from the experts, who draw not only from their own research, but their family experiences as well. Take an Active Role, and Do Your Homework For kids, social media can no longer be dismissed as a time-waster or distraction. So how do you grant kids the freedom to explore while still keeping an eye on their safety? "Parents can't just decide to keep their kids at a distance from all of this. Social Media for School Leaders. When the World Wide Web made global computer-to-computer connections possible, the ability to link people together in true social networks was not far behind. The first popular “social circle” network, SixDegrees, went online in 1997.
In 2002, Friendster appeared and is often referred to as the granddaddy of websites that were truly “social.” In 2004, MySpace was created and allowed users to post information about themselves including pictures and videos. Shortly thereafter, Twitter and Facebook rocketed to global popularity. In 2011, it was Google Plus, re-energizing the circles model. The enormous popularity of social networking today leaves little doubt that while the form is sure to evolve, the desire for social connectivity is here to stay.
I believe that the human heart is intrinsically made to connect to others, and Social Media allows us to be connected to others in a way never before experienced or imagined. At the end of the conversation, I had a new Twitter user in my midst! 8 Social Media Strategies for Your Classroom - Getting Smart by Adam Renfro - PLN, social media in education. Are you ready to bring social networking to your classroom? If you’re looking to make your classroom more relevant, connected, and meaningful to your students, it’s the best place to start. Study after study has confirmed the benefits of networking. Before we delve into strategies, though, let’s look at some reasons why we should connect with students in this manner.
First, we have to acknowledge the ubiquity of social networking. Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter are in the top 15 sites on the World Wide Web. Others will come, and some of our favorites may fade away, but social networking is here to stay. Besides the ubiquity factor, so much of social networking is free. Engagement is another important reason to use social networking. Lastly, social networking lets you incorporate real-world experiences into your classroom. Now for some strategy. Keep in mind that this is a social networking strategy, so there’s going to be interactivity involved. 20 Tools for the Social Classroom (ages 5-18) Beyond Social Networking: Building Toward Learning Communities - Viewpoint Beyond Social Networking: Building Toward Learning Communities Web 2.0 tools have critically elevated the social networking activity and skills of individuals. Not only are young people highly active in social networks, but older individuals are also showing a huge increase in their use of these tools.
The attraction of older age groups is, of course, social connection and community building among professional and casual peers and friends. The following graph of a Pew Internet study shows the various age groups and the increase of use. Much has been written recently about the impact of social networking tools in teaching and learning and how educators can build on the skills of their students in using these tools. What Social Networking Offers to Learning The most effective pedagogical approach using new technology is social constructivism, as it builds on social interaction and engagement, which is at the heart of Web 2.0 technology.
Web 2.0, Social Media in safety mode in education.