In looking at other social media sites that are safe for schools, another tool that is widely respected is Gaggle. According to Dictionary.com a gaggle is “an assortment of related things”. This is true for this social media site and here are a few ways that schools can implement this technology into the classroom.
The first aspect of this tool is it offers professional development. This is absolutely critical for ensuring the success of this social media in schools. As each educator comes with his own background knowledge of social media tools, offering professional development from a site encourages the teachers to actually utilize the tool in their classroom. The professional development offered by Gaggle falls into three categories: basic, proficient, and advanced. Within the professional development site, there are also choices that the teacher may choose from such as curriculum integration to training courses. There are also different webinars that an educator may attend to aid in their knowledge of Gaggle. What an incredible way to introduce another social media tool within one site!
The second aspect of this tool is sharing what the benefits are from each stakeholder's point of view. For the administration, Gaggle provides reduction in paper costs, communication with the entire school or selected groups, and virus free storage. For the teacher, it assists with a paperless classroom, communication with the students, and a way to motivate students. For the students, Gaggle furnishes communication among peers and the ability to turn in assignments electronically. This last piece is especially important because this is how they will be submitting their work at the college level as well as reporting hours worked at some jobs. From all three viewpoints, this tool provides necessary communication and a tool that is reducing the paper waste.
The final aspect about Gaggle that is important is its safety. When schools begin utilizing a social media tool, the utmost priority is the safety. Gaggle employs all of the FERPA regulations and allows the school administration and educators to access all of its tools. Student access is limited to the tools the school allows them to utilize. This tool also filters vulgarity and sexual references. As schools are needing to foster appropriate communication among students and staff, this is an important feature to have with a social media tool.
This is a tool that I would like to explore more. As the entire school would have to be involved and not just a classroom, the professional development piece would be the best place to begin thinking about “selling” this social media tool to a school district.
Key words: Gaggle, professional development
Gaggle sounds like a unique tool. I am all in favor of tools that get students fired up to learn. That is in and of itself a large challenge. It seems like Gaggle is an incredible resource for education. I like the fact that it meets all the requirements as well as being very low cost. I have said it before, but it is always great to see an educator that has such a focus on technology. We are a changing society and we are constantly evolving. Technology is changing the classroom and helping students be more effective!
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