Social Media

There is some debate about the use of social media in the classroom to enhance learning. Is it worthwhile, necessary, efficacious? The question is often, "should we?" which detracts from the better question, "how can we?"
The reality is that our students are using, or will soon be using some many forms of social media as an integral part of their identity as community members and citizens. It is our mandate as educators to help our students develop into the best citizens and community members they can be. Can we ask, “should we?”
“Should we” is connected to the very real risks of social media use. “How can we” assesses and plans for these challenges and reaps the rewards of the risk; which is a great model for learning!

So “how can we” use social media to share, communicate and reflect for instruction and learning? Like any other tool, skill, concept, etc. that we are having our students learn we cannot and do not expect them to jump from 0 to 100. Through modelling, guided practice and instruction we gradually release learners to mastery (and in later school years independence), and the use of social media tools is no different. As a bonus, through this process we also have many opportunities to strongly engage students in learning: Literacy, Numeracy, Social Studies, PE & Health, Arts, Sci and Tech, FSL, and NL expectations… that’s all of them!

To Share
“How can we” use social media to share? This seems like an unnecessary question. The nature of social media necessarily involves sharing information in a very ?scary? open way.
There are many great rewards of this admittedly risky world-wide, transparent sharing. Our learning is hugely expanded as we access others’ complementary learning, instruction, feedback and support. Identities as global citizens are strengthened as we interact with learners from all over Earth. How can we pass up these rewards? The risks can be mitigated: modelled use in the Kindergarten class where the teacher is a gateway and online agent for the students can lead to primary and junior guided practice in class-contained social spaces so students are prepared to be respectful, critical  and safe citizens as they move into the independence of adolescence.

To Communicate
“How can we” use social media to communicate? Again the seemingly unrestricted nature of communication through social media is a significant risk that, again, can be alleviated by gradual exposure and ongoing instruction on safety, respect and critical thinking. In fact as learners communicate and collaborate through social media they are necessarily engaging in higher order critical thinking. By being mindful of their authorship, their audience, and interacting with others in these roles, learners begin scaffolding such skills as analysis, critique, and synthesis that become pivotal in the deep learning throughout their lives. Can we ask, “should we?”

To Reflect
“How can we” use social media to reflect? A large part of reflection through social media involves the ongoing sharing and communicating which, through collaboration and feedback, leads to critical reflection. The immediacy and the learned permanency of social media also encourages learners to incorporate reflection as part of the learning process, not just a post-completion exercise. When learners are mindful of the durability of what they are sharing, the scope of their audience, and when they are engaging with that audience as they are producing work, they are necessarily learning to incorporate formative assessment, and self-critique into their learning process.

“Should we,” serves the small purpose of exposing the risks, or the fears of risk that are associated with using social media to enhance learning and instruction.
“How can we” is a process that educators need to explore to ensure that students are engaging in the learning they need to be the best global citizens that they can be!

Presentations and Conferencing: Time and Space Travel

Reflections:

21st Century Learning tools essentially allow us to overcome traditional barriers to learning that were presented by time and space.
I remember excitedly watching my teacher set up a cassette player, film strip projector and closing the curtains to set up an amazing lesson on maple syrup... it didn't last long, and it was bookended by the usual lecture style teaching with chalk and board.
Today I could share am currently sharing multiple presentations that include sound, video, images, animated annotations, etc. that students could and would want to watch at home, in class, or at their friend's house. They could pause and review a portion they didn't understand at first, and talk about it with their friends or family. They could add their own input in a variety of ways that are compatible with their learning styles; or they could author their own presentation in response, to demonstrate what they learned.
We could also share our presentations with (conceivably) anyone, anywhere in the world, and be there to answer and ask questions. The professional learning that can be achieved by networking with others is fantastic. We can engage experts, teachers, and learners all over the planet with our inquiry/ies as teachers, and learners!

Two Stars: This is, time travel, and space travel!
and
A wish: It has to be accessible,  and it has to enhance learning (i.e. not just gussied up lecture styles)

With that in Mind Here are 4 tools I looked at for creating presentations:


Haiku Review - Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that inspires







Powtoon! (Great app... won't embed! So please click here!)

And here are my reflections on conferencing tools...
This is a COLLABORATIVE presentation (i.e. Asynchronous Conference!) so please participate if you can!! I'm very interested to see how it works out!
http://voicethread.com/share/6284291/

Double Double Post

This week I was investigating two facets of tech-enhanced learning that are often the most engaging: video and images. These two tool-categories are closely related to the 'double-edged' (actually seems to have many, debated edges, but I have a theme to maintain!) concept of the 'flipped classroom.'

I have added some bundles to the SUPERnatural page referring to these two tool categories. There are some really great photo/image manipulation tools that can be used to create content that learners can access outside of the classroom to engage new material, thus freeing up time in class for the critical, individualized instruction time needed to solidify new learning... that's the basic premise of the flipped classroom and it sounds amazing! But photos are also really good for taking assessment out of the classroom, and tapping that precious 'out-of-class' time for some individualized, descriptive assessment/peer-assessment. Annotation apps like Skitch allow us to take durable records of student work (including written, drawn, physical, etc.) and provide thoughtful feedback right on the product without ruining it with red pen! Social programs such as GlogsterEDU can open up this feedback process to peers in a safe online environment. Students can then access their rich feedback outside of class.

The more 'conventional' way the flipped classroom is thought of, is the Khan Academy video lecture style. Teachers deliver content to students outside the classroom via video lessons. Again there are many great resources for these videos (find a few here!) and the net advantage is: more time in the classroom for more focused support!
But here's the rub: the students' homes are not as, um, ?controllable? as our classrooms... We can create/find/share amazing home-lessons that may be inaccessible, unappreciated, and/or untouched.
So how do we achieve the benefits of flipped classrooms while overcoming the obstacles?

I was tasked with writing a Letter Home to engage students in a flipped-classroom experience.
(I have included it in my resources page feel free to use/share/mod, it's )

I figured that a flipped-lesson needs to be two things in order to be successful: accessible, and accessed.
Acccessible: My aim was for universal access: everyone can go to the public library whether or not they have internet at home. Giving over a week of week nights and two weekend days allowed for plenty of time to make it out!
Accessed: I kept it simple.  One video, a few simple questions, just the introduction to a new topic. Nothing heavy! If we give families some easy successes with flipped learning it will be easy to grow it.
In the horrible, worst case scenario (don't give up!) students can still 'catch up' in class by participating in the flipped lesson while you work quietly with the students that have completed already.

Are there any successes you have had with flipped classrooms? Any insights as to how we can mine that precious time that flipped learning can yield?