January 28, 2014
So this is my first time writing a blog and I can tell you that I have been meaning to do it for about 6 months, but never could figure out what to say. I am not the best writer, and always felt a bit funny, but after watching Eric Sheninger's Webinar on Digital Leadership from edWeb.net, I was completely inspired.
In my current role as the Supervisor of Instructional Technology I feel like I am the "lone nut" trying to convince everyone the benefits of social media for our students. The fear and "what ifs" make me crazy!! After viewing Eric's webinar, I feel even more justified in my approach to open up social media for students and teachers.
Eric did a fabulous job sharing how his students, and teachers use social media in school to make others aware of what they are doing, and how well they are doing it. How cool for a student to have the ability to go on a field trip and be able to Blog about the experience and share with others in the world that might never get to visit the place! Or even summarize the trip into a Tweet for others to read and pique their interest to learn more. It is real world learning at it's best.
I really like how Eric also highlighted the variety of social media that his teachers use not only with students, but for their PLN as well. I know for myself I have gained so much from Twitter as my PLN, but hearing and seeing some other social media PLN, I felt like the whole world opened up to me again today. I am excited to say I signed up for edWeb.net. I am looking forward to creating Pinterest page as part of my PLN, and doing more with Flickr!
Again while all of these tools are good in their own way, we have to remember they are just tools. What we really want to have our students learn by using these types of social media is to start conversations, raise awareness open their minds to different perspectives, and learn that they too can make a difference. These are just a few of the learning outcomes students can have when we enable them to use technology such as social media as a tool.
Thank you so much Eric Sheninger for getting my to blog! Follow Eric on Twitter you won't be disappointed @NMHS_Principal
AJ Phillips
@AJTechSuper
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