Social Media Policies

In Module 5 we were asked to begin thinking about the practical implications of using social media in our schools. This means ensuring a safe and appropriate learning environment. My district is just now taking great strides with technology initiatives, so it wasn’t a surprise to find that no guidelines are in place for using social media. In fact, in the section of the school's student/parent handbook labeled “Cell Phones/Electronic Devices/Social Media Rules” the only guidelines listed are the following:

Students are not allowed to use cell phones once school begins until 2:40. Inappropriate messages on social media sites or via text may be considered cyber bullying and disrespectful conduct. Electronic devices that contain information that interferes with the learning environment is subject to being searched. School staff may search phones if there is reasonable cause.

Clearly those guidelines are not sufficient and do not promote technology use for educational purposes. Thus, I drafted the below guidelines (also found here). To develop my own set of social media policies I explored those of already powerful districts such as Los Angeles Unified School District, Escondido Union School District, San Diego Unified School District, and the New York City Department of Education. There are two sets of guidelines specific to district employees and students. In drafting these policies my next logical step would be to create a committee composed of administrators, colleagues, parents, and students representatives to complete building a comprehensive set of policies. The committee would come together and provide input and offer revisions where necessary. When the draft is agreed upon by the committee it would then be passed along to our principal and area superintendent (who oversees our high school and the feeder schools that are part of it). With their stamp of approval, we would then launch the guidelines to school staff and parents. A Google Form would be used to survey staff and parents to garner feedback before finalizing and launching the guidelines for the following school year. A yearly meeting would then occur with committee members to assess any needs for updating guidelines to meet the evolvement of the digital media world.

Social Media Policy

School Employees should abide by the following guidelines:

1. Authorization- Any social media account that reflects the district’s presence or any association with the district (including: sports teams, clubs, class pages, etc.) must be approved by the Communications Office Director of Communications. Pre-existing sites will be subject to review and possible removal before receiving authorization.
2. Distinct Accounts- Keep personal and school related social media accounts separate and distinct.
3. Protect Student Identity- Do not post any information that would lead to the identity of a student being revealed on a school supported online medium without the written, informed consent of the child’s legal guardian/parent . For example, videos, photos, names, or other identifying information is inappropriate for online publishing if appropriate consent has yet to be given.
4. Privacy Settings- Be actively aware of privacy settings and know that they provide limited security. Be careful of anything published online and know that it is subject to public view, thus the republication of content by an outside party can occur without the employee's knowledge. Take all privacy settings into consideration.
5. District logos- Personal social media accounts should not contain any trace of the district’s logo. Those accounts that are school sponsored may maintain the logo with the approval of the Communications Office, but must keep with district administered guidelines.  
6. PTA and Foundational Sites- Those sites that are published by a school foundation or parent-teacher group should maintain a distinct personality from those sites that are authorized and run by school officials. However, it is permissible for school authorized sites and PTA or foundational sites to post the links of the others web page to assure appropriate communication with the public.
7. Disclaimers- Any site that associates itself with the school or school district, but does not maintain official approval from the Communications Office must display the following text: “The views expressed on this site do not reflect the views of the Clovis  Unified School District. This site contains user-created content which is not endorsed by the District. The purpose of this site is”…(adopted from the San Diego Unified School District).
8. Inappropriate Content- Any content that shows biased, racist, threatening, harassing, sexist, bullying or derogatory language towards any individual is unacceptable and is subjected to recommendation for disciplinary action. Any inappropriate content will be documented (via screenshots, printing, downloading, or other means) for further investigation in the disciplinary process.
9. Integrity- Maintain the integrity of the online medium and the district by avoiding all forms of plagiarism and honoring copyright and intellectual property laws.
10. Monitor Digital Presence- Actively monitor the sites presence online and assure that all content is both current and accurate. Monitor the comments left on the site and be sure to enforce digital netiquette with both site publishers, follower, and participant.s

Students should abide by the following guidelines:

1. Personal Information- Students should protect any information that could lead to an observer locating the individual including: home address, phone number, full family name, etc. Sharing such information may be potentially dangerous for the student.
2. Unacceptable Access/Hacking- Students should not seek to access the accounts of others or district technology resources. Attempting to act as someone that the individual is not in order to gain access to another’s personal files is unacceptable and is subject to disciplinary action.
3. Unlawful Acts- Students should not participate in an act online that would be considered unlawful. This might include making threats, participating in gang activity, stealing or any other act that would be deemed prohibited by law.
4. Inappropriate Content- In the same way that employees should not show biased, racist, threatening, harassing, sexist, bullying or derogatory language towards any individual, students should not either. It is unacceptable and is subjected to recommendation for disciplinary action. Any inappropriate content will be documented (via screenshots, printing, downloading, or other means) for further investigation in the disciplinary process.
5. Integrity- Maintain the integrity of the online medium and the district by avoiding all forms of plagiarism and honoring copyright and intellectual property laws.
6. Choose ‘Friends’ Wisely- Students must know how to protect themselves online. Consider the source and character of those chosen for online interaction. Knowing someone online is very different than knowing someone face-to-face.
7. Digital Footprint- Be mindful that online persona is an extension of yourself. Be sure to be authentic and genuine in representing who you are to the online community.
8. Report Inappropriate Behavior- If you see or hear of inappropriate behavior online report it to the appropriate source. This could range from cyberbullying to illegal acts. Contact a trusted adult if call 911 if necessary.
9. Practice Digital Citizenship- Know the appropriate context for technology use both personally and educationally. Be able to distinguish proper behavior based on the use of technology.
10. Form of a PLN- Be educated and form a credible personal learning network. Use the social media and online platform to take ownership of learning.

References

Anderson, S. (2012, May 7). How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School. Retrieved July 27, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/how-to-create-social-media-guidelines-school

DeWitt, P. (2012, July 12). Do Our Students Have PLN's? Retrieved July 27, 2015, from http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/finding_common_ground/2012/07/do_our_students_have_plns.html?cmp=SOC-SHR-TW

“Escondido union high school district student social media guidelines”; Escondido Union High School District; 2012. Retrieved from: http://ehscougars.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/StudentSocialMediaPolicies.pdf

“Los angeles unified school district policy bulletin”; Los Angeles Unified School District; 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.lausd.net/lausd/offices/Office_of_Communications/BUL-5688.0_SOCIAL_MEDIA_POLICY.pdf

“Staff social media guidelines”; San Diego Unified School District; 2013. Retrieved from: https://www.sandi.net/cms/lib/CA01001235/Centricity/Domain/402/social-media-guidelines.pdf

“Student social media guidelines”; New York City Department of Education; 2013. Retrieved from: http://schools.nyc.gov/NR/rdonlyres/9765B2DF-9BD5-42AA-8D85-005D0FC8AA23/0/Student_Social_MediaGuidelines_finalv3_20140128.pdf

Social Media in Learning Research

For this weeks module we were asked to curated research of social networking in learning environments. I chose to create my curation on a Pinterest board which can be found here. At first I began my focus with high school journalism as I will be advising our school newspaper this upcoming school year. However, I quickly became frustrated with the lack of variety in content I was able to find when conducting research, so I decided to revert back to home base: English 9.

I found this experience to be more powerful than I originally anticipated. I think part of my surprise came from the number of ideas for social media use in the classroom that I had yet to hear about or experience. We often get to a point in our teaching where we think we have heard it all and ask, “What could possibly be left out there?” Yet, this is why reading the testimonies of other English teachers around the globe is so beneficial. I read several blogs, articles, and journals that discussed specific classrooms and teachers. Often times these artifacts would reveal how the educator implemented the social media use in the classroom and highlighted the ups and downs of the process.

I particularly appreciated those sources that emphasized what an important tool social media can be in conjunction with student voice. I was recently part of the #21stedchat Twitter chat and this was our prime topic. How do we develop an environment where students take ownership of their learning? Where they feel empowered? Where they feel their voice matters? Two particular activities stood out. One involves a teacher that uses Twitter to create instantaneous class discussion. Now the teacher isn’t 100% dependent upon Twitter to fuel the discussion, but uses it as a platform to begin engaging students and gain full class participation. She discussed how the initial engagement then lowered student’s affective filters and led to their actual speaking in the discussion. The second activity that I found interesting was the concept of turning journal entries into blog entries. Her students were able to share their thoughts with the world, and those that though their voice didn’t matter found value.

From a “big idea” perspective I believe that I learned social media is a phenomenal resource, but the educator is a MUST in the teaching environment. Despite all the good things social media offers, it isn’t effective in education without a strong, organized leader behind the use. Thus, teachers need to become educated and familiar with the tools. Moreover, they must study effective management of student interaction with social media.

Please note that within my curation are links to sources found in the ProQuest database. In order to access these sources students need to login to ProQuest, sign-in with their Boise State accounts, and find the journal by searching the title. Also, note that the description for each source is embedded in each pin on Pinterest. 

Twitter Chats and Webinar

One of our assignments for EDTECH 543 was to participate in 4 Twitter chats and 4 webinars. Below is evidence of my Twitter chat and Webinar participation and reflection.

Online Communities

In the fourth week of EDTECH 543 we were asked to join four online communities to interact with. I chose:

1. Edmodo- Language Arts Group
2. LinkedIn- English Language and Literature
3. Google Plus- Google Classroom
4. Google Plus- Google Apps for Education

Each experience was unique, but I learned something different. I don't think I will remain very active with LinkedIn because it was mostly recreational discussion. However, Edmodo and both Google Communities were powerful. I found so many new resources that can be used in my own classroom. Moreover, I met several other educators that I have exchanged ideas with! Great resources.

Coherence Analysis

This week we were asked to conducted an analysis of the coherence principle. Below is my analysis.

PLE Diagram

Here is the link to my PLE diagram, my post on the class Facebook page, and my Tweet.

What did you learn about yourself when looking at your PLE?

This was probably my favorite project in the 543 class thus far. I think I enjoyed it so much because it allowed me to reflect on where I truly get my information from and how I build and take responsibility for my own learning experiences. I am an extremely organized person so I thought the organization of a desk would be most appropriate in representing my personality. I was also forced to think about the places I frequent. I would like to say I’m the “cool” educational professional that uses lots of blogging outlets or contributes to academic sites, but I’m not. I tend to think the online community has a lot of options that can be extremely overwhelming. Therefore, I’d rather go deep than wide. The tools, communities, or sources I put in my diagram represent those to which I am an active use or participant in. The beautiful thing is that several of these bleed into my personal life thus I become far more proficient and consistent about using them in my professional life. In looking at my diagram I also see how many of these tools cross paths. For example, what I bookmark in Diigo, might be shared on Twitter, included in a Prezi, and then posted to my WIX site. There are endless combinations and possibilities for how these tools can be connected. Again, I believe the “big idea” to be taken away from all of this is the importance of investing well in a few rather than investing poorly in a large amount.

Below is my analysis of 6 classmate's PLE diagrams.

Nick Urban: Nick’s PLE diagram was a solid picture of five distinct categories that connect to build his individualized learning. I appreciated that Nick and I shared similar resources, yet he also had several that I wasn’t aware of. This led to my research of a few new technology tools. I found it interesting his idea of having two globes with the arrow linking them. The arrow was accompanied by text that said “sort and decipher information” which pointed to the second globe which stated “Share information through social media and online communities.” I like this because Nick points out that we must decode information using our personal perspectives and views, and then share our interpretations with our PLNs. I failed to recognize or create this association in my diagram so I am thankful it appears in Nicks.

Renee Phoenix- Renee’s diagram sent me on a scavenger hunt to learn more about the different resources she posted. While I have viewed TED talks before I don’t use them very often. Yet, I see so many people rave about them. So I decided to do a little more depth in research and was excited to find so many TED talks that relate to my subject matter. In fact, through the Language Arts community on Linkedin, I found a talk hosted by author John Green which really peaked my interest. I also hadn’t looked very closely at MOOC. I was excited to see so many different course that are offered for educators online. I enjoy learning in the online environment because it fits my learning style. A great resource and I’m thankful Renee reminded me.

Jennifer Oestreich-Frost- As always I enjoyed Jennifer’s post and learned something new. I realized in looking at Jennifer’s PLE diagram I had missed two HUGE resource tools in my own: Dropbox and TweetDeck. Dropbox is a lifesaver for me. I use it not only to organize files, but to organize the different content on my different devices. Moreover, I often share my dropbox with close friends and family to host important content. The tool is an excellent resource for both personal and professional settings. Before entering this class I had yet to use Twitter. TweetDeck definitely made Twitter a lot more user-friendly. I especially love the setup when participating in Twitter Chats. It is really neat to see the live progression of a Twitter chat and far more easy to navigate using TweetDeck.

Cassie Davenport- This might be might favorite PLE diagram posted by my classmates. I love the symbolism behind the picture of the open road. Moreover, the diagram is clean and neat which I appreciate. I think part of this assignment reveals personality types and Cassie’s very much matches mine. I also appreciate that Cassie incorporated a handful of tools that I neglected to include in my own PLE. She brought to my attention Feedly, Google Scholar, and Moodle, all of which are tools I use on a regular basis. Google Scholar is a resource that I haven’t seen displayed on any PLE diagrams and yet something we should in higher regard, especially when teaching our students academic research. Google Scholar helps to assure that we find information that is accurate and credible, things that are hard to find in traditional Google searching.  

Elizabeth Wood- What I appreciate most about Elizabeth’s diagram is the simplicity of it’s nature. Her diagram makes it clear that each network has distinct features, but yet can be connected based upon choice. For example, YouTube and Google Plus are separate and distinct tools; however, partnership between the two can exist to build the individual’s Personal Learning Network. Also, I wasn’t sure what a handful of icons represent. I posted to Facebook asking Elizabeth to clarify. I am excited to hear her response as I am interested in learning about new tools I have yet to experience.

Darin Gray- I found Darin’s diagram to be particularly interesting. Majority of the resources he chose to post I have either not heard of or have not personally used. It was actually a bit challenging to understand his PLE because I am so unfamiliar with many of the tools, but this nudged me to do some research and become educated about the resource he uses. I really liked his idea of the new world and the old world being like a ship sailing the ocean. This is a very creative display because the road of educational progress is not a smooth or clear path. It is full of storms and all sorts of chaos, yet when it finds stillness it often experiences peaceful fruit. There is great depth behind the imagery of this diagram.

What is a Socratic Seminar?

Background

This week we were asked to record our own podcast using a tool called Audacity. Audacity is free that allows users to record and edit tracks that can ultimately be exported to an mp3 file. I found this task to be extremely challenging. I felt very critical of the podcast I critiqued originally, and much of my critique was based upon the lack of creativity and monotone nature of the podcast. Yet, in many ways mine falls in the same criteria. Being a first time podcast creator I lacked wisdom and experience in making an exciting podcast. I learned the importance of writing a script, slowing down my speech, and the need to plan thoroughly in order to develop a successful podcast. Below you will find a description of the podcast I recorded along with information about the podcast series to which this specific podcast would belong if more were being created. 

Podcast Title: Teaching Tips

Episode Title: What is a Socratic Seminar?

Episode Link: Click here

Description

The design of this podcast series is to offer educators “practical tips and application strategies to empower students to take ownership of their individual learning experiences.” The goal is to provide advice for helping create healthy learning environments where teachers become the facilitators of learning and students are teaching themselves and each other. I believe the podcast could be produced on a regular basis with every episode focusing on a different classroom activity where students are in charge of their learning. The podcast could include guest speakers who share testimonials or even students who can explain the power of student-driven learning environments. 

I teach 9th grade English and the socratic seminar is an integral part of my class structure. This first episode of “Teaching Tips” just scratches the surface of the basic format of conducting a seminar. While the podcast is directed more towards educating teachers on how to set-up the seminar it can also be used to introduce the concept to students. I do feel the podcast was at a disadvantage because much of the content is best explained with visuals. If I were to do this outside of class I would attach some sort of multimedia presentation or instructional video to be supplemental to the podcast. 

The podcast focuses on five steps for building a quality environment for a socratic seminar:

Step 1. Be sure students and the teachers all have the same understanding the objectives of a seminar.

Step 2. Be sure students have a clear understanding of expectations. 

Step 3. Establish the expectations for the roles and responsibilities of the seminar. 

Step 4: Understand the structure of how a seminar is formatted.

Step 5: Establish norms to create an environment that will breed a successful socratic seminar.

While I probably could have added music and sound effects, I have listened to too many podcasts that have overused audio sounds and caused more harm than good to their podcast.

AECT Standards

The standards addressed in this assignment include: 

1.2 Message Design- The principles of message design were used to assure that the podcast effectively communicated content to learners. 

1.3 Instructional Strategies- This standard was addressed as the instructional strategy of the socratic seminar was discussed by providing contextualization of the activity itself. 

2.4 Integrated Technologies- This standard is addressed because multimedia tools were used to create instruction. 

Haiku Deck Presentaiton

Here is my Haiku Deck Presentation. 

This week we were asked to apply our knowledge of the modality and redundancy principles. The big idea with these concepts is that individuals learn better when images are accompanied by narration and ONLY essential on-screen text. The principles cling tightly to the concept of learners having dual channel processing, meaning in one channel individuals process pictorial images while in the other channel they are processing the language (whether it be on-screen text or narration). Regardless, the dual channel processing idea acknowledges that individuals can only take in and process so much information at a time. This process challenges the ideals and habits of most existing teachers. We tend to be text heavy or image heavy and on top of that don’t consider how our added narration factors into the mix. The point being we need to be intentional and strategies about how we partner images and text. 

Haiku Deck is a great resource that forces individuals to be strategies and intentional about their selection of visuals, choice of on-screen text, and narration. My biggest passion in life is running and coaching the sport. Teaching is a joy, but running with my students daily breathes life into me. I wanted to create a presentation that would hopefully send a message to potential runners about the benefits of running and all it has to offer the individual. When ti comes to projects like these my number one struggle is always choosing a topic. 

However, once I was able to choose my topic I was off and running. Haiku Deck is extremely user friendly and offer diversity in slide format lending to greater creativity. The way to which the text grew smaller with the more words placed on a slide at a time challenged me to really think: Is this on-screen text necessary? Normally on a Google Slides presentation or a similar platform I would find myself putting lots of text or distracting images to simply add the fluff. This tool really forced me to strip the material to its’ raw form and only include the necessary parts.  Doing this forced me to think, analyze how I best want to portray my message, and consider what is essential vs. non-essential information. It did take me some time to get through learn how to input background images, resize images, and change the formatting. Yet, every new tool comes with a learning curve and once one becomes familiar with the tool it is easy to navigate. 

Curation Assignment

For this assignment I chose to focus on "Technology Tools and Research for Teaching Academic Research." I chose to use Scoop-it for my curation assignment. Here is my curation. 

To evaluate my curation I used my groups Quality Curation Criteria. Below are the questions our group developed and my responses based on my curation. 

1. What is the purpose of your curation?

My desire for this curation was to provide educators with tools and research that support technology usage when conducting academic research. 21st century learning skills heavily emphasize the importance of student research and knowing appropriate technology tools to use for assessing source credibility, gathering information, and developing quality research. I believe all of the sources in this curation support this purpose. 

2. Which of the five subgroups of curation, or combination thereof, do you intend to use? 

I believe my curation is a combination of distillation and evaluation. It embraces distillation because I sought the most relevant information for this topic as I want to be sure all sources curated are valuable to the viewer. I also believe I used the evaluation process as some of the content in my curation involves people’s reflections of people’s personal opinions posted online. 

3. Have you added credible sites to your RSS feeds or Twitterdecks to track information related to the content? 

I didn’t necessarily add information in regards to the specific authors, but I added some sources to my RSS feed such as wired.com or teachthought.com. As for the Twitterdeck, those sources that sued hashtags I searched in Twitter to see if the content trending was worth following. Some I found valuable and others not so much. 

4. Does your content curation have a variety of source types or is it heavy with one particular medium? 

There is definitely a variety which I think is powerful. I have Prezis, Slideshare, academic journals, blog posts, article, infographics, and a few other source types. 

5. Have you added your own spin, or voice, to the content you have organized and shared?

Yes, for every source I left my own comments to personalize the posting of the source and let viewer of the curation know what value I saw in the individual source. 

6. Is the reproduction and sharing of the content in your curation tailored to your particular audience? 

Absolutely. My goal was to curate information that would be helpful to the 9th grade teachers I work with. My audience is my Professional Learning Community. Since it is teachers I want to severe with this curation I have both a mix of theoretical ideas backed by research combined with resources that educators can use to actually teach academic research in there classrooms.

7. Is the material properly linked and attributed?

Yes, all sources can be clicked on an a new tab will open with the original source. Moreover, all sources show the site to which they came from to professionally attribute the reproduction of the source. 

8. Is any of the language used vague and unprofessional within the attribution?

No, I believe all of the language is concise and academic in nature. 

9. Is a summary of content complete?

Where it is appropriate a summary of the source is included. Most sources however contain an excerpt from the source itself. Others don’t need a summary as the images are self-explanatory. 

10. Is the content organized in a logical way?

I did not follow a particular organizational pattern. The logic behind this is that I find it beneficial for viewers not to be inundated with the same type of information. Mixing academic journals with presentations and info graphics gives viewers the opportunity to make individualized associations with the content. 

11. Has the author written many articles in this particular field?

For each source I conducted research on the authors. Most have published material in the field previously; however, some sources (such as the multimedia presentations) were created by teachers like myself. 

12. Are they a known leader and shown a proven track record?

Those authors published via credible sources show a proven track record with their publication history. The content collected from blogs or other types of professionals may not have a long standing history of published content, but it does not deflate their credibility. 

13. Have I researched in detail when the article was written?

Yes, for all sources I checked the publication date. If I found a source appeared outdated I looked for a more current source. 

14. Is the age of the article make the information still relevant today?

Yes, all content is relevant to today. 

15. Has the curated information been shared with multiple social media groups?

For this assignment I did not share content with social media groups because I did not want to inundate the class Facebook page or my Twitter account in such a short amount of time. However, Scoopit gives the option of sharing content on social media. In the future I will do this as I will be posting over a longer period of time rather than a day’s span. 

16. Has the curated information sparked new conversations or ideas for readers? 

No one has yet to comment, but I believe it will lead to great discussion. 

17. Are there filter bubbles affecting the information I’m finding?

No, content was purposefully and carefully collected. 

18.  Have I taken the time to search unfiltered content? (with customizations turned off in Google for example)

Yes, I used multiple search words and different Boolean operators to find the most appropriate and credible content. 

Digital Footprint Management Plan

This week we were asked to look at digital footprints on the Web. The goal was for us to understand that everything we do on the Internet impacts our digital reputation and how we are viewed. Thus, it is vital that we think about what strategies should be applied to assure our digital footprint is kept clean. Therefore, this Google Slides presentation contains my suggestions for maintaining a healthy digital footprint.

Project #1: Static Multimedia Instruction

Instruction Guide: Here is the link to my instruction guide created with Clarify-It.

Lesson Objective: Using the step-by-step guide, students will be able to export the works cited for a project from their Easybib account directly to a Google Docs document within their Google Drive. 

Design Notes: 

• I selected this activity as I wanted to focus on something practical and applicable for my 9th grade honors English course. Students are expected to leave the 9th grade with a proficiency in using easybib.com (an online tool for generating source citations in MLA, APA, and other formats). 
• The steps are extremely simple as students simply log into Easybib, access their project of interest, select the bibliography option, choose the export button, click on save to Google Docs, wait for Easybib to generate the document, and then rename the new Google Docs document to fit the project.
• Creating this instruction was extremely simple. Using the “Clarify-It” tool I simply walked through the steps of exporting the works cited to Google Docs and tool screen shots of each step. I then labeled each step with simplified text and then added appropriate shapes to highlight content in the images. When finished I exported the document to a PDF and just like that the instruction guide was complete!

How does this instruction demonstrates the multimedia and contiguity principles? 

Multimedia principles focus on the addition and selection of graphics to support text in multimedia presentations, while contiguity principles narrow in on the proper and appropriate partnership of text and graphics in a digital presentation. While these principles are very closely related they maintain distinct features and thus I will discuss how my instruction fits both sets of principles separately. 

In my discussion post relating to this topic I pointed out that there are six primary types of graphics: decorative, representation, relational, organizational, transformational, and interpretive (Clark and Mayer, 2008, p.72). Decorative and representative are the most commonly used and abused. I don’t believe any of the graphics in this instruction guide are used for either of these purposes as all graphics have been intentionally selected and placed to promote knowledge and understanding of the process. I do believe that the images in my instruction are both relational and organizational. The instruction is organizational because each step illustrates variable relationships. For example, step 4 says to “click the export button” which leads to a new variable of selecting the means by which the individual chooses to export the document. Each click of the mouse in the process leads to something new.The graphics are also relational as they connect the text with tangible examples. Moreover, the arrows and shapes used to highlight key information helps demonstrate the relationship between the text in the image with greater clarity. 

With regards to contiguity principles, Clark and Mayer emphasize that e-learning isn’t effective if strong associations can’t be made between the text and the graphics. However, I believe in my instruction guide a strong connection exists between the texts and words. For example, in step 4 the directions say to click on the “Save to Google Docs” option. Notice that in the textual instructions this button students should select is in quotation marks and a red arrow points to the button in the graphic. Thus, it helps viewers make a stronger connection between ideas.  

Resources

Clark, R. & Mayer, R. (2011). E-Learning and the science of instruction: Proven guidelines for consumers and designers of multimedia learning. (3rd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Wiley & Sons/Pfeiffer.

Hashtag Blog Post

As a blog post, include a summary of what hashtags you follow; three new things, resources, ideas you learned by following them; and your thoughts about about using Twitter as a form of just-in-time professional development.

This week we were asked to find five Twitter hashtags to add to our tweetdeck. Here are the five hashtags I chose to follow:

1. #engchat- This hashtag has a plethora of English resources for all grade levels. Some tweets with the hashtag contain practical resources such as links to vocabulary instruction, supplemental articles for core literature, or Common Core lessons. It also contains images publicizing events related to literature, inspirational quotes from literature, and posters with tips for implementing teaching strategies. There is a lot of diverse English content, but what I like most is that it exposes the follower to material they might not otherwise be acquainted with. 

2. #digitalliteracy- This hashtag mixes several Communities of Practice making it extremely powerful. There are technology companies such as Microsoft who promote their products and curriculum for building learner knowledge, while some educators post articles or scholarly work related to the topic. I like that this hashtag contains diverse groups of professionals offering both practical strategies for building digital literacy along with software and resources that can support the strategies. 

3. #highered- This hashtag features mostly organizations, businesses, or schools posting content related to education at the collegiate level. It seems as though the trend is to post articles related to preparing students for college, including information on scholarships, factors in high student achievement, and the most recent news related to what is influencing higher education today. 

4. #google- I may be slightly addicted to hitting the refresh button with this hashtag. Much like the digital literacy hashtag, the Google hashtag has a wide range of followers and users. Businesses use the hashtag to advertise their products, educational web sties post tips on using Google tools, and individuals are constantly commenting on the impact of Google use in their personal and professional life. This is especially valuable when one of our school wide goals this upcoming school year is to become proficient with using Google Drive and other Google products.  

5. #edapps- This hashtag is extremely beneficial since it is often linked to educational apps (both new and old) along with examples of how apps can be used in a particular setting. I love this hashtag because it introduced me to new resources that I wouldn’t normally search for and also reveals apps that can be used in a variety of content areas. 

As for things I have taken away from this assignment I need to start by acknowledging my initial blog post for this course where I stated that I am rather naive when it comes to using social media for professional purposes. However, I was surprised to find that the five hashtags I selected came with an abundance of resources and information that can be applied to my teaching practice. Three major takeaways from this assignment include the following:

The limitless potential for networking- I have heard people say that social networking is an excellent platform for networking and collaboration, but this is the first time I experienced and saw this in action for the first time. The potential of networking with other like-minded professionals via the social media platform is absolutely incredible. I am seeing the connectivism theory alive and active through this process. With any given hashtag I am able to follow the evolvement of information and make connections between different networks, or hubs of information. Linking big ideas leads to critical thinking and being challenged by the ideas of other professionals is a healthy means of pursuing professional growth and development. 

Looking outside what’s “familiar”- I tend to stick with what I know is good and need the push to get outside my comfort zone. In Renee Phoenix’s last blog she points out Siemens acknowledgement that those weaker connections we hold at the “fringe of our networks” often lead to “revolutionary ideas” (2004). I believe following hashtags on Twitter could contribute to those fringes being explored with more tenacity and hopefully leading to more meaningful learning for students and educators alike. 

App Evaluation Rubric- In scrolling through and looking at several tweets posted with #edapps, I was excited to find a tweet where an individual posted a rubric for evaluation educational apps. I found it exciting to find that I can use social media as a vessel to find resources for my own classroom. Often times I stay tied down to educational websites for finding new and fresh ideas. Yet, this tweet, that led to a quality rubric, proved that social media is a great place to find such a thing.  

I’ve learned a lot in a short period of time following these hashtags. While I see the value of using Twitter as a form of just-in-time professional development, I do feel I am stalled in my enthusiasm because I look at those I currently work with and don’t believe we are ready as a staff to adopt something like this. Our staff is just beginning to use Google Drive in professional development settings, so the thought of embracing social media seems far fetched. That said, I am excited about taking baby steps in using Twitter within our school. Just because something seems unrealistic doesn’t mean we don’t shoot for the stars anyways. Our stars just become more manageable stars to reach. I believe Twitter can serve as a positive tool,but for our staff it will begin with taking small steps towards progress in usage. 

Siemens, G. (2004). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. Retrieved June 29, 2015 from www.elearnspace.org/Articles/connectivism.htm

Creative Expression for CoP, PLN, and connectivism

There is much to be said about the three major concepts addressed in Module 1 of this course. We were asked to explore Communities of Practice, Personal Learning Networks, and connectivism, all three concepts relate to one another while maintaing their distinct features that make them individual entities. 

I believe that the most powerful learning comes when meaningful connections are made between the content being studied and one’s personal life. Thus, I attempted to develop a creative expression of these three concepts by using my love for coaching cross country and track. 

Personal learning networks are the most individualized of the three concepts. A singular personal establishes relationships with individuals, maintaing various positions, to share information, ideas, and expert knowledge in a given domain of interest (Burt, 2014). The network feature comes to life in that PLNs “gather a heterogeneous circle of people, distributed across different groups and places, and connected to the individual with connections of varying degrees of strengths”  (Granovetter, 1983). In my visual representation this is represented by a single athlete. The functionality and success of an athlete depends on their own personalized study of the sport, work ethic, and the community of support to which they choose to surround themselves with. 

Communities of Practice (CoP) is the second concept to which was addressed in Module 1. This concept involves three major characteristics: domain, the shared connection based on a common interest; the community; a group of individuals that interact with each other through collaborative activities; and the practice, common experiences and resources to take on similar problems (Wenger). The key to a successful CoP is maintaing a similar degree of commitment to the common interest shared by the group and shared experience over time (Eckert). In alignment with my creative expression, the community of practice would be PLNs of coaches and athletes (who also act as teammates). These groups all work hand-in-hand to build a successful team. Each individual has a distinct role that supports the achievement of the common goal, to win as a team. It takes daily practices over the course of months (shared experiences) to compete at a high level and win a team title (shared interest)

Lastly, is the theory of connectivism which brings everything together. Connectivism roots itself in the principle understanding that decisions will be “based on rapidly altering foundations” (Siemens 2005). Moreover, connectivism, simplified, is the idea that individuals engage in learning processes that hold real world application via various resources and contacts to which valuable information can be extracted to create new learning that builds lasting knowledge applicable to a diverse number of circumstances. Connectivism in my illustration is represented by the championship trophy. Championships are birthed when multiple nodes and networks of information about the sport can come together. A key feature of conenctivism is that information is always evolving and thus to learn you must know how to make connections with the evolvement of information. Team strategies and workouts are always changing based on course conditions, quality of equipment, educational studies, and other nodes of information. 

References

Burt, R. (2011, June 14). Step 1: What is a PLN? Retrieved June 29, 2015, from http://teacherchallenge.edublogs.org/pln-challenge-1-what-the-heck-is-a-pln/

Eckert, P. (2006). Communities of Practice. In Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics. Retrieved June 30, 2015, from http://web.stanford.edu/~eckert/PDF/eckert2006.pdf

Mark Granovetter, 1983. “The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited,” Sociological Theory, volume 1, pp. 201–233.

Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A Learning Theory for the Digital Age. Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning. Retrieved June 30, 2015, from Journal of Instructional Technology and Distance Learning.

Wenger, E. (2009). Communities of Practice. Information Science and Knowledge Management. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-85424-1