Leading Future Learning 2016

Social Media: An Empowering Tool for Educators

In today’s world students are saturated with social media. Their parents are on it. Their siblings are on it. Some of them use it. Many have their own YouTube channels. Rather than fear students using these sites I say embrace them and teach students how to use them by modeling best practices starting at the elementary level. Digital citizenship is a challenging skill for educators to teach. However our youngest students need to develop these skills since social media is swiftly becoming an engaging learning and teaching tool in education. It is also a wonderful way to build your classroom community and connect with parents.

I created a classroom social media policy and hashtags for each student. We use Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook to share our learning with the global community we have connected with. We have also been exploring padlet as a learning tool. This session will show educators various ways to incorporate digital citizenship skills into lessons using social media. Educators will be encouraged to create their own accounts on sites and explore their district social media policy. They will learn about the Global Read Aloud, instagram scavenger hunts, an exciting way to do literature circles for 21st century learning, and how to use various social media sites to impact learners. We will also share best practices and discuss strategize hurdles that might get in our way. Curriculum drives instruction and technology tools. Why not seek ways to empower learners with the tools they are using every day?

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