This was supposed to be a holiday and a day off for most of us, but due to the snowy weather we've had this year, Presidents Day is being used as a make-up day in our district. I sincerely hope the winter blues were chased away by the primary school's "Hootie Hoo" (or Hoodie Hoo as it is in some circles) celebration on Friday and that the snowy period for our end of Kentucky is over for 2011. This morning several of my colleagues found that they could no longer print within Infinite Campus, but after some investigation, I found that updating to the latest Java version seems to be the solution. Hopefully those of you who were having that issue have been able to update your Java and correct the problem.
For several weeks now, I've been sharing information from a terrific book that I own, Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson. Today's blog entry concerns "The Social Web", as Richardson puts it. I must admit that I was not one of the first to try many of the social Internet sites and resisted them for a long time. However, my daughter pointed out some of the positive aspects of Facebook and a co-worker got me into Twitter, following our state's tech help desk which puts out feeds about the status of the network. Sometimes I am able to learn about an e-mail outage, for example, quite early so when colleagues call me because their e-mail isn't working, then I know what information to share with them.
As far as social networks like Facebook, I must tell a short story about a good friend of mine. My husband is a veteran of the United States Army and for six years, we lived in Germany. While there I met a wonderful woman whose husband was also in the army. After we both returned stateside, we kept up with each other with phone calls now and then and written letters sent through the U.S. Postal Service. As most long-distance friendships go, our contact finally dwindled down to the annual Christmas card and the last few years we lost contact completely. Once I signed up for Facebook, I was so excited one day to be contacted by my friend! We were able to re-connect and that very month, she and her husband were coming through Kentucky as a part of their summer vacation. (They still have relatives here in Kentucky.) My husband and I were able to meet them for a delightful dinner and long conversation to catch up on our lives. None of this would have happened had it not been for Facebook! (And yes, we still keep up with each other.)
So what does Richardson have to say about "The Social Web"? He thinks the most sweeping change in our relationship with the Internet lies with the ability to share and connect and create with many, many others of like minds and interests. Richardson notes there are well over 1 billion people online and the ways in which we are connecting and creating together is exploding. The first social media he covers is Twitter.
Twitter is a "micro-blogging" tool that was introduced in 2006. Originally Twitter was supposed to be a way to send quick updates to anyone who "follows" the person posting the update. Twitter limits the user to 140 characters per tweet. According to Richardson, what's evolved is something much more interesting. People are asking questions and getting answers. Users are posting links to resources. Still others are posting information about natural disasters across the world and giving hints and tips about technical support issues. It has become a blend of personal and professional.
So what are some ways that Twitter can be used in education? One teacher is using it to share ideas and experiences with his classes. Another is using the cell phone feature of Twitter to get instant feedback to an assessment type question from the students. Still another used Twitter as a way to get students' opinions while they were on a field trip. Using cell phones, the students used Twitter to send "journal" updates to their accounts and their teacher followed their tweets. Also, students who did not make the trip could stay updated by following the tweets of their classmates.
There are all sorts of social sites out there and what you use or don't use is a personal decision, especially when it comes to using these sites with students. Many school districts block the use of these sites while using school computers, but that doesn't block the use of these sites at home. Our district has taken the stance that many have - be mindful when interacting with students using social Internet sites. Always remember that you are the professional and the adult!
I will be in and out of the office this week, mainly due to trainings for Thinkfinity and SchoolLoop. By the end of the week, the instructors at the Area Technology Center and the teachers at the primary school should be working on their own Web pages, so I'm excited about that! It's also the last week to be able to post a 470, which is a request for service through the e-rate program, so that will be taking up some of my time in the office. As always, I can be reached through e-mail no matter where I am. I hope all of you have a wonderful week!
