EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning - Final Reflection

Semester:     Summer 2016

Instructor:    Jackie Gerstein

Syllabus

Social Networking Policies

Social Media Learning

Personal Learning Environments

Online Learning Communities

Virtual Professional Development

Twitter Chats

Effective Curation, Examples

Digital Footprints, Examples

Communities of Practice, Connectivism and PLNs

Use of Social Media in the Classroom

Final Reflection

I did not know exactly what to expect when I enrolled in EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning. I knew I would have difficulty at first because I had no previous experience with social networking (except the use of Google + in my first course). I thought that everyone else in the course would have a leg up when it came to the use of social media because of their use in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Personally, when I first started the course, I had no desire to learn about social networking as I did not want to mix my professional and personal lives but I knew that to become a better teacher in 21st Century education, I needed to get up-to-date with the students and the technologies they use.

The class did not disappoint. We jumped right in with setting up and using many social media accounts including Diigo, Twitter and Facebook. I wrote a paper on Connectivism in EdTech 504, read some literature on Communities of Practice and was involved in many PLCs in our school so I was familiar with some of the concepts needed to truly understand the importance of a networked world. This, however, was the extent of my knowledge in this course. Concepts such as the importance of solid digital footprints, curation and real time online professional development were foreign to me. I always thought that the less digital footprint, the better. I was wrong.

One of the most valuable things I learned were the ability to use online, real-time for professional development. The use of webinars and Twitter chats are essential to keep up with the ongoing changes in our education system. I enjoyed the information from the webinars and the backchannel discussions however I did not like Twitter chats overall. I found I did not have time to collect my thoughts and respond because the backchannel discussions were qutie often off topic. I found this did not allow a strong discussion of particular concepts. I think that with more practice, Twitter chats will be more effective.

Probably the most important facet of this course was the creation and use of personal learning networks. I am so grateful for my colleagues in the course and have gained so much knowledge from each and every one of them. My PLN consisted of two very dedicated, intelligent colleagues who have become my friends. I have learned so much from both of them. I feel this experience with my PLN truly shows the value of social networking. The amount of knowledge out there is incredible. It is amazing that I let so many years pass before I started to use other people’s skills and thought processes.

In the future, I plan to continue with the use of social media in a professional nature. I need to learn more about Twitter as I believe there is so much potential with this media in education. I hope to continue with the creation of a solid digital footprint by showing consistency in all of my platforms, creating a personal website, blogging regularly and putting in the effort to get out there online with all of the media I wish to continue to use. I also plan to continue with real-time and virtual PD and be a part of the groups I have joined throughout the course. In the classroom my wish is to create many PBL projects with the implementation of social media. I think this will create so much engagement from the students and excitement for the teacher.

My goal when I joined the MET program was to move into a higher administrative role in my school board. I would like to become a Specialist of Learning Technologies and then move into an Assistant Principal and Principal roles. The concepts I learned from this course will surely lead me in 21st Century education that is expected in high school redesign (reform).

Assessment of Blog Posts

As far as my assessment of my blogs during this course, I have met all of the requirements and have gone beyond what was expected. I was always on time or early and commented on others' blogs through the use of Facebook. I feel I deserve a grade of 75/75 in this section of the course.

EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning - Final Reflection

Semester:     Summer 2016

Instructor:    Jackie Gerstein

Syllabus

Social Networking Policies

Social Media Learning

Personal Learning Environments

Online Learning Communities

Virtual Professional Development

Twitter Chats

Effective Curation, Examples

Digital Footprints, Examples

Communities of Practice, Connectivism and PLNs

Use of Social Media in the Classroom

Final Reflection

I did not know exactly what to expect when I enrolled in EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning. I knew I would have difficulty at first because I had no previous experience with social networking (except the use of Google + in my first course). I thought that everyone else in the course would have a leg up when it came to the use of social media because of their use in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Personally, when I first started the course, I had no desire to learn about social networking as I did not want to mix my professional and personal lives but I knew that to become a better teacher in 21st Century education, I needed to get up-to-date with the students and the technologies they use.

The class did not disappoint. We jumped right in with setting up and using many social media accounts including Diigo, Twitter and Facebook. I wrote a paper on Connectivism in EdTech 504, read some literature on Communities of Practice and was involved in many PLCs in our school so I was familiar with some of the concepts needed to truly understand the importance of a networked world. This, however, was the extent of my knowledge in this course. Concepts such as the importance of solid digital footprints, curation and real time online professional development were foreign to me. I always thought that the less digital footprint, the better. I was wrong.

One of the most valuable things I learned were the ability to use online, real-time for professional development. The use of webinars and Twitter chats are essential to keep up with the ongoing changes in our education system. I enjoyed the information from the webinars and the backchannel discussions however I did not like Twitter chats overall. I found I did not have time to collect my thoughts and respond because the backchannel discussions were qutie often off topic. I found this did not allow a strong discussion of particular concepts. I think that with more practice, Twitter chats will be more effective.

Probably the most important facet of this course was the creation and use of personal learning networks. I am so grateful for my colleagues in the course and have gained so much knowledge from each and every one of them. My PLN consisted of two very dedicated, intelligent colleagues who have become my friends. I have learned so much from both of them. I feel this experience with my PLN truly shows the value of social networking. The amount of knowledge out there is incredible. It is amazing that I let so many years pass before I started to use other people’s skills and thought processes.

In the future, I plan to continue with the use of social media in a professional nature. I need to learn more about Twitter as I believe there is so much potential with this media in education. I hope to continue with the creation of a solid digital footprint by showing consistency in all of my platforms, creating a personal website, blogging regularly and putting in the effort to get out there online with all of the media I wish to continue to use. I also plan to continue with real-time and virtual PD and be a part of the groups I have joined throughout the course. In the classroom my wish is to create many PBL projects with the implementation of social media. I think this will create so much engagement from the students and excitement for the teacher.

My goal when I joined the MET program was to move into a higher administrative role in my school board. I would like to become a Specialist of Learning Technologies and then move into an Assistant Principal and Principal roles. The concepts I learned from this course will surely lead me in 21st Century education that is expected in high school redesign (reform).

Assessment of Blog Posts

As far as my assessment of my blogs during this course, I feel I have met all of the requirements and have gone beyond what was expected. I feel I deserve a grade of 75/75 in this section of the course.

EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning - Final Reflection

Semester:     Summer 2016

Instructor:    Jackie Gerstein

Syllabus

Social Networking Policies

Social Media Learning

Personal Learning Environments

Online Learning Communities

Virtual Professional Development

Twitter Chats

Effective Curation, Examples

Digital Footprints, Examples

Communities of Practice, Connectivism and PLNs

Use of Social Media in the Classroom

Final Reflection

I did not know exactly what to expect when I enrolled in EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning. I knew I would have difficulty at first because I had no previous experience with social networking (except the use of Google + in my first course). I thought that everyone else in the course would have a leg up when it came to the use of social media because of their use in Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat. Personally, when I first started the course, I had no desire to learn about social networking as I did not want to mix my professional and personal lives but I knew that to become a better teacher in 21st Century education, I needed to get up-to-date with the students and the technologies they use.

The class did not disappoint. We jumped right in with setting up and using many social media accounts including Diigo, Twitter and Facebook. I wrote a paper on Connectivism in EdTech 504, read some literature on Communities of Practice and was involved in many PLCs in our school so I was familiar with some of the concepts needed to truly understand the importance of a networked world. This, however, was the extent of my knowledge in this course. Concepts such as the importance of solid digital footprints, curation and real time online professional development were foreign to me. I always thought that the less digital footprint, the better. I was wrong.

One of the most valuable things I learned were the ability to use online, real-time for professional development. The use of webinars and Twitter chats are essential to keep up with the ongoing changes in our education system. I enjoyed the information from the webinars and the backchannel discussions however I did not like Twitter chats overall. I found I did not have time to collect my thoughts and respond because the backchannel discussions were qutie often off topic. I found this did not allow a strong discussion of particular concepts. I think that with more practice, Twitter chats will be more effective.

Probably the most important facet of this course was the creation and use of personal learning networks. I am so grateful for my colleagues in the course and have gained so much knowledge from each and every one of them. My PLN consisted of two very dedicated, intelligent colleagues who have become my friends. I have learned so much from both of them. I feel this experience with my PLN truly shows the value of social networking. The amount of knowledge out there is incredible. It is amazing that I let so many years pass before I started to use other people’s skills and thought processes.

In the future, I plan to continue with the use of social media in a professional nature. I need to learn more about Twitter as I believe there is so much potential with this media in education. I hope to continue with the creation of a solid digital footprint by showing consistency in all of my platforms, creating a personal website, blogging regularly and putting in the effort to get out there online with all of the media I wish to continue to use. I also plan to continue with real-time and virtual PD and be a part of the groups I have joined throughout the course. In the classroom my wish is to create many PBL projects with the implementation of social media. I think this will create so much engagement from the students and excitement for the teacher.

My goal when I joined the MET program was to move into a higher administrative role in my school board. I would like to become a Specialist of Learning Technologies and then move into an Assistant Principal and Principal roles. The concepts I learned from this course will surely lead me in 21st Century education that is expected in high school redesign (reform).

Assessment of Blog Posts

As far as my assessment of my blogs during this course, I feel I have met all of the requirements and have gone beyond what was expected. I feel I deserve a grade of 75/75 in this section of the course.

EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning - Social Networking Policies for Today's Schools

The Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and the Children’s Internet Protection Act were developed to address concerns about children's safety in an online atmosphere. Although they deal with different matters, the safety of students is paramount in each of these policies. Schools have taken these laws and have gone even further in the protection of their students. Most if not all school boards have implemented an acceptable usage policy (AUP) document. This document discusses policies on the usage of technological devices and their applications.

My school board uses a document called The Digital Technology Acceptable Use Policy. Here is a link to the document. The document states the following:

Students are encouraged to use our network and digital learning tools to collaborate with others to change the world in meaningful, positive ways. By utilizing the school’s computers and/or the network, students agree to the guidelines for digital technology use outlined in this document.

Students are encouraged to use digital technology to:

• Access, critically assess, and communicate information and understanding
• Seek alternative viewpoints
• Collaborate during inquiry
• Construct personal knowledge and meaning
• Demonstrate understandings
• Organize and manipulate data
• Interact with others

Prohibited acts include:

• Use of someone else’s account or access to network
• Sending or displaying offensive messages or pictures
• Using obscene language
• Harassing, insulting or attacking another person or their reputation
• Trespassing in other people’s folders, work or files
• Accessing, posting, sending or downloading inappropriate material
• Assuming the identity of another person to gain information In any way, moving, opening hardware or computer accessories
• Any attempt and/or threats to harm a person
• Plagiarism of online content
• Posting, publishing, circulating or distributing personal information about oneself or others without the supervision and consent of a staff member
• Use of technology or the network to access sites/software not approved by staff

http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b402/pdfs/digital_AcceptableUsePolicy.pdf

Use of technology or the network to access sites/software not approved by staff Violation of policy may result in:

• First Incident: Student will be reminded of the Acceptable Use Policy and how his or her behaviour was not appropriate. Parents will be informed of the incident of inappropriate use. Removal of digital technology privileges will be for a day.
• Second Incident: Removal of digital technology privileges for a week. Parents will be informed of the incident of inappropriate use.
• Third Incident: Student will lose open access and will be fully monitored when using digital technology. Parents will be involved in creating a plan for ensuring appropriate use at school. A student who engages in inappropriate use with a personal device will lose his/her student access for the remainder of the year and will not be allowed to bring in their own devices to connect to the school board’s network.

As there are no direct rules in regards to social media, I am proposing to add the following to the AUP document. Hopefully, these policies will be included in school board AUP document and appear every time someone connects to the school network or Internet. In order to get approval for these changes, there must be review process. The goal is to have all of the stakeholders involved in the process to ensure buy-in. The process will include the following:

1. Discuss idea with Principal.
2. Complete the document with input from teachers and the IT Specialist.
3. Discuss with student focus group - engage in discussion.
4. Discuss at Parent council meeting.
5. Make changes where appropriate.
6. Approval from Principal.
7. Give to Superintendent of Learning Technologies for approval.

If not approved by school board, hopefully it will be accepted by our specific school.

Social Networking and Communication:

While currently social networking websites are not strictly disallowed, their personal use be condoned. They are to be used for educational and learning purposes only.

• Students must ensure that privacy settings are maximized to avoid unwanted solicitations or viewing by others whose motives may be questionable.  
• All posts must follow proper netiquette rules and must be proof-read and edited before publishing to the Internet.
• Posting of specific personal information is not allowed.
• Students will not post personal information about other people, including family members, fellow students, teacher or friends.  
• Proper attribution must be given to all information and posts. Students must use Creative Commons to use images and music for open use.
• Internet predators exist who misrepresent their age, sex or personality in order to meet children and young adults. Students should under no circumstances meet with an internet acquaintance without parent or guardian permission, and with adequate supervision.
• Students will not engage in cyberbullying, which is defined as the “use of communication technologies to support deliberate and hostile behaviour by an individual or group that is intended to harm others." This may include sending hateful or insulting remarks to others, posting unwanted pictures for others to see on the internet, sending threats or even as simple as continuing to send email to someone who has requested no further contact. Cyberbullying is a criminal act and will be dealt with accordingly.
• No personal accounts will be used in any social media platform. Separate group accounts will be created and used for classroom learning and collaboration. These will be monitored by the teacher.

Social media is here to stay. Students use social media daily and, in fact, it has become an essential part of their PLN. Students use social media to collaborate, discuss, reflect and research information - the skills needed in 21st Century education. It is up to our learning establishments and us as educators to aid in students learning but, at the same time, keep our students safe. Technology is changing. As well, our policies should reflect that change.

References

Blankenship, S. (2012, April 20). Social media and two-way communication. Connected Principals. Retrieved from http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/5710

Children’s internet protection act. Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved from https://www.fcc.gov/consumers/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act

Children's online privacy protection rule ("COPPA"). Federal Trade Commission. Retrieved from   https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/rules/rulemaking-regulatory-reform-proceedings/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule  

Digital technology accepted use policy, Calgary Board of Education. Retrieved from http://schools.cbe.ab.ca/b402/pdfs/digital_AcceptableUsePolicy.pdf

Varlas, L. (2011). Can social media and school policies be "friends"? ASCD Policy Priorities, 17(4). Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/policy-priorities/vol17/num04/Can-Social-Media-and-School-Policies-be-%C2%A3Friends%C2%A3%C2%A2.aspx

EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning - Social Media in Learning

The use of teaching and learning strategies are changing exponentially as we move further along into the 21st Century. As teachers we must embrace the change and use new technologies that will help students learn. Only a few short months ago, I was against social media in the classroom as I felt there were too many distractions that could affect student learning. EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning has shown me how wrong I was.

Social media offers so much in terms of collaboration, content knowledge and student engagement. Students learn much differently than only a few short years ago. Student PLNs consist of Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and many other social networks. In fact, it seems the newer the platform, the more engagement to learning there is.

This artifact required us to research projects that are correlated to our subject area and are used in the classroom. Each of the projects needed to use social media as an important part of the learning of the students. My topic area was Social Media in Career and Technology Studies. Here is link to my Scoopit curation. Although there were hundreds of articles giving suggestions and ideas on how to integrate social media into a project, I had trouble finding actual online projects that were used in this type of learning. In fact, I did not find many that were better than the lesson I created for EdTech 541 - Integrating Technology into the Classroom. I used this as one of the elements of my curation as it used social media directly in the design of the lesson.

After many hours of research, I realized that many projects, although not directly related to my subject area, could be used in a variety of curricular areas so I chose examples that I could adapt for my classroom. I found social media can be used for a variety of learning outcomes in the classroom. These include collaboration of student to student and student to teacher, the celebration of student work, the creation of student learning networks and the engagement of students in the classroom.

Social media is here to stay and it is time to get rid of the “walled gardens” surrounding the use of this technology. It is vital to engage our students in anyway possible to create learning. It is up to our school boards, administrators and teachers to see past the possible negatives associated with this technology and understand the learning that can occur.

EdTech 543 - Social Network Learning - Personal Learning Environments

Personal Learning Environments (PLEs) are systems and applications that help individuals manage their own learning. Today, it is mostly digital but there are many elements to a PLE. The following is an illustration of my personal learning environment.

In the creation of my Personal Learning Environment, I wanted to depict that my PLE is a very small piece of the connected world. The black dot (in the connected globe) represents my PLE as compared to the amount of connections worldwide. As my PLE grows, so to will the connections I have with others around the world.

The magnified area of the illustration describes my PLE. I am in the middle and attached to each of the main categories of my learning environment. As well, each of these categories are connected to each other as certain elements and applications of the PLE can be used in many or all of the areas. An example is the use of Google Docs. Not only is it a creating, reflecting and sharing tool, it could be used for all other technology based areas. The learning environment is split into seven main areas: Networking, communication and online communities, organization and storage, presentation and multimedia, creating, reflecting and sharing, research, traditional media, and face-to-face. Each of these is important to my network of learning in some form or another.

While designing the illustration, I tried to think of as many ways that I obtain, share and store knowledge. I now realize how far behind I was in the use of technology. Before I started the MET program, most of my learning came from traditional (conferences, newspapers, magazines, etc) and face-to-face methods (colleagues, professional learning communities, meetings, friends, and, of course, family). Yes I used Google Apps and YouTube but only on a very limited basis. Today, I have so many more connections. My learning has grown exponentially in many different areas. Social connections such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LInkedin were not a part of my strategy, either personally for professionally. Presentation material was only evident in PowerPoint. YouTube was only for watching movies, iTunes was for music downloads and reflection did not exist. This program, and this artifact, truly has changed my views on learning and technology.

It was valuable to look at my colleagues’ illustrations for the creation of my PLE. It helped me gather my thoughts about what was important. Although all different, most of the illustrations from my colleagues had some similarities. The two main similarities included the following: The individual person was at the centre of the environment, and the social networks were often the same - as expected as we are in the same course - (Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, either WordPress or Blogger).

I looked at many of my colleagues’ work on this concept. Here are some thoughts.

Kjersti Withers put everything into a mixing bowl. This is the best example I saw in how the PLE is a mixture of different ingredients. Although some may be more important - as shown by the size of Facebook and Pinterest - all are essential to the final project.

Kimmy Davis had an excellent diagram where she is juggling all of her learning networks. It is easy to tell about her love for Facebook - not only in this diagram but from her posts. She is experienced and very confident with this social network. I agree with her analysis in that it is hard to keep everything in air. There are so many elements to social media, it is hard to know which one to use at any particular time.

Megan Apgar was one of the diagrams I used to help in my design. It was one of the first designs that split her environment into categories. Although the categories were different from mine, I used the idea of connected categories to enhance my diagram.

Joanne Matibag discussed the fact she did not want to use some elements because she just started using them. It really got me thinking about my lack of a PLE before I started the MET program. I listed many of the elements I do not use often but I feel that these are still important to my learning. Like her, I will get better with more practice. The ones I will not use, I will discard.

Amy Mitchell’s illustration is the one that mostly resembles mine. As well, it was similar to Megan Apgar in that she has herself at the centre and uses categories to distinguish the areas of importance. Although both of their categories are different than mine, it adds a sense of organization to the PLE. I need this type of organization.

Brian Betteridge’s illustration is one of the only diagrams that adds traditional methods to his PLE. I use this idea as categories in my PLE. The use of professional colleagues in a face-to-face setting, in my opinion, is still one of the best ways to engage in learning.

The creation and analysis of this assignment has shown how far I have come as a connected teacher. Although the path is never-ending, I can now, at the very least, move ahead with 21st Century education and bring this knowledge forward into my school and school board.