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After watching the video, I found myself really latching on to the idea that companies now are having their employees work together using social media. Our goal as teachers is to prepare students for the real world and in the real world, more and more, our students will have to be able to use social media and all sorts of technologies that have not been invented yet in order to have a job. That been said, our students are extremely fluent at how to use social media but are extremely poor at using it professionally. One of the skills that we need to teach them is how to use social media as a way to collaborate and communicate effectively with others. Next year, my school will be going 1:1 with iPads and one of the most exciting things for me to use them for will be to transform the way we do group work. By giving everyone in a group an iPad, each person can be simultaneously writing ideas, reading others ideas, drawing and viewing pictures and editing other group members' responses when they are all connected together. This is a form of collaboration that will engage and enrich the learning of everyone and will be used frequently in jobs in the future so we need to prepare our students for this type of teamwork.

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Fred Wilson 9th - 12th Grade

The world and our species are changing. There is little
doubt that today's students will need to function in a technology
"rich" environment and it also follows that as educators we need to
help prepare our students for this future. The rate of change is now so high that
skills like technological products are obsolete nearly as quickly as they are
acquired. I have to admit that as a human participant in this collective
experience I am scared @$%&less about what this means for our survival and
the basic "meaning of life" journey that makes up our lives. That
said, it true as presented in the TED talk by Dr. William J. Ward that social
media should part a role in the learning environment in our school system. I
have several observations about this presentation...

1)     
Employers value adaptability and the ability to
learn more than the possession of a specific skill set.

2)     
Computers and glowing screens during
presentation. What percent of those using technology were sharing their
experience with others, and what percentage were looking for a different
experience?

3)     
Students lack digital skills that can be used
productively in the workplace.

4)     
Quote, “I would rather hire a high level World
of Warcraft player than an MBA from Harvard...? I would like to see the context
of this quote and meet the employer who actually believes that a Harvard MBA
would have a more limited ability to contribute to an organization than a high
level gamer…isn’t it possible that the MBA would also be a high level gamer?
How likely is it that a high level gamer would have the problem solving skills,
communication skills and work ethic of a Harvard MBA graduate? Now the World of
Warcraft player would probably cost a lot less…

5)     
Others around the world can share in the
learning of a live event via the posts made by attendees. This does seem like
it would increase the impact of a learning experience, though I do have to
wonder how this affects the experience of the event for the attendee? (I know
that viewing a vacation through a lens finder reduces the impact of the vacation
experience for me).

6)     
Finding supplemental resources to enhance the
learning. I think this is one of the most usefull applications of technology in
the classroom. It really adds to a discussion when we can ask and answer
questions related to our learning using on-line resources in real time.
Typically I would not rely on social media for these kinds of references.

7)     
The ability to connect with people from around
the world, guest speakers, learners in other settings. I really hope to use
more of these types of resources in the future. I am hoping that I will be able
to access networks of live “chats”/webinars that we can log into as a class to
include fresh perspectives in our learning. I think this kind of a “classroom
resource network” would be a great start-up opportunity for an entrepreneur.

8)     
I like the idea that students can continue to
have conversation about the course content after the class is over and I look
forward to learning some techniques that would help this to occur.

9)     
Using scoring to create competition for
contribution to the class. This recognizes those who are doing most of the
posting to the class forums and creates an incentive to participate.

 

10)  
It is also interesting that Dr. Ward connected
this contribution to class “competition” with techniques that employers can use
to monitor and reward employee productivity. This, I think, will be the biggest
single challenge for employers in a technology rich work place. It will be very
difficult to pay by the hour in a world where our technologies are so
compelling and attention diverting.

11)  
Examples? I would like to hear more from Dr.
Ward relating to specific techniques that can be used in the classroom.

12)  
I have to comment that for a TED Talk, Dr. Ward
has a fairly limited skill set in terms of oral presentation. His monotone
delivery, relentless pacing and minimal interaction with the audience makes me
wonder if his focus on social media as a communication format has had an impact
on his ability to communicate with live humans...

# data[].attributes.subject
Fred Wilson 9th - 12th Grade

The world and our species are changing. There is little
doubt that today's students will need to function in a technology
"rich" environment and it also follows that as educators we need to
help prepare our students for this future. The rate of change is now so high that
skills like technological products are obsolete nearly as quickly as they are
acquired. I have to admit that as a human participant in this collective
experience I am scared @$%&less about what this means for our survival and
the basic "meaning of life" journey that makes up our lives. That
said, it true as presented in the TED talk by Dr. William J. Ward that social
media should part a role in the learning environment in our school system. I
have several observations about this presentation...

1)     
Employers value adaptability and the ability to
learn more than the possession of a specific skill set.

2)     
Computers and glowing screens during
presentation. What percent of those using technology were sharing their
experience with others, and what percentage were looking for a different
experience?

3)     
Students lack digital skills that can be used
productively in the workplace.

4)     
Quote, “I would rather hire a high level World
of Warcraft player than an MBA from Harvard...? I would like to see the context
of this quote and meet the employer who actually believes that a Harvard MBA
would have a more limited ability to contribute to an organization than a high
level gamer…isn’t it possible that the MBA would also be a high level gamer?
How likely is it that a high level gamer would have the problem solving skills,
communication skills and work ethic of a Harvard MBA graduate? Now the World of
Warcraft player would probably cost a lot less…

5)     
Others around the world can share in the
learning of a live event via the posts made by attendees. This does seem like
it would increase the impact of a learning experience, though I do have to
wonder how this affects the experience of the event for the attendee? (I know
that viewing a vacation through a lens finder reduces the impact of the vacation
experience for me).

6)     
Finding supplemental resources to enhance the
learning. I think this is one of the most usefull applications of technology in
the classroom. It really adds to a discussion when we can ask and answer
questions related to our learning using on-line resources in real time.
Typically I would not rely on social media for these kinds of references.

7)     
The ability to connect with people from around
the world, guest speakers, learners in other settings. I really hope to use
more of these types of resources in the future. I am hoping that I will be able
to access networks of live “chats”/webinars that we can log into as a class to
include fresh perspectives in our learning. I think this kind of a “classroom
resource network” would be a great start-up opportunity for an entrepreneur.

8)     
I like the idea that students can continue to
have conversation about the course content after the class is over and I look
forward to learning some techniques that would help this to occur.

9)     
Using scoring to create competition for
contribution to the class. This recognizes those who are doing most of the
posting to the class forums and creates an incentive to participate.

 

10)  
It is also interesting that Dr. Ward connected
this contribution to class “competition” with techniques that employers can use
to monitor and reward employee productivity. This, I think, will be the biggest
single challenge for employers in a technology rich work place. It will be very
difficult to pay by the hour in a world where our technologies are so
compelling and attention diverting.

11)  
Examples? I would like to hear more from Dr.
Ward relating to specific techniques that can be used in the classroom.

12)  
I have to comment that for a TED Talk, Dr. Ward
has a fairly limited skill set in terms of oral presentation. His monotone
delivery, relentless pacing and minimal interaction with the audience makes me
wonder if his focus on social media as a communication format has had an impact
on his ability to communicate with live humans...

# data[].attributes.body
Love it or hate it, social media is a part of modern culture. I think it's important to incorporate it into our classrooms for several reasons. One reason is if we can expose students to the power of social media, we can help them develop a healthy relationship with the different positive aspects of social media. Often times social media and kids gets a bad rap because of all the negative side effects (bullying, over sharing, lack of in person responses), but by empowering kids to use social media for good, we can hopefully grow responsible digital citizens. It's also important because it gives students a voice. They can take pride in their work with a school blog, or collaborate with other people who share similar passions. They can also gain new perspective on things they take an interest in by not only reading blogs, but the comments that others make. It's an opportunity to share and create. Personally, I think blogs are the best way to incorporate social media into the classroom for student use. I think kids have a very personal connection with sites like Facebook and Twitter, so a blog is a fresh way to use social media. I plan on using blogs for either classroom news with student collaboration, or student led blogs.

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we need to incorporate social media into the classroom because much of the time spent by our students outside of school is on social media sites. They feel comfortable with this platform and are already in the habit of using it. I plan to incorporate social media by having students blog throughout the week about questions they have on assignments. It is more beneficial for them to answer questions instead if me and it would create a dialogue with all students without taking up class time.

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Using social media for the classroom is a powerful idea if you can get your kids to buy into it. I have tried multiple educational based social media tools (ex. edmoto), and from my experience you have to go to where the kids are. They are wrapped up in this world of short funny videos, posting pictures, mostly selfies, and talking about what happened at Jose's last night. If you can sneak in a reminder about homework and a link to your class website or video to help with their project, it can be an awesome addition to your classroom at a minimal cost to your time.

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I think the social media avenue for learning is so much more intriguing, engaging and dynamic for our students. It is likely that the majority of my students spend many hours a day engaged in social media and are extremely savvy with this type of technology, therefor they are primed to utilize this avenue for educational purposes.

After viewing the the video I felt there were two great points made. first, that the walls of the classroom are removed and the world becomes the stage for learning and the second being that those who will get the best jobs in the future are those who can utilize social media to communicate and collaborate. The primary driver behind educating a child is that they are prepared to succeed in whatever capacity they chose and more and more the each pursuit is dependent upon the ability to communicate and collaborate in a way that pushes forward productivity by groups and communities rather than by individual efforts. Therefor not teaching in this way and not engaging them through this medium is a disservice to their ability to succeed int he future.

Three things I look to incorporate soon are:

1) Start a Fitness Blog with my PE classes

2) Set up a Facebook account for my Health class

3) Utilize Twitter for all of my classes

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In a summer course last year, we were introduced how to set up a blog and its possible uses in the elementary grades. I set up a blog, hoping to use it to elicit student responses to general questions, at first, to practice the new encounter as we got to know each other as learners. Then, I hoped to use it in response to reading. First to whole group read alouds, then individual student's independent reading responses.

I failed this year to incorporate this use of social media and academic sharing (partly because I don't know how to locate the class blog I set up way back then), but I enjoyed the video by Mrs. Cassidy with such young students! I like the idea of the kids creating their own blogs, after I've modeled the uses and etiquette, as a "digital record" of their student work and progress.

I've heard of a few colleagues using FaceBook, to post news, and progress to parents, but I've been hesitant due to my lack of knowledge of rules/logistics of sharing things "Publicly" and who actually can see or access the information. I'll have to inform myself of the benefits of using Twitter, as I don't have a personal account or know how it works, exactly.

Why? to incorporate social media in my classroom? Because that is the trend that still encourages communication among my students and other human beings.

I still plan to research "safe" blog websites and use them for student reactions/reflections to the everyday learning we are doing day to day, after they've had processing time.

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Patrick Dillow 7th grade World Geography

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Patrick Dillow 7th grade World Geography

# data[].attributes.body
I was taking note while I was watching. Hopefully I can start to use some of these ideas next year in class. I'd like to use social media to have class discussions on current events. Each week every student could find a news story that they have an interest in and post it to a site so that others can see it and hopefully comment on it. My questions I wrote down were:

1. Which social media outlet would be easiest to use for the kids and myself?

2. How do I monitor class involvement?

3. What comments would I require students to make to other stories?

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Valerie Pelletier Kindergarten

The way I can see using social media in to classroom is to get news pertaining to what we are studying, or to contact experts in a given field via Twitter, for example. I have a Twitter handle I use for professional reasons, so tweeting an author a question students have is a possibility. A couple of weeks ago we tea a Mem Fox book called Whoever You Are. The students did a nice job creating a main idea circle and determining the author's message with text evidence so they wanted to share it with her. I looked for her on Twitter, but she hadn't been active in the last few years. Using social media, like Twitter, can be a spur of the moment type of thing when an opportune moment arises. I wish Mem Fox was on Twitter!

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My son entered college the year Facebook was introduced (2004). It was the domain of the college students then. In 10 years time, it has become the domain of the "boomers" and the students continue to move on to whats next. We (adults) will most likely always be a little behind in the social media scene but thats OK. I know I just ask the students or my own children to help me understand and they are happy to share. I think that it is important from a very young age to teach digital citizenship to our students. Parents appreciate it and will learn from their children as well. Incorporating social media in the classroom gives educators the opportunity to model good digital citizenship and foster collaboration and understanding. It's also important to help them understand the benefits of unplugging as well.

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I love the idea of bringing more social media into my classroom. I have been very slow at introducing it as I feel (like many teachers) the time constraints and teaching expectations get in the way. I have started using a kidblog in my class. I have posted a few questions and the students take turns logging in and responding to the question and making comments to others. They are excited to participate and enjoy seeing their writing published. I really like the idea of linking up with other classrooms/schools to share ideas and learning. At my school, we are trying to incorporate more opportunities for kids to explain their thinking, especially when it comes to solving math problems. Having a platform for multiple ways to express ideas and exchange/build on comments would be great!

My hope is to start the blog earlier in the year and expand the types of the things that are shared. I'd like to look at it as more of a "scrapbook" of the year.

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Mrs. Cassidy made a very valid point when she said that we are asking them to enter an environment that is different than the one they are use to in their lives at home. I feel that one of the first steps when incorporating social media is to teach the students to properly use it, while also teaching them the risks when being online. I have also noticed that when teaching primary grade students, it is important to get the parents on board so that they feel like they are sending their child to a safe and secure environment. That being said, I would probably use a parent/class blog to incorporate social media. In my class blog I can post classroom events, student'

s work, and ways for parents to get involved in their child's education. Ideally I would love to do more, but we do not have the technology available to do so, as I only have one computer in my class and one iPad. Unfortunately, our school's computer carts seem to be occupied by the intermediate grades and currently for testing.

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Mrs. Cassidy made a strong point in that not using social media with students who have grown up with it all their lives would be taking something away from their learning process. As she mentioned, asking them to power down at school would be like asking them to be out of touch from what their real lives are like at home since so many have iphones, ipads, and the like for use at home.

I've recently signed up for wikipages and am in the process of learning more about how to use them for one, and how to encorporate them into my classroom. I feel it's necessary for students to be able to connect with each other on many levels, and by blogging and responding to others' ideas and thoughts through social media is a great way for them to connect. Not only are they able to do this in the classroom, but we're opening up a wide array of ways that they can connet with each other at home, in other classes in the school, other classrooms in the state and other countries as well. They get a great perspective on life outside of their little bubble.

I do agree with Kristi Nistler, however, that there are and should be concerns about safety and appropriate use of social media. It's so important to teacher students, especially at a young age the dangers that are associated and how to effectively and safely use it to their advantage.

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Seventh grade is tricky because my students start out 12 years old and then turn 13 as the year continues. But I watched the 0-12 year old video. I plan to go back to watch the second video, but I wanted to follow the directions exactly.

The elementary teacher made a good point about the importance of social media that I had not thought of before watching it. She said that social media teaches empathy since students are connecting with people they would otherwise not know. Empathy is something that so many of my students seem to lack.

Right now I do not incorporate any social media in my classroom. I liked the blog portfolio that the teacher described. It would help me and the students see their growth. However, I see that as having a bigger impact in a language arts class. I would like to use Twitter to share information like homework assignments with my students. I was pretty sure that Twitter is a 13 and up app though. I looked into it at the beginning of the year. I did not feel comfortable asking my students to sign up since they weren't 13. I worry about how to control access to something that is as wide open as twitter. This tool (Padlet) is one I have used for brainstorming in class but I don't know if that counts as social media and I don't think I used it very effectively.

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Mrs. Cassidy’s video proved to me how important it is to incorporate social media in the classroom. I liked her idea of having a class blog allowing students to reflect on their growth in digital portfolios they created. She is teaching her students at an early age how to connect safely and positively with others using social media. Unfortunately, I see some of the negative impacts of social media with a few of my 6th graders.  I worry about them being obsessed and not using it in an appropriate manner.  I wonder if they that would be different if they had been exposed positively to social media at an earlier age.

I am willing to try a classroom blog or discussion forum for two reasons: learn from each other and demonstrate how to use it positively.  Students can post a math problem from our unit and have classmates solve it.  Not only would they benefit from seeing the way others explain their thinking, it’s good practice typing the process versus explaining it on paper.  Plus, it would be a great way for students to look back at to review the unit. My concern is that I would constantly need to monitor it.  I would love to hear if others have tried a blog and how you manage it.

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I like the idea of creating digital portfolios at the elementary level. Mrs. Cassidy's classroom used ipads to show their learning throughout the school year with photos, videos, voice recordings, and writing. Creating this digital footprint is exciting for the students. The opportunity for students to see/hear/watch this portfolio in the future allows them to celebrate learning. I like the example of fluency in reading. Students can listen to themselves as younger readers and be proud of improvements from month to month (or year to year).

Mrs. Cassidy also mentioned the reality of her students' lives outside the classroom as a reason to incorporate technology. Specifically, she wanted her students to connect to others throughout the world. Her students were developing empathy because of connections they had formed with other communities that had experienced a massive flood. Twitter was used in this case to teach and learn through social media.

After watching the video I am inspired about using ipads for student portfolios. I am less comfortable with students using Twitter in the classroom, but would be willing to try. As a primary teacher, I would start out with a classroom account and show whole class. Parent volunteers would be necessary for appropriateness and safety for young students.

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Incorporating social media in the classroom will benefit students and teachers in a couple ways. For teachers, seeing increased engagement leads to more motivation to step outside the routine teaching box. We can also learn a lot from our students and their perspectives when social media is included. For students, it can help enable better content delivery. As mentioned in the video, many adults get their news stories through shared links of their friends. We also need to keep up with the rapid change to not only engage students but to prepare them for the skills they'll need to develop and use in their future jobs.

Student blogging and padlet are two social media platforms that I'd like to use more. I think they lend themselves perfectly to the English classroom. Having a padlet wall that is dedicated to a thematic topic or other literary device can help students collaborate with each other and end up with a deep and wide resource bank. The blogging can be used to spark/encourage conversation on a topic of study/literature.

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I can see the importance of incorporating social media into the classroom based on how influential it is on our society. However, I think it is extremely important to consider the age of our students when we think about how we want to make it work in our classrooms. I could see social media being extremely applicable in a high school or even middle school classroom because those students are most likely using social media on a daily basis. I have a hard time thinking about how to make it work in my third grade classroom. I do see the importance of students using technology, but I'm not sure social media is necessary. I do like the idea of student blogs and that is something I would be willing to try, but when it comes to things like Facebook or Twitter I don't think it makes sense to have my third graders using those medias. My teammates are also taking this class and we all agree that blogs would be a fun thing to try so I plan on working out those details with them.

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I believe it is very important to incorporate social media into the classroom. I watched both videos and I think the elementary teacher summed it up the best when she said, "For me to ask them (the student) to come to school and power down would make school seem like a different place that was not in touch with what their real worlds are like." The teacher in the high school video talked about how today's companies really value employees with digital media skills and both teachers mentioned how much digital media empowers and engages students, giving them access to the world and providing continuous conversation.

I work at a school that has very little access to technology due to computer and internet issues and I really think it is a shame. Fortunately, I am in a position to be able to help with that and am eager to research the problem a bit and hope to find a solution so that we can be a little more tech-friendly.

I also homeschool my two teenage boys and see them as very tech savvy and social media savvy, but would like to see them use that in a more constructive way. I think a blog is a fantastic way for them to show their work and just their life in general and am going to look into that for both of them.

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I thought the social media ideas given by the teacher of the elementary students was fantastic. It demonstrated a positive way to use social media in the classroom and the students' learning was enhanced by the way she used the blog and twitter accounts. I think it is important to use social media in the classroom in this way. It shows kids the positive ways to use social media for one. Also, the learning potential is great. I also saw a teacher who used it to review the classes learning for the day and it was a way to communicate with parents about what was going on in the classroom. I think you can get away without using social media in the classroom but I think it is better to use it in positive ways to enhance students' learning!

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I'm not sure that I think it is imperative that social media is incorporated into the classroom, but we do use it here at LPMS in grade 8. We have a grade level facebook page that we use to share school pride like things, to promote extra curricular events, and to share classroom happenings that are hilights. We have some parents that track our page and many former students.

Social media could be used to share blog postings and world happenings which I think would add to some lessons, but still,not sure it is necessary, especially the forms that require accounts and could lead students into interacting with others while parents are unaware.

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Incorporating social media into the classroom is very important.  It’s truly amazing to see how social media impacts people globally, even elementary school aged children.  Kids today will not know a world that does not involve connecting with others whether within the same school or across the world.  I was inspired by the Age 0 - 12 video I watched and how this elementary school teacher incorporated blogging and tweeting (in a very age appropriate way) in her classroom.  Her class was a fantastic example of what it means to be a part of a global community.  I was especially touched by how the kids reached out to the class in Australia when they discovered their Tweeting friends had major flooding in their area.  This demonstrating how “small” the world is in the age of social media.

Exposing kids to ways to social media in the classroom teaches them how to be a global citizen.  It also prepares them for the world which they are a part of.  Kids today will need to know how to communicate on a much bigger scale and using things like blogs and Twitter achieves this at an early age.
I would like to look into doing a classroom blog.  I like the idea that a blog is a form of news (news that is important to an individual) and that the kids can be reporters of things they think are newsworthy.  Having the students select a topic to blog about and keeping that going throughout the year is one idea I have.  I’d also like to investigate how to incorporate Twitter into my classroom - maybe in social studies - and connect with a class in another state or country.

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It is important to incorporate social media into the classroom because it is something that is and will be a large part of their world. I love the idea of having each student make a blog throughout the entire school year and would like to try this. I think it would be neat to have a "digital portfolio" of their work and growth throughout the school year. What is the blog site that the teacher in this video uses?