Devices Need to Support Learning

Posted by Unknown Minggu, 26 Januari 2014 0 komentar

So yesterday as I was scanning the #NJED hash tag on TweetDeck I came across this intriguing image shared by Mike Marotta. It really puts into perspective why we make many of the decisions that we do at New Milford High School as to why we decided to implement a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative and don't mandate the use of one specific tool to support learning.

His tweet contained this message, "Don't let the device drive instruction. Let it support learning." When it comes to educational technology I often get the feeling that the learning is often secondary. Using technology just for the sake of using it equates to a huge waste of instructional time that could be dedicated to deep, meaningful learning. It also equates into a huge wast of money. All to often I have seen schools put interactive whiteboards (IWB's) in every classroom or go 1:1 with very little focus on learning.

The key is to determine what we want our students to know and let them have a choice as to how they will demonstrate and/or apply their learning. At NMHS we place a great deal of emphasis on creating artifacts to demonstrate conceptual mastery. Technology can become a nice pedagogical fit when viewed this way. Our motto is pedagogy first, technology second if appropriate when integrating mobile learning devices. Another image created by my friend Bill Ferriter puts into perspective the importance of establishing learning outcomes when integrating technology as part of the teaching and learning process.

Image credit: Bill Ferriter

When it comes to technology we must always ask ourselves how will this tool support learning and allow students to demonstrate conceptual mastery. There must be more of a concerted focus on learning outcomes, construction of new knowledge leading to authentic application, and the development/enhancement of essential skills (creativity, critical thinking, problem solving, digital citizenship, entrepreneurship, media literacy, technological proficiency, communication, collaboration). The assessment and feedback pieces are also critical. Now let me attempt to tie this back to the first image contained in this post. Technology can be a powerful learning tool if we don't focus on the one marker, but instead what we want our students to be able to do with their choice of makers to support and demonstrate learning. I welcome your thoughts on this.

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Communicating and Connecting With Social Media (An Excerpt)

Posted by Unknown Kamis, 05 Mei 2011 0 komentar

Here is a sneak peek at my new book co-authored by Bill Ferriter and Jason Ramsden. The book is entitled Communicating & Connecting With Social Media: Essentials for Principals and will be available from Solution Tree on May 19, 2011

Using Twitter to Build Your School’s Brand

The good news is that open-communication practices in a social media world don’t have to be intimidating. For principals, experiments in open communication typically begin with Twitter (www.twitter.com) and Facebook (www.facebook.com). These two services have been broadly embraced across all social and technical profiles and make it possible to reach large audiences in the blink of an eye. More importantly, they enable the kinds of two-way interactions that made Comcast a social media success story—and a characteristic of the communication practices that consumers have grown to expect from businesses and schools (National School Boards Association, 2007).

Twitter and Facebook provide principals with real-time tools that are far superior to traditional forms of communication. Social media services paired with high rates of Internet connectivity allow multiple forms of information—web links, videos, audio files, images, text messages, and documents—to be delivered and consumed in multiple ways. With almost no effort, principals can share compelling, detailed messages that are readily accessible from mobile devices, tablets, and computers connected to the Internet with their school communities.

Implementing Twitter as a Communication Tool

The most approachable and least-intimidating tool for principals interested in using social media to connect with their communities is Twitter. One of the most popular microblogging platforms, Twitter allows users to post short, 140-character text-based messages called tweets to a designated page on the Internet. Tweets often point viewers to other web-based resources, providing principals with the means to deliver real-time school information in a matter of seconds.
Since each tweet is limited to 140 characters—the average length of one well-written sentence—messages are easy to generate for busy administrators. More importantly, updates to a school’s Twitter website—commonly called a Twitter stream—can be made from any device that has access to the Internet, enabling on-the-go communication. (See figure 1.1 for a visual.) Principals using Twitter can always craft messages from traditional locations like their offices, but with cell phones, PDAs, or Internet-connected mobile devices, they can also begin messaging from the sidelines of the homecoming game, the back row of the band’s first concert, or the table with the winning entry in the school’s science fair.
Imagine using Twitter to immediately communicate the following to stakeholders.

Calendar reminders: The school year is full of important dates. Twitter can be used to remind parents and students of athletic and performance schedules, standardized testing dates, end of marking periods, upcoming holidays, and school closings.
Celebrations: The school year is also full of accomplishments. Sadly, publicly celebrating the successes of students and teachers can be hard to do in a timely fashion. Twitter allows immediate announcements of great achievements to the entire community.
Helpful resources: Most parents would be happy to extend learning beyond the school day if they had the knowledge and skills needed to support their children. With Twitter, it’s easy to share links to valuable web-based resources on parenting, teaching, or the content being studied in your classrooms.
Decisions and details: Schools and the organizations that support them are constantly making decisions with far-reaching implications. Boards of education pass new grading or promotion standards, parent-teacher organizations sponsor after-school programs or grade-level field trips, and booster clubs and educational foundations fund scholarships for struggling students. Using Twitter to share these decisions spreads information quickly and makes the inner workings of your organization transparent to everyone.
Emergency updates: While principals never want to imagine scenarios for dealing with school-based emergencies, planning communication patterns before natural disasters or human tragedies strike is a responsible practice. Because Twitter updates can be posted from mobile devices, they can become a part of a comprehensive plan for easing community fears and getting messages out to parents and support professionals in emergency situations.

Getting Started With Twitter

For coauthor Eric Sheninger, using Twitter began by taking about five minutes to create a free account that communicated a bit of general information about his school. Knowing that he first needed a username that would be easy for parents and students to remember, he chose NewMilfordHS. The NewMilfordHS Twitter account follows a clear naming structure that parents could probably guess even if they weren’t sure of the school’s Twitter name. The direct address for New Milford’s Twitter stream, www.twitter.com/newmilfordhs, is posted on the school’s website and shared in as many parent messages as possible.

The second step to making any school-based Twitter stream easy to find is filling out the simple bio information that Twitter publicly displays about each user. Eric included a short sentence explaining that NewMilfordHS is a Twitter stream for New Milford High School in Bergen County, New Jersey, so that the parents and students could be certain that they had landed in the right place when checking Twitter for updates. To make the page stand out and to establish a brand presence, he used the school’s colors, mascot, and logo; he also provided a direct link to the school’s website.

Once a school’s Twitter account has been created, updates can be added at any time. In fact, Eric started posting messages immediately, trying to see just what he had gotten himself into. Within minutes, he shared details about an upcoming parent night, a celebration of students on his school’s honor roll, and a link on parenting teenagers he thought his community might find interesting. He explains, “To get that information on our traditional website would have taken a week’s worth of emails and action by two or three different staff members” (Sheninger, 2010c).

Principals using Twitter to reach out to the communities they serve, however, may discover that initial efforts to use Twitter as a tool for school-based communication are met with raised eyebrows. While most of the adults in any community are likely to have heard of Twitter—recent studies estimate that 87 percent of Americans are aware of the service—only 7 percent of Americans actively use it (Webster, 2010). Parents and other important stakeholders may see such efforts as fads until they are shown what communication in social media spaces looks like in action. Without convincing your community that your school’s Twitter stream is a valuable source of information, your work in Twitter will quickly become obsolete.

Ferriter, W, Ramsden, J, & Sheninger, E. (2011). Communicating and Connecting With Social Media: Essentials for Principals. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree.

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Social Media in Education

Posted by Unknown Kamis, 30 September 2010 0 komentar

The other day Bill Ferriter told me that he was working on an article for ASCD and asked if I would answer a few questions. Of course I obliged as we are working on a book together for Solution Tree Press and I have come to know and greatly respect him as a member of my PLN. He is the author of The Tempered Radical. If you have never read his blog I highly suggest you do! My answers to Bill's questions provide a snapshot of my social media in education journey. They also provide some great tips for administrators willing and eager to take the plunge.

What made you interested in using social media to reach out to your school community? Was it something that you decided to do on your own? Was it something that your community asked you to do?

In early March of 2009, I was reading my local newspaper, The Staten Island Advance, and came across an article on Twitter. Now I had heard of this social network before, but only viewed it as a means for celebrities and other people to send meaningless messages about things they were doing. As I read the article I learned more about Twitter and its capabilities. Suddenly the light bulb went off in my head that I could utilize this to greatly enhance school communications. Best of all was the fact that this service was free and stakeholders could receive information on school events, news, student accomplishments, and innovations in the classroom on their mobile devices. So I created an account (@NMHS_Principal) and off I went, experimenting and learning on my own. For me, Twitter opened the door to the world of social media. About 6 months later my community did confront me in a positive fashion about Twitter. At a PTO meeting a parent basically told me that the educational information I was sending out on Twitter was great, but 6-7 tweets or more a day was way too much. This conversation led to the creation of a Twitter account exclusively for New Milford High School (@NewMilfordHS). My students took notice of my affinity for Twitter and during a meeting with members of student government they opened up to me about their thoughts on social media. In a nutshell, they conveyed that Facebook was a more appropriate medium to reach them and disseminate the same information that I was sending out on Twitter. After this meeting in late March of 2010, I created a Facebook page for New Milford High School. I became so fascinated with social media as a communications and public relations tool that it eventually led to the creation of a blog, something that I swore I was never going to do because I was not the least bit confident in my writing ability. Low and behold though, not only do I now like to write, but I love being able to share the great things going on at my school in more detail than Twitter and Facebook allow.

How successful have your efforts to reach out to stakeholders in social media spaces been? Do you think that you're reaching people better now than when you relied on traditional communication tools? How do you know? Can you give a tangible example of something you've done with social media spaces that you wouldn't have been able to do without them?

My efforts to reach stakeholders using social media has not only been successful, but has also exceeded my expectations. The New Milford community now has consistent access to school information. Unlike traditional forms of communication such as snail mail and press releases, I can now provide updates in real time as they happen. Since society as a whole is actively using social media in their homes and through their mobile devices, it only makes sense now to connect with my community through these means. Not only have I reached stakeholders in New Milford, NJ, but also those that have a vested interest in education from all over the world. I know it has been effective and successful through the amount of followers, fans, and feedback that I have received from countless community members, students, staff, and educators. One thing that I was never able to do before, that I can do now, is share examples of student work (i.e. art) and other accomplishments instantaneously such as videos and pictures.

Were/are your efforts supported at the district level? Did you feel you were taking any risks by using social media tools to reach out to your stakeholders? What did you do to minimize those risks?

My efforts have been enthusiastically supported and embraced at the District level. Initially, I felt, and was reminded by many, that I needed to be careful about using social media in an educational setting. What turned out to be a risk in the beginning has translated into a great reward. To minimize risks, everything I share with social media is professional and related to either the field of education or my school. A media waiver that includes all forms of social media is given to students at the beginning of the year to take home and have their parents sign.

What steps would you recommend a principal new to social media take in order to move forward responsibly and safely? Should they dive right in? Check with their supervisors? Are there any obvious pitfalls to avoid?

The first step is to lurk and learn. Watch what other principals are doing with social media to get a good idea of information and content being shared with stakeholders. Begin to establish a vision and some goals as to what you want to accomplish using social media. I do not suggest diving right in. As you become more comfortable, begin to gradually share information relating to your school, students, staff, and the education profession. As with any new endeavor communicate with the appropriate supervisors to elicit their support. Finally, keep it professional. Avoid sharing personal information.

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