Let me count the ways

Today's assignment is to list the ways we might use the various social media platforms we've been exploring at camp in our classroom. I don't actually have a classroom (I work at the Department of Education now) and I never really did as I am speech-language pathologist and so I had a caseload instead of a classroom. For me, I have been contemplating how I might use these platforms to deliver better professional development to the teachers and therapists of Arizona.

1) I will use Edmodo as a way to get teachers from different districts interacting during our trainings
2) I will spend more time on my agency Pinterest boards (which I just created)
3) I will create a blog for my Agency

Do I care whether people "LIKE" me or not?

I really don't care at all. For one thing, it seems so random. I will post something that really matters to me, and that I have put a lot of thought and care into writing, and get almost no response. Then I will post something really trivial, written in haste, and kind of stupid, really, and get tons of likes.

On the other hand, when other people post, I am MOST likely to "like" it if no one else has- because I feel sorry for them, regardless of whether or not I actually do like it.

I do not keep track of my "friends" count. I do not know how many people follow me. I also did not realize until camp the etiquette of Twitter- that if someone follows you, you should follow them back. I guess it matters a lot to some people-  I follow one guy who always tweets out a thank you to all his new followers every week.

Digital Citizenship for Students (and their teachers)

I don't have a classroom, and I never have had a classroom. Our assignment is to make a list of skills and knowledge that students need to learn about in order to be good digital citizens. Frankly, I know a lot of teachers who could use a list like this. But here goes:


How to "Be" on the internet

Be safe.

Be honest.

Be kind.

Be creative.

Love this digital version of THINK

Digital Citizenship

http://www.technologyrocksseriously.com/2012/09/before-you-fb-instagram-text-tweet-or.html 

Do Social Media Bring People Together or Keep Them Apart?

The prevalence of social media is deepening the digital divide. Some young people in Arizona don't have the infrastructure to allow them to jump onto Facebook, Twitter, etc. 2/3 of the state lacks high speed internet. Some old teachers in Arizona have access to the internet, but refuse to learn how social media can be leveraged to enhance their own and their students' learning.

If you have been teaching long enough, you remember those teachers who refused to use email. That kind of teacher is still out there- but now they refuse to use Twitter/YouTube/you name it.

So apart form the whole "staring at my iPhone during family dinners" discussion of whether social media brings us together or keeps us apart, there is the issue of how those who will not or cannot use social media are being left out.

Here I am at Camp Plug and Play, learning about Social Media. The first thing I learned is that blogging is considered to be social media. I am on Twitter, Pinterest, FaceBook, Linked In and Vine...but I don't blog. Well I guess I do now.

photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/trazomfreak/318423421/">trazomfreak</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">cc</a>