Entering The Classroom

            Having spent the better part of two years developing the ideas featured in this blog’s first entry, future posts will reflect analysis of student interaction in the SMLP on a weekly basis. Frequent evaluations of the program’s development become necessary because the SMLP’s proposal will be introduced to students in the classroom for the first time. Medford High School’s guidance department is sponsoring a lecture series that will feature a presentation promoting collaborative interaction on official, school administered Social Media platforms. Data produced on these platforms will be the focus of what’s to come.
           
            This presentation attempts to put the development of social media into an academic context that grade 9-12 students can relate to. The histories of social media and primary education will be compared to show how their relationship can be mutually beneficial. To begin, the term “social media” is defined so all involved can share a common understanding. Definitions and examples of social networking, blogs, digital publishing sites, wikis, podcasts, and cloud computing are all somewhat familiar to those who interact with social media but most cannot communicate their perspective to others because they never had to. After establishing this shared vocabulary, students will be told how institutions other than schools have been utilizing social media as a tool to communicate information. Demonstrating that corporations, government, NGOs, and grassroots organizers have already invested significant resources in social media campaigns will show how what most consider to be personal use is really a part of a larger social influence. This is when the presentation will transition to its second part which focuses on education’s role in understanding social media.

            A ten minute video will be shown which details how schools have developed up to this point. It is an illustrated lecture by Sir Ken Robinson, an English scholar who advises educational development around the world. Titled “Changing Education Paradigms” the video can be found on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch) and puts forth modern educational concepts that incentivize collaborative learning in an effort to equitably foster scholastic innovation. The message is that schools today are struggling to realize their potential and must welcome change.

            The third and final part of the presentation will show how social media can play a role in making changes at Medford High School. An effort to engage with students using social media in the same way that other institutions have been doing for years is necessary if academic interests are to fully embrace technology. The scope of this appears overwhelming but small first steps, like the creating official MHS Facebook and Twitter accounts, are appropriate for establishing a relationship with students. This along with blogs and wikis already in use by teachers on campus can enable students and faculty to begin having meaningful educational correspondence on-line. The parameters for this interaction will be evaluated using the NEST criteria designed to foster innovation. Explaining this will be the conclusion of the presentation and the floor will be opened for student questions. The question of how this presentation affects student conduct on Medford High School’s official Social Media platforms will be answered over the following weeks.