Gaggle-Is it a bird, a plane, or a social media tool for schools?

     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

Collaborize Classroom II

Several weeks ago I published information concerning Collaborize Classroom. I have set up an account for my senior English class to see what the benefits are to this tool.

At first, my seniors were excited about “blogging” although that is not what they are truly doing. We went over etiquette of what a good post is. We discussed what they had seen on Facebook concerning some of the comments that their friends and acquaintances had made. We shared what is appropriate language in a post. Then the students shared their first comments to a posting that I had created. The responses were comical and I was disappointed in their responses. I thought that this was not going to be a tool that I would utilize. However, as I stress to my students, if at first you don't succeed, try try again.

The second attempt was much better. As the students could view the comments made by the other students, which they were really excited to see and comment on, the students became aware of what my expectations in posting comments were. As comments were posted, students elaborated and clarified points made by other students. Students also continued a comment of another student in their posts. My seniors were actually reading and engaging in a discussion through the use of this tool. Of course, the students would tell you that they were not discussing because no words were used aloud, but the repartee among the students was lively and enriching their knowledge of the text. This was what I was hoping from this social media tool and what had sold me on this site. Collaborize Classroom sells their product by saying that educators will get 100 % participation and grading time will be reduced. This was verified for me in two ways: one was reading about it in the Collaborize Classroom blog and the other was through practical experience. I am able to keep track of my students comprehension of the text we are reading and seeing what insights they are able to develop. It also allows the students to see what the others in the classroom are thinking. I have also had 100% participation.

From utilizing this tool for the last several weeks, I have come to several conclusions. One is I will be using this tool often. I enjoy the feedback that I am seeing from the students. The second conclusion is the students are enjoying discussing the text this way. I know verbal discussions are improving somewhat as well with the use of this tool, but the students enjoy commenting and responding to comments from their peers. Finally I have much more to learn about using this particular tool. As my students and I have found some success with the application so far, I will continue to become more familiar of the ways to best utilize this tool.

Key words: Collaborize Classroom, classroom, appropriate language

SchoolTube and TeacherTube-videos for the classroom

Students love watching movies. YouTube is watched and enjoyed by many students. However, in the classroom this site is usually blocked and requires an override password to view the videos. This can be frustrating and tiresome for the classroom teacher. So SchoolTube and TeacherTube are the sites that educators need to utilize.

Let's first look at SchoolTube. SchoolTube offers videos made by students and schools about certain topics. These videos are educational as well as very appealing. Students enjoy watching other students share information on videos. Students also enjoy creating these videos to share. SchoolTube allows students to be creative in sharing their knowledge. This site also provides contests the students and schools can enter. Schools can register on SchoolTube. SchoolTube is also on the social networking bandwagon being affiliated with Facebook and Twitter. This links the videos students and schools create even more by sharing them with other social media sites. SchoolTube is definitely student oriented.

TeacherTube is more from an adult perspective sharing insights and information about topics. These videos have more of a lecture structure as they are designed and usually reported by adults rather than students like in SchoolTube. TeacherTube is also linked to Facebook and Twitter. TeacherTube provides documents, photos, and audio bytes as well. This social media also has an important feature entitled “Keep it safe. Flag all inappropriate content” (2011). This is a terrific feature because it permits TeacherTube to constantly check the content of the submissions and only allow appropriate material. As this site is not usually blocked at schools, it is important that such a filter be in place so videos that are utilized in the classroom are appropriate. The videos still need to be previewed by the teacher before viewing them in class. TeacherTube does have advertisements before each video, but you can begin the video before class starts to skip the ad.

Both of these sites are free to use. However the true benefit to the classroom teacher is the sharing of information with others. Whether the information is done through student or teacher videos, all educators may access these two tools to help aid instruction in the class. From personal experience, when a video is employed in the classroom, engagement in the lesson is higher and the students retain more as they have another way to make personal connections with the material. Of the two tools, I prefer TeacherTube. The reason for this is because the content is more grade level appropriate for my students than SchoolTube.

Key words:  SchoolTube, TeacherTube, Facebook,Twitter

Social Media: Collaboration in the Classroom

     A tool that offers many resources for the teacher in using social media in the classroom is a site called Collaborize Classroom. This site allows students to interact with prompts from the teacher in four different ways: agree or disagree, multiple choice, post responses or vote for someone else's response. As Catlin Tucker, a high school English teacher commented, this tool gives the students a voice in the classroom. Many times the discussion is limited to a few students. By offering four different ways to respond, students now can have their opinion heard. These posts and questions can also be brought into the regular classroom for further discussion. This is one resource for the classroom teacher this tool offers.

     Another valuable resource is the resource pages provided by Collaborize Classroom. These pages provide prompts already used and posted by other teachers. As the curriculum standards are similar from state to state, many of the prompts provided are relevant to many teachers. An example of this is one of the prompts posted is about “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe. This is a poem that many English teachers use. As Collaborize Classroom has already had someone post a prompt for the students to respond to, what a terrific idea to share that with other teachers. This is a valuable resource especially for novice teachers.

In addition, lesson plans can also be posted with this tool. As instructors are always looking for new ways to approach a lesson, utilizing all or part of the posted lesson plans are ideal. The lesson plans are broken down by subject area, grade level, and tags. Teachers that are utilizing this site are able to post their plans so other teachers can benefit from them as well. Collaborating through this social media network enhances the teaching process. Teachers do not get as much time to collaborate as needed. Collaborize Classroom is a terrific tool that allows teachers to do just that.

     Best of all though this site is free. As with most social media tools, having direct access to these sites without a fee is important to many teachers as they already have a lot of out of pocket expenses. However, that is not why teachers would use this site. This site offers the collaboration of lesson plans and prompts for students to respond to. This tool allows teachers to collaborate with each other of similar interests in one arena. Collaborize Classroom is a tool that I believe I will use as an educator.

Kindles in the classroom

Kindles in the Classroom

Schools are on fixed budgets. Textbooks and novels for each student are expensive and many times teachers only have a finite number of these. When new students come into a school district, sometimes there is not a textbook or novel for them for several days. Copies need to be made of the reading material and it is frustrating for the new students without having the full benefit of the whole text. This is where the Kindle becomes the tool needed in the classroom.

Will the Kindle change education? In this article by Scholastic, one of the benefits that the Kindle provides is the storage capability. This tool can hold up to 1,500 digital books. This is a huge benefit for the student and the classroom. If a student had to literally pack around that many books, their physique would definitely suffer. However, the Kindle weighs 10.2 ounces. Students would be more than happy to carry this e-reader from class to class. The Kindle also alleviates the problem of not having enough of a textbook or novel. As you can download immediately the book needed, students do not have to be without.

Another benefit is the linking capability of the Kindle. You can sync your Kindle with computers. Now you have your books in several places. Kindle also provides software that makes it usable without having to purchase a Kindle. Dictionaries on the Kindle make understanding of unfamiliar words easier as the students can look up the word immediately. According to the Georgia Media Library Association library media specialist Pamela Hill, “E-readers have a lot of potential for use in the classroom.”

Of course being able to change the font and highlighting specific pieces of text is another benefit the Kindle offers. Students engage better with the text if they can manipulate it. The Kindle offers this attribute.

Grants are being awarded to schools for use of the Kindle in the classroom. Glenview Education Foundation granted 300 students Kindles at Springman Middle School. The Kindles will be used in a variety of ways from enriching to motivating students and their reading. The project is currently underway and results should be pending soon.

Is the Kindle without faults? No.  Sometimes the ebooks are more expensive than previously owned books. Ebooks cannot always be shared between readers too. As the Kindle is an electronic device, charging the battery is a must and the battery will need to be replaced. However with a few faults, the Kindle seems to be a tool that is needed in the classroom.

Key words: Kindle, classroom

Email and social media-A great link

Email and social media-A great link

Email is not an old tool anymore. In fact people are utilizing email and social media to market their products. Welcome to ConstantContact. This tool invites you to use your email option and link it to other social media. Social media tools are now being used in emails to promote products. As people purchase and recommend products, social media tools allow these individuals to connect with others and share their approval or disapproval of a product. Businesses can then reshape their products based on comments received through email and the other social media technologies. This promotes a connectivity between the business and their consumers.

Now email itself is not a social media device. Peter Kim says that "e-mail is a distribution mechanism and social media is a collective mechanism" (Apr 2011). I would agree, but what is so wonderful about social media is now it can utilize tools such as email in advertising products. Emails are being used for retail. Most people are now receiving information about products through their email once they have clinked on a site or link. Businesses can now influence your decision making process by sending you information about their items through email. A study done on 500 emails showed that connecting the emails to social media such as Twitter and Facebook, the emails were 30% more likely to be looked at and 55% were clicked through when there were more than three social media tools given (2010). This is the power of social media.

Email and social media do not just impact marketers. This is an appropriate venue for teachers as well. Notifying parents is now made easier through email because of its link with social media.

The other day I emailed a parent and received almost an instant reply because their email was hooked to their Facebook page and their iPhone. As I needed to make contact with this parent, but I was unable to use a phone at that moment, email was the option I chose. Social media tools helped convey the message right away. For teachers, email is an easy mode of communication. I don't always have time to have a phone conversation nor do many parents. When email is linked with other social media tools, it allows educators to keep in contact with the students' parents. Email, which was once a slow process of sending and receiving messages, now has the capability of quick replies with social media. Email is also readily available at schools where many of the other social media devices are not without having to supply an override password. So email and social media linking up is a terrific benefit for the educator.

Some people have said that email is on its way out. Now with the social media link email will be utilized even more. From marketers to the educator, email is still a viable tool thanks to social media and the links it provides.

Key words: email, social media, education

Embrace Social Media in the Classroom

   Social media is a reality in our technological world. Students are craving interactions with others. Engaging them in the classroom is more challenging than ever. As educators, we need to employ the old adage "don't work harder; work smarter". This is why social media needs to be embraced in the classroom.

   Students are already using Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter. However schools block these sites to protect the students from potentially harmful material. So what social media may schools use that are free, aren’t blocked and provide safety for their students?

   Sara Kessler wrote about The Case for Social Media for school in 2010. One of the benefits she writes about is that some of the social media is free to educators. An example of this free social media is kidblog.org. This site allows teachers to create a classroom blog. With this blog, students can respond to discussion questions and publish their own posts concerning topics discussed in class. This creates the interactions that students desire. The benefit to the teacher is the blog allows students to comment on other students’ work and gives the teacher feedback about the effectiveness of the lesson through the responses posted.

   Edmodo is another free blogging site that schools may use. This site offers two main thrusts: connecting students and connecting the world. Currently there are 1.5 million users of this site. In our society today, students need to work on collaboration and not isolation. Making connections with other students is an essential life skill that all of them will need. Engaging students through technology is what the future will be about in education. Utilizing blogging sites is one avenue educators may use.

   Another component of social media that is just beginning to be utilized in the classroom is the back channel feature at TodaysMeet. This tool enables students to participate in a discussion without actually having to speak. Students have terrific ideas, but some are unwilling to share. This social media allows the students to post questions, responses and thoughts in a live stream. The teacher can monitor the live feeds and incorporate them into the discussion as well. In an article by Trip Gabriel entitled Students Speak Up in Class, Silently, via Social Media, students comment that this is a terrific way to speak up without actually having to raise their hands and speak out. This social media is currently free.

   Of course with any social media device the teacher needs to be careful of what is being posted whether it is in a blog or through a back channel. As a poster put out by Argus says, “Words have a life of their own. Think before you speak”.

Key words: social media, kidblog.org, Edmodo, TodaysMeet