article+-+social+networking

Social networking: A new tool allowed in the classroom

Twitter, YouTube boost lessons, communication

By Antoinette Konz • akonz@courier-journal.com • March 7, 2010

After spending the day practicing cursive writing and discussing how money  moves through a community, Mike Ice's second-graders at Dunn Elementary took out their notebooks and described what they'd learned — in 140 characters or fewer.

Then he selected a few students to type their abbreviated reports on the classroom's Twitter page — so that all the parents following their progress would receive a “tweet” about their day.

“We did cursive morning work, it was the letter ‘D',” wrote Jenna Sexton, 8.

Updating the classroom's Twitter  page has become a daily practice for Ice's students.

“I was looking for a way to communicate with parents in a way that was in real time,” Ice said o f his decision to use the microblogging site. “It's just one more way to show them what their children are doing each day.”

Social networking is a practice that Jefferson County Public Schools has only recently begun to embrace. Until just a couple of weeks ago, the district had blocked such sites as Twitter and Facebook because of the district's participation in the federal Children's Internet Protection Act, which addresses concerns about access to potentially offensive content over the Internet on school and library computers.

But now, JCPS and other nearby districts, including Oldham and Bullitt, are allowing teachers to use some social-media sites such as YouTube and Twitter to enhance their lessons.

“Based on the Children's Internet Protection Act, we are being very cautious with allowing access to these sites,” said Bo Lowrey, director of telecommunications for JCPS. “We are able to monitor everyone's use on these sites.”

A new tool for communication

District officials say the educational benefits — such as better communication and improved instruction — are proving social media to be more than just a distraction.

“We have examples of classroom teachers that have used YouTube to explain different concepts to their students,” Lowrey said.

Facebook may be unblocked next, he said, so teachers and staff can use that site to communicate with parents and the community.

Officials in Bullitt and Oldham counties have also unblocked some social-networking sites for teachers.

“We currently block Facebook for staff and students. Twitter is blocked for students but is not blocked for staff members,” said Jim Jackson, the technology  coordinator for Bullitt County Schools. “We have several teachers that are using Twitter instructionally, which is why we unblocked it.”

In Oldham County, the district blocks Facebook, MySpace and Twitter for students, but not staff, said Rick McHargue, an assistant superintendent.

Schools in the Archdiocese of Louisville, in general, block social-media sites on computers, said Cecelia Price, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese.

More  and more school districts across the state and the country are turning to social-networking sites to communicate with parents.

Kentucky Education Commissioner Terry Holliday has a Twitter account and tweets regularly about things going on at the Education Department and the places he's visited.

“I like it because you can provide instant news and information about what is going on in the education world,” Holliday said. “I also think it's a great resource for teachers.”

In Lexington, officials with Fayette County Schools have set up both a Twitter account <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; left: 0px; line-height: 1.2; position: relative;"> and Facebook page.

“We are using both sites as yet another way of communicating with our parents and our community,” said Fayette County Schools Superintendent Stu Silverman.

“With the Facebook page, we try to respond to every question that comes up. A parent can get o n the site, ask a question and get a response.”

Silverman also has his own Twitter account, where he tweets about interesting things going on in the district or links important education- related articles.

Fayette County's Facebook page has more than 7,000 fans; its Twitter account has almost 400 followers.

“We saw a large increase in fans when we had all the bad weather about a month ago,” Silverman said. “Parents discovered that they could find out directly if school was going to be canceled or delayed, and the numbers really skyrocketed.”

He said there was some initial resistance within the district to jumping into the social- networking scene.

“But so far, it's been a great communications tool,” he said. “We see this as a service to our parents and our community. The whole social- networking thing is part of a whole new world out there, and it's important that we became involved with it.”JCPS officials say they are studying the possibility of creating a district Twitter account and Facebook page, said Lauren Roberts, a spokeswoman for the district.Jennifer Hughes, a parent of three children in JCPS, said she hopes the district signs up for the social- networking sites.

“I check my Facebook page more than I check my <span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; left: 0px; line-height: 1.2; position: relative;">e-mail,” said Hughes, 37. “It would be wonderful if I was able to get news or information about the schools directly from the district on my Facebook page.”

Hughes added that more and more parents she knows are signing up for Twitter and Facebook.

“It's become the new, fast way of communicating with others,” she said.

Some schools, like Iroquois High and Roosevelt- Perry Elementary, have already set up Twitter accounts.

“I am interested in finding any possible avenue to connect the events of our school to our students, their parents and our community,” said Iroquois principal Joey Riddle. “I try to update it several times a week with updates on testing, sporting events or other activities. It's just another way of getting the word out.”

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold; left: 0px; line-height: 1.19; position: relative;">Professional development

<span style="color: #000000; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; left: 0px; line-height: 1.2; position: relative;">Reaching out to parents and community members is not the only thing that Twitter and Facebook are being used for in schools.

Many teachers are using Twitter as a way to share resources and provide quick support and feedback to peers with similar interests.

Angela Cunningham, a civics teacher at Bullitt Central High School, has been on Twitter for the past 18 months and has more than 1,000 followers. She said she's used it to connect with and seek advice from people who have “written books or were educational celebrities.”

“I tell people all the time that it's the best professional development I've ever done,” she said.

“Once I started getting into it, I started talking about daily lesson plans or ideas I was thinking about trying in class. I get to run those ideas or