Today’s Students – A Vision Of The Future

Today’s students don’t learn, act, or live the way students of the past did. They watch more TV, read fewer books, interact with people around the world on a daily basis, and come out of college with an average of $20,000 in debt.

Many believe that our education system is antiquated, and that the rapid growth of the Internet and social media sites like Facebook are finally making some educators realize just how much our education system needs a massive overhaul. 

To get a better idea of what today’s students lives are like, watch the video below:

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Summarizing The FinalSite Social Media Webinar

On Monday I attended the FinalSite webinar where Lorrie Jackson and Rob DiMartino shared how the Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tennessee are using social media to keep parents, teachers and students informed about school events. 

The webinar began with a PowerPoint presentation by Ms. Jackson, the Director of Marketing & Communications at Lausanne, who spent much of the time discussing the use of Facebook as a communication tool between the school administration and the school community.

The following are just some of the highlights from the FinalSite event: 

Interact With Your Community Where They Already Interact

Ms. Jackson urged educators to start participating in social media because the parents, teachers and students are already using social media to interact with one another. In the past schools had to search out their communities, market to them, and pull them together. But with social media, this all happens for you… almost automatically!

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What Is Social Networking?

In our last video post we answered the question, “What Is Social Media?” But today we’re going to discuss the term “Social Networking” and how it relates to you and your school. 

And once again, we’re going to use an easy-to-understand video made by the good folks at Common Craft to explain exactly what social networking is. So sit back and enjoy! 

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The Advantages Of Being On Facebook

There are a number of good reasons for a school district with good intentions to use Facebook. While I will cover some of these advantages in the paragraphs below, I suspect that as Facebook, the Internet and the online world evolve over the months and years to come, the list of advantages I’ve provided here will continue to grow and grow.

That being said, the biggest advantage of getting your school district on Facebook right away is that by joining Facebook, you will be able to instantly reach your community in a place that they are already actively participanting.

Whether you want to believe it or not, many of your students, parents, teachers, staff and community members are already on Facebook and look to the site as a valuable source of information and insight into the people and organizations that they deem important. By joining these people where they already communicate and interact, you are able to quickly and easily join the discussion and get your message out to the people who need and want it most.

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Misconceptions About Facebook And Social Media

There is a notion amongst many individuals that Facebook (or any other social media website for that matter) is designed primarily for kids… and that the only people that use social media websites are teenagers and young adults. But this simply isn’t the case and if that’s what you’ve heard, you’ve been severely misinformed!

Individuals, businesses and organizations of all shapes, sizes, ages and backgrounds are using Facebook to connect with and lead the people they are trying to influence. Author Seth Godin, wine entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and even the actress Demi Moore have jumped on the social media bandwagon and are using these new online tools to connect with and inspire their community.

Another misconception some have about Facebook and other social media websites is that they are used primarily for the sharing of pornographic or ill natured information that may offend and frighten off new users. But if this is what you’ve heard, you’ve again been given false information.  

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What Is Social Media?

You might be thinking to yourself, “What exactly is social media?”

Well, that’s a good question. And it would be crazy to run a website about integrating the Internet and social media technology into our education systems and not actually tackle this question. 

Lucky for is, there’s a company called Common Craft who has produced a short, educational video that answers this question for us. 

So rather than try and explain the ins and outs of a seemingly complicated subject matter, just sit back and watch this down-to-earth explaination of how social media works. 

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