Promoting Student Creativity - "Marker Spaces"

At Monticello High School in Albemarle County (VA) high school the traditional library has been transformed into space where students can design and create their own work. The idea is to provide students with a place to gather, collaborate, study, read and do other creative work. For example, part of the library is now a music studio. Elsewhere they created a "hacker" room for computer programming, and a "genius bar" where students help one another fix problems with their computers. Students can use these spaces before and after school, during free periods or during lunch.

It's a program called "Marker Spaces" and the staff reports that the library has become the hub of the school. It's a place where students can pursue their own interests, different hobbies and activities and collaborate on creative activity like music composition and TV or video production.

Details about the transformation are described in an article from a local television station. I'd enjoy hearing from you about your response to "Marker Spaces."

Using Social Media for Instruction

One of the fastest growing trends in education is to encourage students to bring, and use, their own technology---smart Phones, tablets, laptops. Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) or Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) programs are underway across the country. The most notable challenge with these programs is that students know far more than most teachers about how to use the devices for tasks. Often educators focus on the misuse of technology but the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that most students use their devices appropriately. That's let many schools to encourage teachers to incorporate technology and various forms of social media as a way to both motivate and engage students. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel recently showcased the efforts in several Wisconsin schools to use Twitter and other social media, once banned, for instruction.

It's a rapidly growing trend and recognizes the powerful ways technology can transform teaching and learning. Howard Johnston and I wrote about the trend and how social media can be used with 21st century learners to improve their academic experience. Our book, The School Leader's Guide to Social Media, is available from Routledge Education, at Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.

I'd enjoy hearing from you about how your teachers are using technology and social media to improve instruction.

Share the Good News - Start a Principal's Blog

One of a principal's most important roles is to advocate for their school. That includes sharing information with staff, students, families and community. Communication occurs in many ways but increasingly various forms of social media technology are used to spread the "good news" about your school.  One tool is a blog, basically a website that functions as an online journal. What's good about a blog is that you can control the content and make it what you want.

Partrick Larkin, 2012 NASSP Digital Principal, identified reasons for beginning a blog. Principals are generally pretty proud of their school. They want to share newsworthy things about students and co-curricular activities. They have great teachers who are doing great things in their classroom. And they want to improve communication with both families and community.  Once you begin your blog you can add a link from your school's website and you can share it with teachers and other staff. Here's a link to Larkin's article about how to get started. And here are some other examples of blogs maintained by school leaders.

• A Principal's Reflections - Eric Sheninger, New Milford HS (NJ) - http://esheninger.blogspot.com
• Learning in Burlington - Patrick Larkin, Burlington (MA) - http://LearningInBurlington.blogspot.com

I'd enjoy learning from you about how you communicate with families and community and what you think about starting a principal's blog.

BYOT - Bring Your Own Technology

Many schools have begun to encourage students to bring their mobile phone or tablet to school so that they can use it during class to access instructional resources, participate in online discussions and interact with curricular materials. It's called "BYOT - Bring Your Own Technology" and a recent study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project found that 73% of Advanced Placement and National Writing Project teachers have students use the technology in class to complete assignments. Dan Domenech of the American Association of School Administrators reports that about 25% of schools now allow phones. George Fornero, a Chicago area superintendent described his districts rationale. "The kids taught us a lesson. They're still going to bring their phones anyway, so let's allow them to use them in a constructive way." More detail about these initiatives is available from a recent USA Today article. 

 I'd enjoy learning from you about whether your school welcomes student use of phones and tablets on campus. 

Mandating Social Media Education

New Jersey is considering a law that would require middle schools teach students about the acceptable use of social media. The law would have students learn about the appropriate use of social media, cyber security and preventing cyber bullying. Legislators say they recognize the powerful impact of social media on students and they want to assure that they don't make foolish mistakes that may impact them for the rest of their lives.

Sounds like a great idea to me. I'd like to know what you think about this proposal.

Power of the "Tweet" - Building a PLN

A Personal Learning Network (PLN) is one way to stay collected with trends and issues in your field and to work, and share, collaboratively. Social media is a great way to create and maintain your PLN. PLN's are really useful because you can connect with those individuals and groups that best meet your needs. The benefits include

• access to useful resources and information;
• ability to search for new tools and innovative practices;
• thoughtful suggestions and critique of your ideas;
• helping you to think more deeply about your work;
• meeting professional contacts for job growth.

A virtual PLN can be created using social media like Twitter. A recent article by Tom Murray, Director of Technology and Cyber Education for the Quakertown School District in Bucks County, PA describes the benefits of a virtual PLN using Twitter.

Howard Johnston and I describe how to create and maintain a PLN in our book The School Leader's Guide to Social Media from Eye on Education. We'd enjoy learning about how you use PLN's to improve your work.

Using Facebook with Students

Social media has become an useful instructional tool and is used by more and more teachers to interact with their students and by principals to communicate with families and community. A recent report found that more than 70% of Americans have an account.

But there are legitimate concerns about how teachers and other employees use Facebook and other forms of social media with their students. In a recent post, Lisa Nielson provided five best practices for teachers when they use Facebook with students. At the top of the list is the importance of maintaining a professional demeanor and not mixing your personal site with your professional one. Nielson says, "You can create a page or group that students can "like" or "join" without being one another's friend or seeing one another's feed." That's really important. Nielson's other tips are equally useful.

In The School Leader's Guide to Social Media Howard Johnston and I share other ideas about how teachers can use social media like Facebook to improve instruction and how school leaders can use social media to improve communication. We'd welcome your thoughts about the use of social media in schools.

Social Media Policy: Current Trends

Social media is a term used to describe a lot of things. For many of us we associate it with Facebook or Twitter and we never think about the countless other ways we use social media technology in our professional and personal lives. Our most commonly used social media device is our phone, often called a "smart phone." Cell phones are no longer used for just making calls. They are now used for locating things on the Internet, sending short messages to friends or family, watching television shows or even movies, reading books, and locating a good restaurant or a nearby coffee shop. In other words, for many of us, our social media device (our cell phone) has become indispensable.

I work a lot with principals, superintendents and people who aspire to those roles. When I mention social media they often describe the perils of its availability and use in their schools. But more recently the tone of these conversations is changing from "how do I ban them" to "how do we use them effectively." That's a monumental shift and recognizes that social media technology and social media devices are just not going away. Some schools have adopted BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies that encourage students to bring and use their social media devices for instructional activities.

As a school leader how do you manage social media technology among your students and your employees. What sort of policy might you consider? What type of policy would be appropriate given the prevalence of social media devices and the powerful tools that social media provides for communication, collaboration, and teaching and learning? 

One of my favorite online journals is THE Journal, a publication about current and emerging issues involving technology. Ruth Reynard wrote a really insightful article discussing current policy trends that try to control social media. She offers really useful ideas about how to shape policy so that social media is used appropriately and not in a harmful way.

In The School Leader's Guide to Social Media Howard Johnston and I discuss many of the same issues and provide examples of tools and strategies for using social media in schools. We'd really enjoy hearing from you about how social media is shaping your school and its instructional program.

Social Media Sessions at AMLE

Howard and I are speaking at the 39th Annual Conference For Middle Level Education sponsored by AMLE (Association for Middle Level Education) and formerly the National Middle School Association in Portland on November 8-10. Two sessions will focus on the use of social media in schools.

Fri Nov 9 - Social Media: Schools in the Digital Age - Access PPT Here
10 - 11:15 am - A107 Convention Center

Sat Nov 10 - Social Media: School Leadership in the Digital Age - Access PPT Here
8 - 9:15 am - A103 Convention Center

We're looking forward to the opportunity to talk with middle grades teachers and school leaders about the use of social media in their schools. 

Social Media for School Communication

It’s easy to dismiss social media as a fascination of young people but to do so minimizes one of the fastest growing trends in technology. The Pew Internet and American Life Project recently found that over 71% of teens have a Facebook profile and 75% of adults have one too. Social media tools have become the way for a school or business to quickly and efficiently disseminate information. Because of the almost universal access to social media across all demographic groups it often reaches people that traditional forms of communication miss.

The online presence for many schools has moved beyond the school website. It now includes a Facebook page (www.facebook.com), a Twitter account (www.twitter.com), blogs by teachers, principals or the superintendent, and YouTube (www.youtube.com) and Flickr (www.flickr.com) for sharing videos and photos about school events.

Seven Reasons to Pay Attention to Social Media

1. It Builds Relationships – Creating relationships is important for leaders and social media is a new, and very effective, way to build support among your stakeholders.
2. It’s About Customers – Parents and employees often come from a different generation, one that wants to work differently and to be involved in the educational process. Social media is a way to engage them in the life of your school.
3. They’re Already Talking – Check out the Internet and other online sites. People are already commenting about your school and about your leadership.
4. Listen as Well as Share – The principal is responsible for maintaining the school’s image. Use social media to interact with parents and community. Use it to both hear from them and to share information. It can provide a way to detect rumors and allow you to respond quickly.
5. You’ll Be Well Received – Almost everyone we’ve talked with reports the positive reception they get from having a blog, a Twitter feed or a school Facebook page.
6. It Builds Community – People commit to things they care about. As we described earlier, the public is less trustful of schools. Social media promotes community by inviting people to be part of the conversation.
7. It’s Here to Stay – While the forms of social media continue to change the evidence is that our use of the tools will only accelerate. Increasingly the expectation is that schools stay connected to their families and their community. Social media is the tool. (Adapted from: Porterfield & Carnes (2010), AASA Online)

Fake e-Identities

Recently there have been several cases where teens created fake Facebook or Twitter accounts as a way to bully peers or to make it appear that the principal was sending offensive comments. These false accounts are forcing schools to deal with the behavior. In many states these false identities would violate the law and are a form of identity theft or cyber-impersonation. Thirty-eight states have laws against "electronic harassment" and fourteen ban "cyberbullying."

In most cases, the victim is unaware that the false identity has been created and in some cases must deal with the negative response to the posts.

There is murky legal guidance about the extent to which schools can police off-site social media accounts and fake social media profiles. In two separate cases, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals ruled punishments of students unconstitutional (J.S. v. Blue Mountain School District; Layshock v. Hermitage School District). The most prudent approach may be simply to refer the case to local law enforcement agencies who have far clearer opportunities for enforcing state law in this area.

Social Media: School Leadership in the Digital Age

Our presentation on "School Leadership in the Digital Age" takes place on Saturday March 10 at 7:30 am in Room 5 of the Tampa Convention Center. We'll share tips that principals can immediately use to use social media to improve their schools. Topics include social media and school safety, social media and school management, and social media and enhanced learning. The presentation can be downloaded HERE.

US Supreme Court and Student Online Speech

The US Supreme Court recently declined to review two cases that involved the discipline of students based on student speech on the Internet. One appeal came from the 3rd Circuit. In these cases the Appeals Court said that students who ridicule their principals online cannot be disciplined by school officials because the speech occurred off campus and did not "substantially disrupt" the school. It's a reminder that just because we don't like something that a student might say, it doesn't mean that it can be restricted, particularly if it took place off campus and outside of the school day. Another case the Supreme Court declined to hear involved a student who created a MySpace page about another student. In that case, the lower court concluded that the speech was disruptive and upheld discipline of the student.

Together the two cases remind us of the uncertainty about how to respond to student speech on the Internet. It is clear that students' do have free speech rights. Principals must consider where the speech occurred and must be able to demonstrate a disruption to the school environment.

Teens' Social Media Experiences

A new study from the Pew Internet and American Life Project shared data about the social media experience of teenagers. The study looked at teens' behavior and experiences using social media. Among the findings:

• 95% of teens 12-17 years of age are online;
• 80% of those online teens use social media.

Teens also shared their experience on social media sites.

• 69% of teenagers who use social media say their peers are mostly kind to one another on the sites;
• 88% report witnessing people being mean or cruel on the sites;
• 15% said they were the target of mean or cruel behavior.
• 90% said they ignored the mean behavior;
• 80% say they defended a victim of meanness and cruelty;
• 70% say they told someone to stop being mean; and
• 21% say they joined in the harassment of others on social media.

Thirty-six percent of teens sought help about online problems. Most (53%) asked for help from friends and peers while 36% talked with their parents.

Most teens (62%) of teens reported that they keep their privacy settings on private so that only friends can see content. Twenty percent keep their site semi-private and 17% keep their site fully public.

These data provide interesting insights into the online experience of today's teens. The full report from the Pew Research Center is available here. We'd enjoy hearing from you about your experiences with teens and social media in your school.

Cyberbaiting

First it was cyberbullying. Now it's cyberbaiting. That's an emerging trend where students taunt their teachers to the point that the teacher reacts. Then students capture the outburst on their cell phone and post a video online. It's another example of using social media inappropriately.

According to a recent report from the Norton Online Family Report nearly one in five teachers has experienced cyberbaiting or knows a teacher who has. So, what do you do? First, talk with your teachers about the phenomenon. Awareness is perhaps the best strategy for assuring that it won't happen to you. Second, work with your students on appropriate use of social media. The National Crime Prevention Council suggests that educating students, and their families, about responsible use is the best way to deal with cyberbullying and cyberbaiting. Finally, review your school's discipline code to make sure that it is up-to-date and provides explicit guidance about how to respond when cyberbaiting, or other forms of cyberbullying, occur.