Presentation

When anyone mentions public schools and social media, it is always almost negative. Mentioning it leads to topics on inappropriate behavior and cyber-bullying. While these problems can occur, the possibility of them happening can be minimized with proper instruction on net etiquette.The sooner students are introduced to social media, the better equipped they will be handle such situations. Convincing teachers and administrators to allow the use of blogs will be no easy task. It is imperative that in a world ruled by social networking, the faculty does not turn a blind eye to the topic. Schools that are becoming proactive with web 2.0 tools and are feeding the natural curiosity that elementary students have toward technology. Some schools are introducing social media as early as first grade. Facebook and Twitter may be considered for letter words by some, but Kidblog is new. Kidblog is private, and the structure that allows commenting can be limited to a smaller social circle and not exposed to the world. The contained environment can be controlled and provides a safe way to use online tools in the classroom. I toyed around with voicethread, and prezi for this presentation, but eventually relied on Google presentation. To convince the faculty, Slide two starts out by explaining what is a blog. I cant assume everyone knows. Slide three and four mentions what blogs accomplish, how it encourages creative writing, boosts confidence, and helps generate idea from student comments, an aspect of social media. Slide five presents my audience with some quoted text about how the quality of writing improves when students blog, and how it is connected to literacy in slide six. After this, mentioning the positive aspects a second time in slide seven emphasizes the point. If teachers need ideas, slide eight gives them some. Slide nine is important because it connects blogging to NYS ELA Common Core Standards for Writing K-5 and the National Educational Technology Standards. Slide ten mentions how students will use social networks with or without permission, and it would be more effective if they used these tools with guidance. Slide eleven brings up the concern of safety and how incorporating the right tools will allow faculty to teach larger lessons. It also includes protocols for incorporating the use of blogs. Slide twelve wraps up the presentation, and answers the question posed on slide one, “Should our students be blogging?” media type="custom" key="20504546" align="center"