Mediating Social Media

There are so many types of social media out in the world now, it is tough to make a decision on which one best fits your needs, let alone try to pick the best ones for an entire school community.

In today's schools, leaders have to make decisions on what kind of platform of social media their school will use to communicate to their community through. Each school's population and setting will dictate the best form, through factors such as accessibility to social media at home, usability for all members, and clarity of the message.

This decision will impact how a good amount of school information will be disseminated to the school's population and surrounding community. The school leader will have to determine, based off of a survey or school community meeting, which direction to go in, as well as who are going to be the administers who post and modify the social media school account.

Here are some tips for school leaders using social media around the country: http://www.educationworld.com/a_admin/social-media-tips-administrators.shtml

Tech = Success?

It has become socially acceptable for people to just have the next best thing when it comes to computers or cell phones. Questions that are asked go like this: "Why haven't you updated your phone yet?" "Have you downloaded the latest iOS?" "Are you going to by the (insert newest cell phone) as soon as it comes out?" "Don't you think the next upgrade will just be even better?"

Sometimes too much credit is given to the technology product in education, and educators assume that it will solve everything for us. Some of you might say "oh no, I don't think that at all!", but I also think it is almost human nature to want the next best thing when it comes to technology. We fall into the trap to often in education and we need to have the discussion constantly in our schools to figure out what the best plan is to approach the ever-growing implementation of tech in classrooms.

How do we know that implementing technology helps with student achievement?

When technology comes out, word starts to spread that this new item is the best thing to have at your school. Many times schools will purchase these items without surveying and/or discussing with the school community. This leads to frustration from the teachers because the goals are unclear of what they are supposed to be doing with the technology and how to use it. The main problem is that there is not enough communication from school districts to school administration to teachers to students and parents/guardians.

Having the newest technology products is a great thing for the school because it continues to bring new opportunities for teachers and students. With technology students would be able to learn more than ever before with immediate access to information in the classrooms. Teachers would be able to plan lessons and activities that could have never done before.

This being said, as school leaders we need to continue to find different ways to balance technology in our schools and make sure that we do not get caught up in the social trends.


This link provides possible answers for us, as educators to continue to get better at using technology in schools: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/are-we-getting-smarter-about-ed-tech-suzie-boss