Social Media

4 Reasons Why Social Media Should be Taught in Our School Systems

by Kim Garst on the Huff Post Tech

I saw a story recently about a school, named Ngee Ann, in Singapore where a math teacher gave problems to students and asked that the answers be "tweeted." These tweets were then projected on a screen at the front of the room, in real time! (1) Now this was not just some rogue, social media instructor who decided to try something new. Ngee Ann is what the Singapore government calls a "future school" and teaching using social media is encouraged.

Think of that, teaching using social media is encouraged. What about requiring the teaching of social media itself in schools across the world? In 10 years will it be as common as teaching computer skills in school has now become? Should it be? Those that disagree typically site privacy concerns, safety, inefficiency and economic costs in their case against it. I will address each of those concerns below.
Now I might be a little biased, okay A LOT biased, but I want to give you the 4 reasons why I think that teaching social media to our children in schools is not only necessary, but critical.

Reason #1 - It is now, and will continue to be a social world. The top 5 social media sites combined have nearly 2 BILLION users (2). Smartphone users, on average, check their Facebook status 14 times per day. 79% check their smartphone for social media updates within 15 minutes of waking up (3). Social media and smartphone growth are both expected to grow at strong double-digit rates for the next several years (4). 80% of college faculty members now use social media and a full 50% of college professors say they use it in their classrooms (5). Enough proof?

Bottom line, social media is here to stay.
While there are certainly lots of ways to waste time with social media, nobody is arguing that you cannot use social media to engage and learn in interesting new ways. So, the argument that teaching social media to our students is a waste of time because it is a fad and will soon be gone certainly does not hold water. I promise, even if Facebook disappears or if we no longer call it social media, the idea of using the Internet to connect the planet on digital networks will not go away anytime soon.

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On Teachers and Technology

Educator Fear & Discomfort

July 27, 2013 by Tom Whitby

A great read. Check out Tom's post here.

iPad 1:1 PD

How to have more meaningful iPad professional development

By Tom Daccord on eSchool News

“Leading Change” column, July/August 2013 edition of eSchool News—In last month’s column, I argued that the power of the iPad in education lies in harnessing its creative and mobile abilities through the use of versatile, “evergreen” apps and the web. Yet, by and large, school leaders aren’t doing enough to put teachers in a position to excel in iPad classrooms. Often, the substantial investments schools make in purchasing iPads are woefully out of balance with the minimal investments they make in preparing teachers to use these new tools effectively.


Many school leaders simply give teachers iPads and expect them to integrate them in innovative ways. Yet, when new tools are introduced, they’re often used to extend existing instructional practices. Remember the interactive whiteboards that appeared en masse a decade ago? Years later, many are still be used as glorified projectors. As HarvardX researcher
Justin Reich points out in “The iPad as a Trojan Mouse,” introducing a shiny, enticing iPad is only an initial step. To create real change in education,
we must ultimately address pedagogy and best practices.

The real challenge for educators is not learning a particular device or app. It is learning how to create relevant and meaningful learning environments.

When I begin a workshop on iPads, teachers quickly learn how to take a screen shot and record a video—among other skills. However, when I ask teachers how they could use various iPad features to improve teaching and learning, I am often met with silence. It doesn’t occur to many that a student can take a screenshot of their work at any point as a means of formative or summative assessment. They don’t think to record exemplary student actions and behaviors and show them to other students, or ask students to demonstrate critical thinking skills by recording their problem-solving process on the iPad. Without guidance, meaningful applications of the iPad are a foreign concept to many otherwise experienced
and successful educators.

(Next page: What educators need instead)

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iPads in a 1:1 Class

How 1:1 iPads benefit a student's education

How to Use Technology?

9 Wrong And 8 Right Ways 

Students Should Use Technology

Added by Jeff Dunn on 2013-07-22 on Edudemic

Technology is a tool. It’s not a learning outcome. Too often do we get distracted by all the activities and action we can perform with an iPad or some other device. We can post to Edmodo! Make a Prezi! Post to Facebook! All exciting things, to be sure. But these are not actually learning outcomes. You could have a 1:1 iPad classroom where your students create a bazillion (it’s a word, I swear) presentations all about how much they’re learning.

But they’re not really learning. They’re using a device.

That’s the idea behind the fabulous visual I saw on George Couros’ blog (great read!) who found it from Bill Ferriter on Twitter all about ways students should use technology. It asks a simple question: what do you want kids to do with technology? The answer(s) are divided into two columns and it’s pretty obvious what the goal of the visual is: to show you that technology is a tool in the classroom and not meant to be the focus of attention. It’s meant to enable, not overwhelm. It’s meant to enhance learning, not box it in.

Don’t get me wrong, you can do a lot of good with technology in the classroom. That’s the whole reason Edudemic and the other edtech sites exist. But technology is a tool that’s meant to be added to your toolbox just like anything else. It may be a powerful tool, but it’s a tool nonetheless. Are you sick of me saying the word ‘tool’ yet?

More Paperless Ideas

30 Ways to Use Chromebooks in the Classroom

The presentation was created by Tom Gierke and Becky Evans.

Click here to view the presentation online.

1 to 1 Paperless Options

Working in the cloud

July 17, 2013 Nick Sauers

[Note from Al: good ideas here for using Chromebooks in class instead of just iPads.]

I’m not sure if there is a more appro­pri­ate name for this post which I’m writ­ing at 11,652 meters some­where over south­east­ern Canada.  I’ve recently been con­tacted by mul­ti­ple schools that are mov­ing to 1:1 with Chrome­books and oth­ers who are con­sid­er­ing the move.  As I’ve noted before, I gen­er­ally hes­i­tate rec­om­mend­ing a device to schools.  I want schools to select the device that best aligns with the needs of their ini­tia­tive, and I do not believe there is one generic best device for all schools.  With that said, I’ve really become quite impressed with the pos­si­bil­i­ties of using a cloud based device such as the Chrome­book.  One obvi­ous change with a cloud based device is that edu­ca­tors will need to use cloud based soft­ware.  I believe this change can lead to real changes in the ways that edu­ca­tors use tech­nol­ogy and push them out of their com­fort zones.  The most excit­ing part of those changes for me is that most cloud based soft­ware is much more col­lab­o­ra­tive in nature.  Rather than using a com­puter as a fancy pen and paper or ency­clo­pe­dia set, edu­ca­tors will need to rethink how they can use the tech­nol­ogy to impact stu­dent learn­ing.  Col­lab­o­ra­tion is a major piece of most tools they will be using on a cloud based device.

I have recently been explor­ing much more with my Chrome­book with a recent pre­sen­ta­tion and trip to Europe.  Here are some exam­ples of how I’ve used cloud based software.

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Want Kids to Learn? Then Stop Teaching.

Great Teachers Don't Teach

In a conversation on LinkedIn, one person asked, "What are the characteristics of an effective teacher?" I read quite a few excellent remarks that describe what such a teacher does to be effective. I couldn't help thinking about some of my best teachers.

I had an amazing psychology professor in college. He was on fire every class period and his enthusiasm was contagious. But the things I remember most are the psychological experiments in which we participated. I remember every detail and the supporting theories because I experienced it.

My psychology professor was an effective teacher because he provided experiences that created long-term memories. In response to the LinkedIn comments, I penned the following:
"I appreciate all of the comments that have been made so far. Yet I feel there is one thing still missing. One characteristic of an effective teacher is that they don't teach. You say that is outrageous. How can an effective teacher teach without teaching?

My experience is that good teachers care about students. Good teachers know the content and know how to explain it. Good teachers expect and demand high levels of performance of students. Good teachers are great performers and storytellers that rivet their students' attention.

All of this is good but great teachers engineer learning experiences that maneuver the students into the driver's seat and then the teachers get out of the way. Students learn best by personally experiencing learning that is physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. John Dewey had it right in 1935 when he espoused his theories on experiential learning. Today we call this constructivism.

In The Classroom

Long past are the times when we teach content just in case a student might need it. A great teacher will devise a way to give the students an urgent reason to learn skills or knowledge and then let them show they have learned it by what they can do. This is called project-based learning.

A great teacher will keep the students wanting to come to school just to see what interesting things they will explore and discover each day. We call this inquiry.

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iPads Increase Student Engagement

Lakeville test shows iPads boosted education in many classrooms

A new report shows that a grant program to put iPads in classrooms in the Lakeville district has had positive effects.


A new report shows that the Lakeville district’s investment in technology is paying off in terms of student learning and motivation.

Of the 31 classrooms or programs that completed research on newly issued iPads last year, 23 reported increases in student engagement, 24 reported that student motivation went up and 20 observed gains in student learning, according to the iLearn Resarch report, discussed at Tuesday’s school board meeting.
“This is innovation at its best and I’m really excited about that,” said Roz Peterson, board chairwoman.
Superintendent Lisa Snyder said she was happy with the results, but not surprised.

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