Tech Tuesday-Creating and Connecting

Humans are social beings. We naturally want to talk, share, and connect with others. I believe this is part of the reason that social media has become such a huge part of our society. It appears that social media isn’t going to be going away anytime soon, so love it or hate it, using social media is a skill that our students will likely need in their futures. If you teach high school or middle school, your students probably have accounts on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. so teaching them responsible ways to use these platforms doesn’t seem outlandish.

But what if you teach in an elementary school? These students cannot lawfully have a social media account since they are under the age of 13. Eventually these students will need to have the skills to successfully navigate social media, so how can we start preparing them at a young age? Fortunately in the last few years platforms have emerged to help teachers tackle this task. Tools like Seesaw, Flipgrid, and Padlet have designed safe, kid friendly platforms where students can safely share their ideas and their work while practicing their online communication skills that will be essential in their futures. (Note: just because the legal terms of a product say they cannot use it, some adolescents with or without the consent of their parents choose to create and use an account anyway.)

 

This begs the question, is it the responsibility of our schools to teach children this skill? In my opinion, YES! Just like we teach character education, I believe that teaching these skills will not only positively impact our students long after they have left our buildings, but it fits with what we know about best practices. It is a well known fact that students learning by doing. If they can explain a concept in their own words and in their own way, then we know they have truly learned it. I love this quote from Janelle Bence:

Authentic learning is not demonstrated by a worksheet that’s turned into a teacher. That may be more appropriate to indicate progress in a particular more isolated skill. Real learning, however, is manifested in learner creations that are published for consumption by a wider audience.

Bence, J. (2016, May 17). The benefits of sharing student work in online spaces. In KQED Education. Retrieved February 7, 2018, from https://ww2.kqed.org/education/2016/05/17/the-benefits-of-sharing-student-work-in-online-spaces/

So with the idea that using social media is a life skill, and true learning requires more than just worksheet completion, where do we begin? Lucky for us, some very talented and creative educators have come up with ideas on how to combine the content and skills they are already teaching with the posting, sharing and connecting that students want and need to practice.

Book Talk

A book talk proves you read the book and encourages others to read it. Think about it like a commercial for the book, you want to entice others to read it without giving away the ending or any surprises.

What tools can students use?

Flipgrid-example
Seesaw-record a selfie video

Book Review

A book review is very similar to a book talk, but your ideas are communicated in writing rather than speaking. Short and simple is the key! You want to summarize the book and get others excited to read it without spoiling the ending.

What tools can student use?

Padlet-example
Seesaw-Activity
Google Classroom-Question

Book Trailer-Tony Vincent (@tonyvincent)

A book trailer is a commercial for a book, just like a movie trailer it creates excitement around the story using images, music, and purposefully selected words and phrases. Book trailers are intended to be short and exciting for the viewer.

What tools can students use?

iMovie-share on Seesaw or Flipgrid
WeVideo-share on Seesaw or Flipgrid
Planning Sheet

Book Snaps-Tara Martin (@TaraMartinEDU)

A book snap is a picture of a page in a book that a student found interesting, insightful, or stuck out to them for any reason. Students use a digital tool to annotate and share their thinking about what they read and share it with others.

What tools can students use?

Seesaw-activity option 1, activity option 2, activity option 3, activity option 4
Pic Collage EDU-Share on Seesaw or Padlet
Google Drawings-Share on Seesaw or Padlet
Google Slides-Share on Seesaw or Padlet

How can you get your students creating, connecting, and socializing in a positive way?

Feel free to comment below or reach out with any questions or suggestions.