Sunday, August 16, 2015

Social Media in Schools: Why Not?


Presentation on Social Media in Schools


Many people have asked for information following the "Social Media in Schools" session that Marialice Curran and lead for an educational event, EdCampCT.

Given, I used the Periscope app to livestream the session and archived the stream, I'm able to share out the video and texted in comments.

Beside face-to-face attendees, about 125 people watched and interacted virtually. We projected the live broadcast (using Apple TV) for in-person attendees who didn't have a chance to download the Periscope app.


Session Questions

Prior to the session, we tweeted discussion questions:






Replay of Periscope "Social Media in Schools"

To find the replay of the Periscope on Katch.em, click on image.

http://katch.me/JudyArzt/v/c2d805d1-d01f-3918-9b93-7e3dc1679d85

Here are two screen captures from the broadcast showing a few text comments. 




Additional Resources About Periscope

For the session, I shared in Google Document prior blog posts I wrote abut the app.


1)  “Around the World in 24 Hours with Periscope” on Integrating Technology and Literacy Blog :http://buff.ly/1EqoF2F




“Blabbing about Periscope with Colleagues” on Technology for Learning: Blog



For more information, contact me on Twitter at @JudyArzt, and try the Twitter hashtags #PeriscopeEDU and #PeriscopeTeachers. 

Follow-up Discussion 

We had a lively discussion of educational applications of the Periscope app and came up with these ideas.
  • Virtual field trips
  • Mystery Locations (comparable to Mystery Skypes or Mystery Google Hangouts)
  • Bringing experts into the classroom such as National Park Rangers, NASA astronauts, weather reporters, and authors 
  • Immediate access to breaking news stories 
  • Cultural tours from places around the world
  • Class cultural and geography exchanges
  • Access to hearing world languages and reading comments texted in the languages
  • Watching an artist or scientist at work
  • Attending professional events (as we modeled by Periscoping our session)
  • Doing Periscope Chats instead of Twitter chats (as some educators have already done)
With app being new (released in late March 2015 with updates since), educators will continue to seek ways to use it. For use in K-12 classrooms, we suggested broadcasters set the stream so only specified viewers can join. 

Other Thoughts

What are your views on the use of social media in schools?
What social media do you find effective for school use?
Would you use an app like Periscope in school, and if so, how?