Teacher’s Social Media YouTube Video Goes Viral

Created by Michael Wesch of Kansas State University, the following video (which has been viewed several million times) is both art and idea mixed in one. Titled The Machine is Us/ing Us, the video not only demonstrates how the Internet and Web 2.0 has evolved over the years, but how we are continuing to use these new tools and technologies to create, share and collaboate with people around the world. 

As is common with much of Michael Wesch’s work, the video does not attempt to provide an answer, but instead, to ask some really good questions. 

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Free Webinar On March 23 About Effective Social Media Techniques for Schools

If you are interested in learning more about social media in the education system, be sure to register for the free webinar taking place on Monday, March 23rd at finalsite.com.

The webinar, which is an obvious marketing pitch for finalsite’s web software products and services, is likely to feature a number of great tips and suggestions for integrating social media into your local school. 

The webinar is scheduled to run from 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time and will feature Rob DiMartino, Director of Business Development at finalsite, and Richard Martin, Executive Director of Tennessee Association of Independent Schools. They’ll be talking with Lorrie Jackson, Director of Marketing & Communications at Lausanne Collegiate School and asking her about her school’s approach to social media.

To register for the event, simply head over to: http://tinyurl.com/c54pt7

Florida And Alaska School Districts Use Twitter To Communicate With Parents

This is how you do it people! 

Two school districts on opposite ends of the country have introduced Twitter to their arsenal of communication tools. 

Broward County Public School in Fort Lauderdale, Flordia and Anchorage School District in Anchorage, Alaska have both signed up for Twitter’s social media messaging site to post updates, called “tweets”, that are then sent out to parents, teachers, students and staff within the district. 

“This provides the district an additional method to deliver information expediently and directly to students, parents, and the community,” said the Florida district. “Twitter supplements the district’s current communications vehicles, which include parent link phone messages, e-mails, the district’s Web site, BECON-TV, and the parent newsletter.”

This is important to note: The school isn’t looking at Twitter as the single solution to their communication problems. Instead, it is simply one tool in their line up of communication efforts.

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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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The Social Media School Teacher

The following is an article from Chris Brogan, highlighting some of the possibilities of the new education system as we move forward with the introduction of the Internet and social media technologies in the classroom. 

Dharmesh wakes up a little late. After a quick shower, he skips checking email, but goes right to his RSS reader to see updates of where the students worked within the social network. Luckily, Ning (and lots of services) send new activities out via RSS, so they’re easy to track.

It looks like Margarite has added more YouTube videos to the video section, and Franklin has written a blog post about the town’s historic water cooler. Jeremy has already commented that Franklin forgot to cite a source, saving Dharmesh the effort. He eats a breakfast bar, and hops in his car for the commute to work.

On his iPod, Dharmesh listens to last week’s book reports read out by the students. The quality of their work has improved a great deal since switching to the audio requirement. The second report, by Kelly, is a little loud and the audio clips a bit. Dharmesh makes a mental note to show Kelly how to level the audio in Audacity.

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