Building Connections Safely through Social Networking Preparing Future Ready Kids Renee Allen and Penny Notarnicola Western Suffolk BOCES Engage Me What is Social Networking? What is a PLN? Why Should Educators Use Social Networking and PLNs? Paul Butler, an intern at Facebooks Date Engineering Department plotted out the lines of Facebook connections using Latitude and Longitude. The result is an interesting representation of the world. With over half a billion people using Facebook! It seems to me to be a decent generalization of where the internet connections are in the world. The Web has come a long way in the last few years. Kids are using the web for everything, in 60 seconds kids under the age of 17 have.... sent 98,000+ Tweets made 370,000+ voice calls made 695,000+ status updates performed 694,445 search queries sent 168 Millions made over 1,500 Blog posts What are kids doing on the web? Sadly, the classroom has not changed with the world What's Next? Can Teachers and Students be safe using Social Networks in school? Jillian likes to visit a web site where kids can post messages about their favorite TV shows, school, and current events. She really likes the kid who uses the screen name JBlove1. When Jillian shares a problem she has at school, JBlove1 always has a good idea for handling the problem. Jillian thinks of JBlove1 as a friend. Lets arm our kids with the safety skills they need to be safe on Social Networking sites One day, while messaging, JBlove1 and Jillian compare their two schools. Jillian types, 'My school is so strict. We have to walk through the halls in straight lines!' JBlove1 answers, 'My school isn't so strict. What is the name of your school?' Jillian types back, 'Uh, my schools name is to hard to spell.' JBlove1 types, 'so where is your school?' What should Jillian answer? Information That Should Not be Shared Full name Street address Name of School Name of sports teams at schooladdress Phone numbers Passwords Parent names Parent work place Photos Complete birth date Explore social networking sites. This is an important recommendation because most often we tend to condemn something without really understanding it. Consider social networking for staff communication and professional development. This could well help achieve the previous point as well. It will also serve to integrate students and staff in the networking space. Find ways of harnessing the educational value of social networking. This is a seemingly motherhood statement, but it could be worthwhile for teachers to consciously think of projects and assignments to be executed through networking approaches. What can teachers and administrators do? Ensure equitable access. An obvious point, strengthen the access mechanisms for students to technology. Pay attention to nonconformists. Nonconformistsstudents who step outside of online safety and behavior rulesare on the cutting edge of social networking, with online behaviors and skills that indicate leadership among their peers. Reexamine social networking policies. Another obvious point, come at social networking as an integral component of the education process, not as a diversion.g-and-Connecting.pdf What Can Parents Do? Become aware of how children are using social networking Educate children about online safety Make sure children have strictest safety settings enabled It's not always predators we need to be concerned with Have you heard of Social Media Marketing? From a discussion board posting on Meta Filter What types of information do marketers want? Demographic information Age Location Purchasing history Income level Sex Adults can make errors in judgment as well... A New Jersey administrative law judge has ruled that a first-grade teacher who wrote that she was a "warden for future criminals" on Facebook earlier this year should lose her tenured job. Associated Press, November 9, TE=NYPLA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Know Your Settings!! Who can see your posts? Your superintendent, your principal, your colleagues, your parent or how about your child or the children you are teaching Who can see your photos? Who can see photos others post of you? Now its time to grow your PLN Facebook Twitter Blogs Xanga LinkedIn Ning http://edupln.ning.com/http://edupln.ning.com/ Social bookmarking Digg, StumbleUpon 350 Social Networking Sites You can be safe and your students can be safe Resources and helpful sites Our presentation at your fingertips