The Innovative Educator hosts keynote student panel at 9 pm EST tonight!

What happens when students are kept prisoners of their teacher's past?

For today’s youth life outside of school is a fast-paced, connected environment where students have the freedom to learn in the spaces and with the tools they love. Once inside school walls however, digital devices and resources are often banned, collaborating is viewed as cheating, tools of engagement are seen as weapons of mass distraction, and students are prohibited from accessing the very sites and resources necessary for real-world success. 

During the Learning 2.0 Live Virtual Event I spoke to a panel of tech savvy students devoted to education reform. We discussed:

• Problems that result when we restrict students from using technology
• Some of the flawed logic for doing so, and
• Solutions to overcome these obstacles  

Listen to the session here.

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Students who will be on the panel include (in alphabetical order):

Jabreel Chisley |  Ohio Virtual Academy Sophomore
A sophomore with the Ohio Virtual Academy and an advocate for and researcher of meaningful responsible education reforms, special education, early childhood education, poverty issues, and gender and sexuality equality within public schools. Also blogs for the Cooperative Catalyst, a progressive education reform blog, as a student blogger.
Twitter:  @enragedstudent 

Lucia Grigoli | Newton North High School Senior Lucia is a senior at Newton North High School in Newton, Massachusetts. She serves on her school's Student-Faculty Administration, where she introduced and successfully passed a  bill to utilize social media in school for educational purposes.

In addition to her work on the local level, Lucia is a national advocate for student voice. She helps lead a national initiative to give students a voice in their own education, in addition to being a board member at both the I.M.P.A.C.T Academy for Youth and the National Young Women’s Council.
Twitter: @luciagrigoli

Nikhil Goyal | Syosset High School Junior
At age 17, Nikhil Goyal is the author of One Size Does Not Fit All: A Student’s Assessment of School to be published in September 2012 by Alternative Education Resource Organization. His pieces have appeared in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, NBC, Huffington Post, and Edutopia. He has also contributed three Letters to the Editors for the New York Times. Nikhil has spoken to thousands at conferences and TEDx events around the world from Qatar to Spain. He has also guest lectured at Baruch College in New York. He is leading a Learning Revolution movement to transform the American school system. A senior at Syosset High School, Nikhil lives with his family in Woodbury, New York.
Twitter:  @TalkPolitical

Imtiaz Majeed |  West Orange High Graduate, 2012
Imtiaz is a 17 year old entrepreneur, blogger and lifelong learner.
Email: imtiazmaj@gmail.com
Twitter:  @ImtiazZMajeed
Where you will be joining from: Orlando, Florida

Zak Malamed |  Great Neck South High Graduate, 2012
Zak Malamed is an 18-year-old advocate for the student voice in education policy. He is the organizer of the #StuVoice Twitter chats and StuVoice.org. These efforts focus on uniting and centralizing the student voice. Futhermore, Student Voice provides a support network of students worldwide that will work with students and for students to enhance and empower the student voice.

A graduate of Great Neck South High School, Malamed served as Class President for three years and Student Government President for one year. He also served as Long Island Regional Director and Political Director for the New York High School Democrats. He works summers at The Lanier Law Firm, PLLC. Malamed also serves on the Do Something Youth Advisory Council, the National Youth Association’s Policy Council, and is working closely with local politicians to develop youth advisory cabinets. In 2012, he received both the NASSP/Herff Jones Principal's Leadership Award and awards from the Long Island Press for his work as a high school journalist. Today he practices journalism at The Student Voice blog and as a contributor to the Huffington Post. This fall he will be a freshman Government and Politics major at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Twitter:  @zakmal

Nathan Wong |  McGill University Management Psychology Student
Nathan is an undergraduate student at McGill University. He loves to find novel ways to apply the concepts he is learning in school to real-life organizations and social situations, with a particular focus on the field of education. To do so, he creates and facilitates workshops, blogs, Tweets, and has speaks at conferences such as this year’s 140edu conference. Upon graduation in 2013 Nathan plans to implement his ideas on a larger scale and is considering doing this via being a curriculum designer, a team-building coach, or an Industrial-Organizational Psychologist.

Nathan is passionate about helping students explore their fullest potential, and to understand the inexorable value of learning. He believes that our educational systems have yet to catch up with the past 50+ years of psychological literature. Nevertheless, he has faith that, in the future, our schools will find ways to better motivate and inspire their students.
Twitter:  @Engaging_Edu

You have read this article break the ban / Cell phone ban / Cell phones in Education with the title break the ban. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-innovative-educator-hosts-keynote.html. Thanks!

Bring Your Own Device - Questions to Consider

Guest post by - Pamela Livingston | Cross posted at 1:1 Schools

The buzz in 1-to-1 right now is about BYOD - Bring Your Own Device - and it's not a fad and it's not going away. There's a convergence of factors causing it including:

• Hardware is diverse and at price points that are more affordable
• Schools are hyper budget conscious
• The "cloud" (previously called The Internet, the Web and the Information Superhighway) is ideal for core apps which are free or inexpensive with such as Google (although be sure to use GAFE), and Zoho
• Parents are realizing that a digital device is necessary for learning
• Schools want to be sure students possess 21st Century skills

But BYOD upsets apple carts right and left. We've been building school infrastructures for a long time that have supported a data-centric model in that IT directors allow or disallow devices on the school network according to a set model which is partly about good design and support, partly about supporting what already exists and partly about not taking on new projects or approaches that require more work, resources, and skill sets. And I've been a tech director in schools so know firsthand that opening a can of worms when it impacts the network, the laptop/desktop standardization, and the hardware replacement plan is not something many people will relish.

But then there are the students. They grow and develop and move to the next grade level and out the door to college and to life. They need to be empowered and learn in an environment that encourages them to think and write and research and publish and present and analyze and create new ideas and solutions to problems. They also need to own and understand the vehicles used for learning. So this might mean BYOD.

In order for BYOD to work well there must be a strong partnership between administration, Board members, teachers, technology, students, and parents. Everyone is going to be impacted by 1-to-1 no matter how it is implemented, whether BYOD or a standard hardware platform either provided or specified by the school or district. But with BYOD it's likely you are going to see some pushback from technology people because of the complexity, change, work, planning and resources required. So here are some questions to consider:

• Have you visited a BYOD school or district?
• If not a team with representative stakeholders should do so armed with lots of questions
• Are you already using Google or Zoho or some cloud solution?
• Without cloud apps BYOD is going to be nearly impossible to implement in a meaningful way
• You need the entire school/district community to be able to communicate, publish, present and share centrally
• How will you define BYOD?
• Will there be a minimum device or specification?
• Will smartphones be one of the devices?
• How's your network - is it ready for
• Wifi everywhere with multiple roaming wireless devices
• Centralized data security (Barracuda, Lightspeed, etc.)
• How will you address logistics?
• Will students be charged with keeping their devices charged, ready and safe/secure?
• Will you have "loaner" devices?
• Will devices be locked up somewhere/somehow during lunch, tests, sports?
• How's your curriculum?
• Are teachers already used to assignments in Google and in using online social media tools so that student work is already free of hardware requirements - and happening in "the cloud"?
• How's your digital citizenship education?
• Do students already know how to keep a respectful appropriate digital footprint?
• In my book I talk about L.A.R.K. - technology use by students should be L - Legal, A - Appropriate, R - Responsible, K - Kind
• How's your communication channel with parents, students?
• If the device is purchased, maintained, repaired and managed by parents and students, it's going to be important to communicate often and well
• How's your budget?
• Unless you have planned fully for the changes of BYOD you might be blindsided by some upgrades or unexpected costs so make sure to ask these questions when you are visiting BYOD schools

There are terrific schools that have been BYOD for years, The Harker School in San Jose comes to mind for instance. Many people I respect have been writing about BYOD including William Stites who posted this blog post for Educational Collaborators early this year, Lisa Nielsen who wrote about debunking BYOD for T.H.E. Journal and a recent article in District Administrator starts with a quote from Lucy Gray who I respect very much - this entire article by the way is an important read. TheLaptop Institute which is highly recommended will have threads this summer in Memphis on BYOD.

BYOD can be a solution if you do your planning and homework and try to figure out up front exactly what you're getting into and plan carefully. You'll want to be ready to rethink your network as not being about enabling a few models of specific controllable devices but instead as a pathway to the cloud where your school/district-wide learning community resides.

Related posts:

1. 1:1 questions to consider 

___________________________________________

For more ideas about thinking outside the ban and harnessing the power of student-owned devices for learning check out Teaching Generation Text: Using Cell Phones to Enhance Learning.

You have read this article break the ban / byod / BYOT / Cell phone ban with the title break the ban. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/06/bring-your-own-device-questions-to.html. Thanks!

Not Everyone is Jumping on the Banned Wagon

There's been quite a bit of reaction in opposition to the Chancellor's proposed social media policy that could ban teacher / student interaction using social media spaces like Facebook and Twitter.  Soon after the announcement, The Wall Street Journal picked up the story here: NYC Schools Considering Social Media Policy. 


More and more, citizens are coming out against those who are trying to stifle educator and student freedom of speech. The comments from parents, students, educators, and librarians in response to my reaction  (School big rips teacher Facebook ‘ban’) are well worth the read and your own comment.
In reaction to the article I was sent a comic that the article inspired as well as an article and guide:



Article
Student Safety in the Age of Facebook 
THE Journal. My thoughts on this article are here.


Guide
Facebook Guide for Educators
I like the idea behind this guide. Education, not banning, is the answer to addressing use of technology by teachers and students. Unfortunately, policymakers often haven't taken the time to acquire the knowledge necessary to make smart decisions and just ban and block because that is a more simple solution. This guide provides helpful information that those that make policy should be aware of including the fact that hosting a group or page does not require teachers to friend all the students, privacy settings that help keep those under 18 safe, reasons that having educators in the online worlds of young people helps reduce cyberbullying, and a bunch of great ideas to harness the use of Facebook for real-world learning. 


Speaking out for what is right
Not only must educators not be afraid to exist in the worlds of their students, they also must empower their students to know how to use the very tools they'll need if they want to run for office, run a business, or change how things are run in their schools. Kudos to those parents, teachers, and students brave enough to speak on behalf of what is right for our children.

You have read this article banned sites / break the ban / Facebook in education with the title break the ban. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/04/not-everyone-is-jumping-on-banned-wagon.html. Thanks!

When we block social media we block learning

At New Canaan High School students have the freedom to learn using tools they love and the websites they need to be most successful. One of the two freedoms were taken away from them in honor of “Banned Websites Awareness Day.” On that day students were blocked from using the sites they commonly use for learning and collaborating such as YouTube and Facebook. Not having the ability to use the tools necessary for success in the real world for learning at school deeply interfered with their ability to get the education they deserved. It really drove home the fact that the young men and women at this school were fortunate to go to school in a place that trusts and respects young people.  

Watch this video created by librarian Michelle Luhtala to see how these young people felt when this freedom was taken from them.

You have read this article BANdates / banned sites / break the ban / thinking outside the ban with the title break the ban. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/03/when-we-block-social-media-we-block.html. Thanks!

Yes. Teachers & Students Should be Interacting - My New York Post Mention

If you're here because you saw my mention in the NY Post today, welcome. This is not a new topic for me. I've been talking for many years about the importance of social media in general, and Facebook in particular, when it comes to education. I have also written dozens of articles as well as been quoted and published in places like The New York Times and Tech & Learning on the topic.

If you want to run for office, run a business, or have a say in how your school is run you better be savvy in the use of social media. If you are, you not only have an opinion, you have a voice. A voice that matters and can make a difference. Unfortunately, more and more policymakers are putting restrictions on teachers and students when it comes to communicating online and in the end this hurts not only educators, but also our children.  

If you didn't see the article, it is here.
School big rips teacher Facebook ‘ban’


That article was written as a result of my comments in this article.
Less than ‘friends’ - Teachers told: Stay offline with students

If you want to read more about why I believe teachers and students interacting shouldn't result in everyone panicking, you can view what I've written about Facebook in education, by clicking here.

You have read this article BANdates / break the ban / Facebook in education with the title break the ban. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/03/yes-teachers-students-should-be.html. Thanks!

Free-Range Media = Free-Range Learning Innovation

At this year's Educon I had the opportunity to collaborate with some wonderful librarians (Michelle Luhtala, Joyce Valenza, and Shannon Miller) and a fantastic student (Michael DeMattia) to share our experiences and have a conversation about teaching and learning in a no ban and no filter zone. The conversation is important because around the nation there are schools that are making the choice to do what is most convenient rather than what is right for kids. Rather than thinking outside the ban and empowering children to use the devices they own and access the internet they encounter outside of school, students are being banned and blocked. 


During the conversation we shared ideas, experiences, and looked at questions such as the following: 
What is the difference between students in schools that filter aggressively and ban and schools that dont? What evidence do we have to demonstrate that there is a difference at all? If there is, is that difference relevant? Meaningful? Important? What do students have to say about it? Do they care?


Below is a presentation outlining what we shared.

You have read this article banned sites / break the ban / filtering / thinking outside the ban with the title break the ban. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2012/01/free-range-media-free-range-learning.html. Thanks!

AASL Thinks Outside the Ban with Banned Websites Awareness Day - September 28th

Editor's Note:  This article was also posted on the American Association of School Librarian's site.  If you'd rather read it there, go here.  


More than a decade into the 21st century and the very tools and sites we need to ensure student success in the world are banned and blocked in many school and learning centers. Though banning and blocking is more convenient, it  is not what is right when it comes to preparing children, who will need to use and navigate these waters, for success in the 21st century. The American Association of School Librarians (AASL)  is bringing awareness to this problem by naming September 28th “Banned Websites Awareness Day.” This serves as an extension of the American Library Association’s long-standing censorship awareness campaign, Banned Books Week, beginning September 24. This new campaign directs national attention to the important conversation of the impact filtering has on our students.

In many schools today, our children are living in a digital world, but being prepared in bubbletest schools that whittle kids down to easily measurable, but often irrelevant and outdated, data points.  In fact, using the tools necessary for success in the world is considered cheating when completing these outdated assessments. Most educators, parents, and business leaders understand that these high-stakes, artificial situations do little to meaningfully prepare children for success in the 21st century. Sadly, outside of today’s test prep-dominated curriculum, there are virtually no opportunities to share resources and collaborate with the real world.  This is understandable when we recognize that doing so is not measured or valued in our schools. This is in part what makes banning and blocking so desirable.  Since schools are not evaluated on providing equity and access to real-world skills or tools, not providing access to the world outside of schools becomes most desirable.  However,  when life inside of schools looks so different than life in the world of work, civics, and personal relationships, one must consider what what the real purpose of schools has become.  Unfortunately, many students today feel the disconnected life in schools much more resembles that of a prison than one which will prepare them for successful careers and relationships.


For students to successfully engage in the world outside of school, the world inside of school needs to match it.  This can’t happen unless school leaders begin to think outside the ban and make children’s success a priority.  Common sense dictates that blocking and banning students from the sites they need to succeed does not keep them safe. While no one would argue that doing so is easier, it clearly leaves our children unprepared.  The Banned Websites Awareness Day campaign brings attention to the fact that this must change in order to keep our 21st century learners competitive and ready for life outside school walls.  Teachers and leaders must become educated on how to use the web responsibly and enable their students to do the same.


To do so, here are some shifts that need to happen.


We need to move...

From	To	with sites such as…
restricting use of sites	responsible use and support in enabling safety filters	Google Images, YouTube
standardized textbook learning	personal network learning	Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Flickr, Blogs
disconnected classrooms	rich, global communication centers	Skype, Google Hangout
teacher as the only source of information and lessons	on-demand learning from others around the world	YouTube, Twitter, Open Ed Resources
students doing work for an audience of one (the teacher) or some (the class)	students doing work worthy of the world for real audiences	Blogs, YouTube, authentic publishing sites

Banning, filtering, and blocking keeps students locked up in an artificial world that does well at ensuring compliance but little when it comes to enabling students to expand their wings and have the freedom to learn what is important in the world today.  To that end I’d like to commend Michelle Luhtala for conceiving of Banned Websites Awareness Day and the American Association of School Librarians for bringing to life an essential ingredient necessary for learning in the 21st century.



For more information about Banned Websites Awareness Day resources and support materials, please visit AASL Essential Links and Banned Websites blog posts.

You have read this article BANdates / banned sites / break the ban / web filtering with the title break the ban. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2011/09/aasl-thinks-outside-ban-with-banned.html. Thanks!

Confronting Fears and Dispelling Myths that Prevent Us From Thinking Outside the Ban

This presentation addresses myths and fears when it comes to using social media and student owned devices in school.

Sites highlighted are: 

• Free Range District
• The world’s simplest online safety policy http://t.co/JauPugt
• The world's simplest social media policy http://t.co/WtOflrg

Check it out.  Use it. Let me know what you think.

Confronting Fear of Technology on Prezi

You have read this article break the ban / Cell phone ban / Cell phones in Education with the title break the ban. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2011/06/confronting-fears-and-dispelling-myths.html. Thanks!

Do not teach this stuff to your kids

This morning I did something that would not have been possible a few years ago. My daily reading included Rafael Parente's blog which is written in Portuguese. I was able to do this courtesy of Google Translate. I was brought to his blog as a result of looking at who was coming to my blog and discovered he had linked to my article "Five Back to School Must Haves for Innovative Educators."

I found Mr. Parente was also a fan of Scott McCleod's blog and he had shared a post that he translated into Portuguese and Google Translate turned it back into English.  All of this would never have been possible if we had listened to Scott McLeod's tongue and cheek advice in the English-turned-Portuguese-turned English poem I read there.

The poem addresses a topic I write about often.  "Thinking Outside the Ban."  This excerpt includes some of my favorite stanzas.


dear parent
  teacher
  administrator
  board member

don't teach your kids to write
  online

pen and paper aren't going anywhere
since when do kids need an audience?
    
no connecting, now

no social networking
  or online chat
  or comments
  or PLNs
blogs and twitter?
  how self-absorbed
  what a bunch of crap

and definitely, absolutely, resolutely, no cell phones

block it all
lock it down
keep it out

it's evil, you know
  there's bad stuff out there
    gotta keep your children safe
 
a computer 24-7? no thanks  I don't want them
    creating
      sharing
        thinking
          learning
you know they're just going to look at porn
  and hook up with predators
we can't trust them

McCleod ends the poem advising parents and teachers not to do any of this because he is doing it all with his kids and he wants them to have a leg up when they graduate.

You can read the original poem and thought provoking comments at Scott's blog here or you can read it where I found it on Rafael Parente's blog at POR FAVOR, não ensine isso!!!

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Is your school like a prison?

I recently shared how so many of the freedoms we have in life are "Banned in School." In this post I ask you to consider the similarities between schools and prisons and then share your results. 





What are you doing to help students find their sentence?

Two questions that can change your life from Daniel Pink on Vimeo.

You have read this article BANdates / break the ban with the title break the ban. You can bookmark this page URL https://benncam.blogspot.com/2011/04/is-your-school-like-prison.html. Thanks!

14 Ideas to Help Educators Update and Enhance Traditional Meetings

"If your target audience isn't listening to you, it's not their fault, it's yours" Seth Godin

 

More than a decade into the 21st century and it’s still business as usual for many educators.  Unfortunately those charged with bringing classrooms, schools, departments, and districts beyond the 20th century are often stuck doing things the same old ways.  At a recent meeting of innovative educational leaders, staff members were told they were not allowed to use Blackberries or cell phones.  Additionally, the use of laptops was frowned upon. Handouts and materials used were not shared digitally and notes were expected to be captured on paper.  The unstated messages conveyed is that given the freedom to use technology, participants were unlikely to focus on the work at hand. The meeting organizers felt they could not be trusted to make decisions about how to best participate and do their work.  The rest of the day, like the "naughty children," we force to power down, adults could be seen sneaking their phones under tables, in the bathroom, etc. to do real work, but not wanting to be reprimanded by meeting organizers. 


Several innovative employees were frustrated. Technology is a part of the way many do business. Among other things, technology is a tool used to help them focus, collect, connect, and communicate. For some, the mandate to power down and disconnect resulted in doing the same with their attention. They powered down, disconnected and felt their expertise, professionalism, and working style were devalued.


Educators are charged with preparing our children for the future, but many are still doing things the same ol’ way.  What’s worse, they’re mandating others to remain stuck in the past with them. There are several ways that educational leaders can stop banning and start embracing technology to update how they do business with more efficient and effective results.


Here are a ideas to update face-to-face meetings followed by a description of each.

1. Wiffiti and Twitter Enable You to Connect with Participants
2. Paper.li and Twitter Allow You to Put Together A Professional Meeting Daily
3. Camera Phones and Flickr Allow You  to Efficiently Capture Notes and Ideas
4. Google Spreadsheets Allows You to Stop Wasting Time and Paper
5. Learning Networks Enable You to Efficiently Capture, Collect, Reflect, and Respond to Ideas
6. Texting, BBM, Crunch, etc. Promote the Sharing and Processing of Ideas
7. Back-Channeling for Instant Feedback and Meaning Making
8. Twitter  Allows You to Connect Globally
9. Google Docs  and Twitter Make for Powerful Global Collaboration
10. uStream Brings Meetings to Those Who Can’t Attend Face-2-Face
11. iPads and Dropbox Make for an Efficient and Paperless Environment
12. Free Wikispaces or Google Sites Provide a Digital Platform for All Meeting Materials and Resources
13. Use Facebook to Share Links to Articles, Information, and Ideas of Interest
14. Taking a Minute to Honor Technology

Wiffiti and Twitter Enable You to Connect with Participants

Set a Twitter hashtag for your department and/or meeting where participants can share thoughts and ideas.  Have those projected onto a Wiffiti board that participants and meeting leaders can take a look at.  This gives a terrific pulse of the members with an insight into their thoughts, ideas, and suggestions.  Using Wiffiti with Twitter is a great option because even those without a Twitter account, can send their thoughts into Wiffiti using the designated code.  

Paper.li and Twitter Allow You to Put Together A Professional Meeting Daily

High school English teacher, Cathy Stutzman, uses Twitter during large committee meeting
s and professional development training to share links to additional resources using the school or topic hashtag.  Following the meeting, in an instant using Paper.li, she and her coworkers can examine the articles and materials to inform next steps and actions. It also becomes a great resource to share with participants unable to attend the meeting.  Paper.li will make a daily newspaper following the Tweets of those a Twitter user follows, a Twitter hash tag or a list. The newspaper is delivered in a very reader-friendly format using the Twitter updates and links to bring readers stories, tweets, videos, photos and more. It is simple to create and the end result appears in under a minute and is beautiful. Here is a thumbnail of mine. Click the paper to see the actual paper. 

Camera Phones and Flickr Allow You  to Efficiently Capture Notes and Ideas

Have you ever been to one of those meetings with papers taped all around the room.  Usually, the information is handed off to someone to try to record/type or it is lost.  Why not whip out your phone and capture the picture, then email it using Flickr to instantly capture and collect those images into a slideshow that can be archived and accessed on demand.  

Google Spreadsheets Allows You to Stop Wasting Time and Paper

Another way to update the old fashioned way of doing things with flip charts is using Google docs. This is an efficient alternative  that enables all ideas to be captured and shared with one step.  Simply set up a spreadsheet.  In the left column place the questions/ideas the group is tackling.  In the top row indicate group names.  Rather than on chart paper, each group records feedback on the Google doc.  If all participants in each group have laptops, more than one can capture the input. If only one person has a laptop, that one device can be used for capture and input.  

During the share out, rather than trying to capture what is being said, simply project it.  There is no copying to do after the meeting, no compiling, no sharing.  All the ideas and information are captured and compiled right on the document.  

Learning Networks Enable You to Efficiently Capture, Collect, Reflect, and Respond to Ideas

While many schools or departments have put learning networks into place using tools like Ning, Wordpress, Group.ly or Facebook, today’s digital immigrants, might not actively participate in such environments.   Meetings are not only a great place to get the ball rolling, using learning networks also allows you to do so more efficiently while collecting the voice, inputs and thoughts of more participants.  

In advance of the meeting post some topics that you plan to have participants discuss.  While they are working in groups, have the group leader and/or group members capture thoughts and ideas in that discussion area.  Inform the group the time at which you’d like their feedback posted and then give them a chance to review the ideas from other groups.  Ask them to find at least one piece of feedback that resonated with them.  

When the team comes back together, all information is captured and participants can get to the thinking faster.  Everyone has read the ideas of all the others.  The discussion moves to making meaning of what they read and sharing the particular ideas that stood out for them.  

Texting, BBM, Crunch, etc. Promote the Sharing and Processing of Ideas

Have you ever been in a meeting when someone said something that needed clarification, you didn’t agree with, you didn’t understand, or just wanted to see how a colleague felt about this idea?  While passing notes or whispering is often considered distracting for the presenter or other participants, audience members can in essence read one-another’s minds with the use of Texting with SMS,  BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), Crunch or any such tool. Such tools allow participants to converse about topics and subtopics without interrupting the flow of the meeting.  

It also makes a meeting much more interactive.  Rather than traditional meetings where there is a sage on the stage, enabling participants to text and make meaning, gives some of the power to those in the rest of the room where they can deepen ideas and understanding.  

Back-Channeling for Instant Feedback and Meaning Making

Staff at Sidwell Friends Middle School often find it useful to engage in a backchannel conversation about the topic of the meeting using tools like Todaysmeet.com, Typewith.me, Skype, Twitter, Facebook, and Tinychat. 6th grade teacher Kimberly Clarkson explains that while some might find this distracting, others find it to be a perfect tool for keeping them engaged and focused.  Clarkson shares that different modes of processing information do not magically evaporate as one becomes an adult.  Allowing and encouraging the practice of relevant behind the scenes conversations during meetings can increase the engagement and productivity of meeting participants.

Twitter  Allows You to Connect Globally

Connect not only with the folks in the room, but with the world, during meetings with Twitter.  Have a thought, question,  idea, or simply involved in a brainstorming session and wondering what others might think?  Tweet it out.  Think of it sort of like a radio call in show where others with like interests can join in the collective intelligence.  

I’ve used this often in my work.  In fact, it is how we came up for one of the names of a citywide project my office is implementing.  Maybe an idea just doesn’t sound right, but you want to get the take of others.  Tweet out the idea followed by, “thoughts?” This quickly gives you a sense what those outside the room might be thinking.  Perhaps your discussing a topic that others are interested such as students with special needs (#spedchat), gifted and talented (#gtchat), or innovation (#innochat).  Simply use the proper twitter hashtag and see what others interested in that topic think.  While you’re there, perhaps you notice some names of leaders in the field.  Send them a direct message to inform your meeting with expert advice...FOR FREE!

Google Docs  and Twitter Make for Powerful Global Collaboration

Marry Twitter with Google docs and you have a tremendous way to not only connect and share ideas with a global audience, but you can also collaborate and create products that are beneficial to all.  This can be accomplished in a number of ways.  One way is if you’re trying to collect ideas about a particular topic you can create a Google form that feeds into a spreadsheet.  Just Tweet out the topic an url of the form and instantly your spreadsheet begins getting filled with input from a wide audience.  Perhaps you are collecting ideas for a project.  Create a G-doc with the project description and directions to contributors.  Let the collective wisdom of those inside and outside the room inform, influence, and impact your work.  

Gregory Richardson, a science teacher in New York, was thrilled when he did this.  He was working on creating a curriculum map.  He uploaded it as a Google Spreadsheet.  Next he Tweeted out the spreadsheet link with a request for help and ideas, and within seconds there was global collaboration and chat about his work.  Tweeps (Twitter people) from around the world shared ideas on his map and chatted with him.  

uStream Brings Meetings to Those Who Can’t Attend Face-2-Face

uStream is a free and easy tool that can be used to capture meetings with only a webcam, laptop, and internet.  Meeting presenters simply select “Live Broadcast” from uStream and those who can not attend face-to-face can see and hear the meeting.  They can also provide input and feedback using the chat function.  These meetings can also be recorded as a way to archive meetings or for viewing by those who need to watch what occured at a later time.  

iPads and Dropbox Make for an Efficient and Paperless Environment

At New York City Technology Coordinator Chris Casal’s school, teachers, coaches, Inquiry Team members, school leaders and others, have iPads. While they use the devices for conferring with students, grade books, etc. they also have found them to be  extremely valuable for meetings, team collaboration and “going paperless.”

iPad owners at the school use DropBox to store all folders and files that will be accessed during meetings.  For example, the school is involved in the Peer Review process which requires them to work with another school on school-wide evaluations. The process involves a number of documents. They have a  “Peer Review” DropBox folder which is shared with all the members of the Peer Review panel. Instead of printing out and sharing necessary documents, folders are set up before meetings and participants can instantly access folders and documents that have been set up for the, now paperless, meetings. The same has worked for their Inquiry Team. Among other duties, the team looks at our schools Acuity Predictive Assessments. Once the results are available the data is downloaded to a shared DropBox folder and instantly accessible to all team members at the meeting, or anytime/anywhere they need them.  

Wikispaces or Google Sites Provide a Digital Platform for Meeting Materials and Resources

We've all been at meetings where a PowerPoint and perhaps other material is shown and the presenter says something like, I'll email this out to everyone, or if you want a copy email me at...  More often than not the materials never reach the participants hands.  More importantly, having that information at the time of the meeting would enable participants to make meaning of what the presenter is saying, rather than copying it down.  At the Manhattan Office of Educational Technology, materials for all meetings and professional development are shared on the agenda via a wiki.  Taking notes are a thing of the past.  In the 21st  century we skip outdated note-taking and move right to meaning making.  Additionally, participant feedback is instantly captured and recorded.  You can see an example of what this looks like at these agendas: Innovate My class using Flip Videos and Digital Cameras or Innovate My Class with Pencasting and Screencasting.

Use Facebook to Share Links, Ideas, and Articles of Interest. 

Facebook serves as a great tool to share ideas, links, and articles that might be of interest to colleagues.  Simply take the link.  Share it on Facebook and tag both colleagues in the room as well as others who may be interested in the topic.  Rather than the outdated method of passing an article or book around the room, the link appears and everyone's wall and the result can be reach conversations and connections with those tagged as well as others interested in the topic.  

Taking a Minute to Honor Technology

At meetings at the Sidwell Friends Middle School, 6th grade teacher Kimberly Clarkson enjoys the “Tech Minute” that begins all meetings.  During “Tech Minute” time is taken to share technology tools that others can use to do their job more effectively.  These can be shared in a Google presentation like the one below,  posted separately in an appropriate discussion topic, or shared using a collaborative space like Dropbox.  



Like teachers, with their students,  it’s not enough for educational leaders to tell others to do as they say, not as they do.  Modeling and leading is the key to bringing about change for one's self, one's staff, and those with whom they work.  With all these ways technology can be used to enrich meetings today, it’s easy to see why we should stop banning and start embracing the use of technology to empower and engage learners and staff of all ages.  

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