Meeting the faces behind the minds I love on Twitter at ISTE

At the recent International Society for Technology Educator’s (ISTE) Tweetup I had the opportunity to meet with the faces behind the minds I interact with throughout the year. With smiles and hugs abound, those in attendance didn’t miss a beat in picking up conversations face-to-face that had begun online.

Those that use social media for learning understand the power of connections and attachments made possible by the platform. Unfortunately many of us work in schools and districts that have administrators and policy makers ignorant about use these platforms, making rules, policies, and guidelines that keep students stuck in the past.

Their conversations are familiar...
Our kids need to learn to speak eye to eye, not thumb to thumb.
Our kids don’t know how to talk to each other anymore.


They shake their heads and nod with understanding  lamenting that allowing these tools will result in the inability of today’s youth to engage appropriately in face-to-face interactions. Of course, when you scratch just below the surface the flawed logic is crystal clear. Did phone calls or letter writing weaken our ability to communicate face-to-face? No! Are folks making deeply meaningful connections using social media? Yes. Is social media necessary for success if you want to run a business, run for office, or change how things are run? Yes.  

So, if adults are powerfully engaging in these worlds, but young people are banned from doing the same, whose to blame when students are not communicating at the level expected by adults? 

Communication in any form enables us to grow and deepen our relationships with other. Our job as educators is to support students in moving with fluidity across multiple communication options i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Google Hangout, Skype, IM, text, etc. etc.

Tom Whitby, one of the founders of #EdChat (an ongoing synchronous & asynchronous education chat on Twitter) explained it this way.  I’ve worked at schools and institutions for years with people who worked behind closed doors and barely talked to each other.  Social media opens doors allowing you to connect and develop relationships with those who are enthusiastic about engaging with others to get smarter about the work we do. Online we often make deep connections with others around the world who would be happy to invite you into their home with just a phone call.

The use of social media and digital technologies, does not keep us further apart. These are the tools that can enable us to make important global connections that bring us all closer together.  When we converse online from around the world, it is wonderful and powerful and when we have the chance to meet face-to-face it’s like a great party bringing together good friends.

Instead of blocking and banning our policy makers and administrators must allow us to support students in doing the same and the Tweeps I had the chance to meet up with in San Diego can tell you why we can no longer rob students of this crucial 21st century skill.  

Our job as educators should be to support students in making these global connections and provide opportunities for the face-to-face to occur.  Here are the faces behind the minds I love that gatherings like the ISTE Tweetup makes possible.


If you're wondering what meeting those minds looks like, check out this awesome stop motion video by Ken Shelton.

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Looking to create a social media or BYOD policy? Look no further.

Editor’s note: I have received about a dozen requests for advice about policies concerning social media, BYOT, and cell phones. This is a hot issue. I hope this post will help address the concerns of others who are grappling with this topic.

Many schools and districts are putting in place policies about gadgets and media rather than people and behavior. In many cases this work is being guided by outdated policymakers and lawyers who don’t use the media or gadgets about which they are making policy. If they did, they’d realize this makes no sense. Imagine in their day if people made policies about telephones, televisions, books, films, pencil/pen/paper. It simply doesn't make sense and is not necessary. there are forward thinking schools and districts that get this.

Patrick Larkin and Eric Sheninger are both principals who understand technology and digital media and have put in a common sense policy to address it. Larkin explains that “at Burlington High School they do not have separate policies. They are all integrated into one.” Sheninger goes on further to say that “At New Milford High School our expectations for device and social media use are all interconnected. There are no long, drawn out policies for BYOT, cell phone use, or social media. Each of these tools and their use in a learning environment are reflected in our Acceptable Use Policy.” Sheninger adds that “as the building leader, he can adapt policies for the students at his school as necessary.”

New Canaan High School is another school that doesn’t have policies for cell phones or laptops or BYOT or BYOD or social media etc. They have ONE responsible use policy that encompases everything. Unlike the policies of these other districts it is only two pages with a one page sign off for students and parents / guardians.

These schools get it. They realize that tools and media have no intent...people do and the policy is made for people. Real people with real language that can be understood by parents, students, and teachers. And, guess what? It works! At New Canaan high school they are guided by principles and provide a message to all incoming students from the teachers and students who stood before them. That message is: “We Trust You.”

When schools and districts put in place top down policies they fall short exactly because they are top down. Effective policies are developed with stakeholders, not just lawyers and policymakers. Parents, students, teachers, and school leaders should be brought together to discuss and create such policies. Additionally, district policies should allow room for school-by-school customization that works best for the students in each community.

In this post, Scott McLeod does a great job of providing a breakdown as to why one top-down school-district’s social media policy is so misguided. Did they listen? I hope so. In this post and this compilation, Michelle Luhtala explains why it is not in the best interests of children for districts to prevent teachers and students from being friends online and explains from personal experience at a school that encourages online relationships, the problems with such a directive.

If your district is dead set on making a policy for every single type of gadget and media than I suggest taking a look at the following guidelines that Steve Anderson created in collaboration with Facebook in his Edutopia piece: How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School. In it he lays out seven steps (and a roundup of valuable reflection questions and resources) you need to help bring social media in your classroom. His guidelines are directed at social media, but can really be used for any media or tool.

1. Examine Your School Culture

This is extremely important and the reason that districts should allow schools to customize policies.

2. Organize a Team

What is important to note here is that students and teachers are included and respected in the development of the policy. See how one school did this here.

3. Research Phase

Research the existing policies in your district or school as well as the policies in other places that share your values.

4. Draft Your Document and Incorporate Feedback

This should be transparent, ongoing, and not done only after the document has been created. Let stakeholders connect and interact with one another in the feedback stage. You can do this by using tools such as a wiki or Google docs. Do not ask stakeholders to email into a place where they and no one else will ever know if their feedback was seen, considered, or incorporated.

5. Make Sure the School Attorney and School Board See the Draft

Your attorney will need to approve, not drive, the policies and process. If you have a school board, they should be incorporated as well.

6. Introduction to the School Community

Educate teachers, students, and parents about what the document means to them.

7. Review Periodically

Technology is always changing and policies should be updated accordingly.

Like it or not, technology and the internet are not only here to stay, but they have become necessary for our existence and success. Let’s stop making multiple, restrictive, device or media-specific policies that work well for lawyers and policymakers and let’s start making policies that are in the best interests of our kids.

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Not Letting Teachers “Friend” & “Follow” Kids Online? Think Twice!

Guest post from Michelle Luhtala | Cross posted at Bibliotech.Me

Editor's Note: This was written in response this post on The Innovative Educator blog.

flickr.com/photos/digitas

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. For customer support, I will choose Twitter over a phone tree, any day.

Seventy percent of American colleges admit to factoring prospective students' Facebook profile into the college admissions process (Schools.com). My employer checks prospective candidates' Facebook profile before hiring them. Does yours? Ask.

What are we doing to prepare students to function in this landscape? It is imperative for them to understand that their digital profile matters - that it is, to a large extent, permanent, and that there are adults who can teach them how to use social media for productivity and learning. They need guides and mentors, and like everywhere else, they need supervision. We would never leave a cafeteria full of adolescents unsupervised. That doesn't mean that we monitor every conversation that occurs in that cafeteria. We just make sure that there are adults around. This helps youngsters keep their behavior in check. The same principle applies in virtual space. They need to know we are there.

On Facebook, we let people know we are there by “friending” them. Preventing teachers from“friending” students is shortsighted. For one thing, it reinforces the false notion that social media is exclusively social. As the above statistics indicate, it isn’t. It also denies students the chance to connect with vetted mentors, those who have expertise supervising and guiding children, and those before whom students are practiced at exhibiting their very best behavior. Interacting with teachers encourages students to learn how to use social media constructively – as tool for communication, collaboration, and productivity – as they will ultimately use it in the workplace.

Very often, students don’t want to be Facebook friends with teachers, parents, relatives and other adults. The most logical explanation for that is that they are doing things online they don’t want the adults in their lives to see. But digital profiles are increasingly looked at as resume extensions. Kids should not post what they don’t want the adults in their lives to see, and the best deterrent for irresponsible posting is to have a wide array of adults present in students’ online world.

So yes. Prohibiting teachers from “friending” students is a problem for students. It is also aproblem for teachers. Since when is it okay to impose policy and regulations that dictate whom adults can and cannot befriend - in real life or otherwise? Teachers are certified to work with children face-to-face for at least six hours per day, but for some reason, they are not qualified to interact with them online?

We are in the business of education. It is our job to facilitate, not impede learning. Encouraging teachers to engage learners supports that effort, regardless of the platform. Social media policies that prohibit online teacher/student interaction are presumably enacted to prevent misconduct from one, or even a handful of teachers. But they deny entire student communities excellent learning opportunities – learning communication, collaboration, contribution, and participation – all fundamental 21stCentury learning skills.  These policies embody the very opposite of what education stands for. Education should celebrate learning and preparing students for academic and professional advancement, not prevent it.

There are plenty of instances where misguided teachers behave inappropriately in face-to-face interactions with students. And truthfully the impact of that kind of misconduct can be far more traumatic than inappropriate online interaction. Yet I don’t see administrators and legislators drafting policies that prevent teachers from interacting with students face-to-face. Vilifying social media as a vehicle for misconduct perpetuates the myth that people behave badly there. This gives children license to do just that, whereas showing them how to use it responsibly debunks the myth and encourages appropriate use.

Restrictive social media policies in education – those aimed at avoiding potential scandal and litigation will ultimately fail. By trying to explicitly address all potential scenarios involving social media, districts increase their vulnerability. Lawyers, of course, will say otherwise. That’s how they generate business. In all likelihood, overly restrictive policies will beget more litigation than they avert. Better to omit the mention of social media and focus on general conduct – conduct that explicitly demands responsible and respectful behavior from teachers and students alike, whether it be in real life or online. Chances are, for every school in America, policies like that have been in place for decades.

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If it’s broke, fix it!

by Lisa Cooley | Cross-posted from The Minds of Kids

Let’s think about those school practices that have actually been proven to be harmful to kids. Not big-picture issues. Instead, let’s sweat the small stuff that is very big in the eyes of the kids who are subjected to it.

Ten Small Ideas That Can Make A Big Difference
1. Homework
Get rid of it. Elementary grades: we should be giving none at all. Middle and high grades: only stuff that is supported by research. Don’t make kids work a second shift. Do we really have any idea the happiness this would bring to so many kids? Instant good will on the part of children, with accompanying positive impact on learning.
2. Extrinsic motivation
Snuff it out. No more lollipops for “good behavior,” no more rewards for conforming to adults’ expectations. Again, check out the research. All negative. Dump it.
3. Early start times for adolescents
Do you need to see any more research? Our high schools are full of zombies half asleep, half awake, all miserable. Let them sleep. It won’t kill us.
4. Cell phone ban
If you can’t hold their attention in competition with a cell, that’s not their problem.
5. Social media ban
Kids have the world at their fingertips…except in school. Figure out how to connect your classes to the world. Better still, let kids do it.
6. Restricting bathroom use
Stop making them wait to go to the bathroom when they have to go.
7. Restricting food consumption.
Stop the ban on food in the classroom. When kids are hungry, they should eat.
8. Limiting time for recess & socialization
Let them play. Let them hang out. Let them socialize.
9. Bad food
Get better lunch food, with kids playing a role in researching and deciding on menus.
10. Silencing Students
Give students a voice in the policies, procedures, and principles enacted in a school. After all they are the clients. They should have a say in how things are run.

Easy peasy, right? What else is there? What can you get started with where you work? Comment and share your strategies and ideas on ways to make kids happier in school, starting right now.

Thanks to Lisa Nielsen for her ideas!

You have read this article Cell phone ban / education reform / facebook ban / social media ban with the title social media ban. You can bookmark this page URL http://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/04/if-its-broke-fix-it.html. Thanks!