Table of Contents
About the Authors vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xxi
Part I Social Media and Its Potential for Schools 1
1 An Introduction to Social Media Technology and Its Potential for Schools 3
What Is Social Media? And What Isn't? 4
The Cell Phone as a Barometer of Change 5
From Broadcast Messages to Social Network Conversation 7
News-and Calls for Help-Travel Fast 9
Other Audiences 12
Cloud Computing 13
The Social Media Landscape 15
Part II Social Media and School Safety 17
2 Concerns and Benefits 19
Concerns About Social Networking 19
Social-Media House Parties or Ragers 20
Flash Mobs 20
Cyberbullying 20
What Schools Can Do 20
Benefits of Social Media 23
Instructional Applications 24
The Bottom Line 25
3 Student Safety Issues 26
Social Media as a Form of Expression 26
Use of Cell Phones, Email, and Internet 27
Cyberbullying 27
Who Cyberbullies? Who Is Bullied? 28
What Schools Can Do 29
Legal Considerations 30
Policy Considerations 31
The Educational Response 32
What Parents Can Do 33
Sexting 34
What Schools Can Do 35
Creating Effective Policies 36
Supporting Parents 37
The Bottom Line 37
4 Encouraging Responsible Student Use of Social Media 39
Digital Footprints 39
Online Safety 41
Parents and Families 42
Teachers and Other School Employees 44
The Bottom Line 45
5 Social Media and School Safety 46
Principals 46
Teachers 47
Students 48
Parents and the Community 48
Comprehensive Planning 48
Mitigation and Prevention 48
Preparedness 49
Planning Guides and Resources 50
The Bottom Line 52
6 Social Media and a Crisis Response 53
School Crises 53
Principles of Crisis Response 54
Responding to a Crisis 57
Communicating with Families 58
Controlling the Message 59
Dealing with Rumors Spawned by Social Media 59
Reputation Management 60
Crisis Resources 60
The Bottom Line 61
7 Developing Acceptable-Use Policies 63
Students and the Internet 63
Teachers and the Internet 64
A Policy for Employees 65
Considerations for Developing an Acceptable-Use Policy 66
Legal Considerations 67
Policy Considerations 67
Educational Considerations 67
Getting Started on Developing a Policy 67
Steps for Developing an Acceptable-Use Policy 68
Sample Social Media Guidelines 69
The Bottom Line 70
Part III Social Media and School Management 71
8 Social Media and School Leadership 73
Trends Impacting School Leaders 73
A New Culture and a Shift in Power 75
Leadership Skills for a New Environment 75
The Changing Teacher Workforce 76
Strategies for Supporting Gen Y Teachers 76
The Bottom Line 79
9 Tools for Communication 80
Your School Website 80
Blogs 83
Why a Facebook Presence? 84
Twitter 85
Online Translation 87
YouTube and Flickr 87
Social Media as an Advocacy Tool 88
Elevator Talks 89
Challenges When Using Social Media for Communication 90
The Bottom Line 91
10 Tools for Productivity 92
Managing Time 92
Coordinating Multiple Calendars 92
Scheduling Meetings 93
Staying Informed and Up to Date 93
RSS 93
Enhancing Collaboration on Planning and Projects 94
Wikis 94
Mamtaining Meeting Records 97
Sharing Documents 97
Building Connections 98
LinkedIn 98
Your Personal Learning Network 99
The Bottom Line 100
11 Tools for Professional Growth 102
A New Approach to Professional Development 102
Professional Development Tools 102
Online Learning 103
Moodle 104
Podcasts 104
Webinars 105
edWeb.net 106
Professional Development Strategies 106
Professional Learning Communities or Teams 106
Professional Learning Networks 107
Book Study Groups 107
Looking at Student Work 108
Learning Walks (a.k.a. Walkthroughs) 109
Lesson Study 109
The Bottom Line 110
Part IV Social Media for Enhancing Learning 111
12 Twenty-First Century Knowledge, Skills, and Curricula 113
Globalization-It's Everywhere 113
Teach to the Test? What Test? 115
Essential Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes 116
Digital-Age Literacies 117
Inventive Thinking 117
Effective Communication 118
High Productivity 118
Technology Standards for Students 119
Key Steps for Changing Curriculum 121
Leadership Demands 122
Curricula for the Twenty-First Century 122
New Tools, New Tasks 123
13 Twenty-First Century Learners 126
What Students Want from School 126
Attention Economy 127
Attention Grabbers 128
Micro-Generations 130
Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants 131
Digital Native and Digital Immigrant Learners 133
A New Pedagogy for Twenty-First Century Learners 134
New Roles for New Pedagogies 135
Student Roles 136
Teacher Roles 136
Peer Roles 137
Parent Roles 137
Leader Roles 139
The Bottom Line 140
14 Social Media, Digital Technology, and Twenty-First Century Teachers 142
Social Media Technology Is Here to Stay 144
From Here to There 145
Standards for Teachers 145
A Taxonomy of Technology Integration 146
Getting Started 146
Assess Capacity and Get Help 149
Let me Training Begin 150
Continuing Education 150
Providing Individualized Resources 151
RSS: Finding Really Simple Stuff 152
Even More 152
15 Instructional Leadership for Integrating Digital Social Media in Twenty-First Century Schools 154
How an Innovation Gets Adopted 155
But What About Me? 155
CBAM! 156
Leadership Strategies 158
Begin with a Plan 159
Technology Integration Plans 159
Strategic Plans 160
Win Early, Win Often 161
Watch One, Do One, and Teach One 162
Lead by Learning 163
Show Up 163
Raise the Stakes and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is 164
Empower Others 165
Changing Attitudes 166
Three Strategic Approaches 166
Critics and Resistors 168
But Suppose It Doesn't? 170
The Bottom Line 171
16 Working with Twenty-First Century Tools 173
Web 2.0 174
Web Pages 175
Blogs 176
Wikis 178
Podcasts 180
RSS Feeds and Aggregators 181
Social Networking 182
Facebook and Ning 182
Twitter 184
Edmodo 184
Photo and Video Sharing 184
Video Conferencing 186
Productivity 188
New Challenges for School Leaders 189
17 Gaming and Simulation as Instructional Tools 191
MMOGs 192
MMOGs Now 192
Role-Playing 193
Mini Games and Complex Games 194
Games and Education 195
Major Players in Education Gaming 196
Simulations 198
Roadblocks and Resistance 199
The Bottom Line 200
Part V Future Trends 203
18 Future Trends in Social Media Technology and Digital Literacy 205
Convergence 206
Portability 206
App-Based 207
Open-Source 207
Mashups 208
Creative Commons 208
Cloud Computing 209
Staying Current 209
Staying Current 2.0 211
A Final Word 212
Resources 215
Sample Games and Gaming Sources 215
Resources for Leaders 216
Appendix: Tools by Type 217
References 221