Social Media & Professional Collaboration? Yes!

Baxter, Ailene M. (2014). Social media fosters professional learning and collaboration. Learning & Leading With Technology, 41(7), 36-38.

While school districts are cautious about wading into the waters of social media, they can use technology as a tool--both online and offline. A Washington-based principal took part in Paul Allen’s Success at the Core program, which is a scaffolded, free, and easy-to-use documentary series made for teachers by real teachers. Through staff collaboration, teachers are strategizing ways to use social media appropriately in the classroom to improve instruction because, “online tools and social media are only as good as the time and attention you personally invest in them” (Baxter, 38).

I think many teachers are aware that the face of technology is changing all the time, and are struggling to keep up with all of it on top of the million other things they have going on. However, this article mentioned a day where students were released from school early so that the staff could meet and collaborate. My opinion is that if you want the technology to be successful, there needs to be collaboration and communication on multiple levels: from learning teams, to content area, to administrators, to students--if we are aiming for clear instructional goals.