SOCIAL MEDIA FOR ADMINISTRATORS

SOCIAL MEDIA BASICS – DEFINITION…

• SOCIAL MEDIA REFERS TO INTERACTION AMONG PEOPLE IN WHICH THEY CREATE, SHARE, AND/OR EXCHANGE INFORMATION AND IDEAS IN VIRTUAL COMMUNITIES AND NETWORKS.[1] ANDREAS KAPLAN AND MICHAEL HAENLEIN DEFINE SOCIAL MEDIA AS "A GROUP OF INTERNET-BASED APPLICATIONS THAT BUILD ON THE IDEOLOGICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF WEB 2.0, AND THAT ALLOW THE CREATION AND EXCHANGE OF USER-GENERATED CONTENT."[2] FURTHERMORE, SOCIAL MEDIA DEPEND ON MOBILE AND WEB-BASED TECHNOLOGIES TO CREATE HIGHLY INTERACTIVE PLATFORMS THROUGH WHICH INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES SHARE, CO-CREATE, DISCUSS, AND MODIFY USER-GENERATED CONTENT. THEY INTRODUCE SUBSTANTIAL AND PERVASIVE CHANGES TO COMMUNICATION BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS, COMMUNITIES, AND INDIVIDUALS.[3]

SOCIAL MEDIA BASICS – APPLICATIONS…

• TWITTER

• BLOGS

• FACEBOOK

• SNAPCHAT

• …AND A THOUSAND OTHERS…

• THE COMMON THREAD…CONNECTING WITH OTHERS WHETHER IT INVOLVES TEXT, PICTURES, SOUNDS, VIDEO (OR ALL OF THEM COMBINED)

SOCIAL MEDIA BASICS – PURPOSE…

• PLN

• CREATING A NETWORK OF LEARNERS TO SHARE WITH – IS THIS THE “NEW PRO-D?”

• SHARING AND CO-CREATING KNOWLEDGE (E.G. EDCAMPS)

• IT’S NO LONGER JUST “WHAT” YOU KNOW…IT’S ALSO “WHO” YOU KNOW AND “HOW FAST” YOU CAN FIND AN “ANSWER/SOLUTION”.

• BUILDING COMMUNITY

• CREATING CLOSER, MORE DIRECT CONNECTIONS

• OPENING A MORE TRANSPARENT MODE OF COMMUNICATION

• BUILDING PERSONAL AWARENESS

• SOCIAL MEDIA IS NOT GOING AWAY.

• THERE ARE BENEFITS TO BE HAD

• THERE ARE CONCERNS TO BE AWARE OF

SOCIAL MEDIA BASICS – DEFINITIONS…

• HASHTAG

• THIS IS HOW WE “ORGANIZE” DISCUSSIONS USING TWITTER. FOR EXAMPLE, IF WE WANTED TO “TWEET” DURING THIS WORKSHOP WE COULD TYPE THE FOLLOWING HASHTAG AT THE END OF EACH TWEET: #BPVP14

• PARTICIPANTS COULD THEN FILTER THEIR FEED FOR THE HASHTAG #BPVP14 AND SEE ONLY (OR MOSTLY) TWEETS RELATED TO THIS WORKSHOP.

SOCIAL MEDIA…WHY?

• THE “WHY” WILL VARY DEPENDING ON YOUR PERSPECTIVE AND CONTEXT.

• CONSIDER DAVID PRICE’S “OPEN”. HE PREDICTS A WORLD THAT IS TRANSITIONING (OR IS) TOWARDS BEING SOFT (SHARE, OPEN, FREE & TRUST)

• SHARING LEADS TO COLLABORATION, & THAT ONLINE COLLABORATION WILL LEAD TO COLLABORATIVE ACTION. TOGETHER IS BETTER.

• OPEN – OPENING UP THE INNER WORKINGS OF GOVERNMENTS, FLATTENING COMPANY HIERARCHIES & WORKING WITH “FRENEMIES”. OPEN INFORMATION, OPEN SYSTEMS

• FREE – THINK GOOGLE AND WHAT THEY’VE ACCOMPLISHED BY ALLOWING “FREE” ACCESS TO ALMOST ALL THEIR TOOLS.

• TRUST – THE PREVIOUS THREE VALUES & ACTIONS RELY UPON THE FOURTH (TRUST).

• CAN SOCIAL MEDIA INCREASE TRUST?

SOCIAL MEDIA…WHY?

• IF DAVID PRICE IS CORRECT (AND THAT’S STILL “IF”)…THEN

• SOCIAL MEDIA WILL NOT BE AN OPTION – IT WILL BE AN EXPECTATION

• EVERYONE (PRINCIPALS, TEACHERS, STUDENTS, PARENTS, COMMUNITY MEMBERS, ETC.) WILL EXPECT GREATER LEVELS OF COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

• ALREADY WE ARE FEELING PRESSURES TO ALLOW CELL PHONES INTO CLASSROOMS.

• TEACHERS (AND STUDENTS) ARE ASKING FOR GREATER ACCESS TO SITES LIKE YOUTUBE

• A FEW YEARS AGO, HARDLY ANYONE NEW THAT SOME SCHOOLS HAD WIRELESS INTERNET…NOW WE’RE SHOCKED TO HEAR THAT IT’S DOWN OR RESPONDING SLOWLY.

PROS & CONS

• EVERYTHING IS PUBLIC! (WELL ALMOST…AND THAT’S BOTH GOOD & BAD AT THE SAME TIME).

• BLOGS CAN HELP YOU TELL YOUR STORY (BEFORE OTHERS DO IT FOR YOU). CONSIDER USING THIS FORUM FOR YOUR “PRINCIPAL’S UPDATE”.

• TEACHERS ARE USING BLOGS TO SIMPLIFY COMMUNICATION AND INCREASE TRANSPARENCY.

• HOW DO WE COMMUNICATE WITH PARENTS, STAFF & THE COMMUNITY?

• NEWSLETTERS, POSTERS, MEETINGS, EMAIL…NOW BLOGS, TWITTER AND FACEBOOK?

• IS SOCIAL MEDIA REDEFINING “COMMUNITY” OR “ENHANCING IT”?

PROS AND CONS…TIME

• PERHAPS THE BIGGEST QUESTION ON MOST PEOPLES’ MINDS IS, “WHERE DO YOU FIND THE TIME FOR SOCIAL MEDIA?”

• THE ANSWER(S) WILL VARY.

• THERE’S NEVER ENOUGH TIME FOR MOST OF THE THINGS WE WANT TO ACCOMPLISH AND SOCIAL MEDIA IS NO DIFFERENT.

• LOOK FOR WAYS TO INCORPORATE/INTEGRATE IT INTO THE THINGS YOU ALREADY DO.

• HERE’S A GREAT LINK FROM CHRIS KENNEDY (SUPERINTENDENT IN WEST VANCOUVER) ON THIS TOPIC: HTTP://CULTUREOFYES.CA/2014/02/13/THE-TIME-AND-THE-TOOLS/

MANAGING INFORMATION OVERLOAD…

• SET LIMITS

• GET TO KNOW YOUR PHONE!

• YOUR PROFESSIONAL LEARNING NETWORK CAN HELP YOU!

• OVER TIME, NO ONE PERSON WILL BE ABLE TO MANAGE EVERYTHING…YOU’LL NEED HELP AND THAT’S WHERE YOUR PLN COMES IN.

• THERE ARE TOOLS AVAILABLE.

MANAGING INFORMATION OVERLOAD…TOOLS

• HOOTSUITE, TWEETDECK & PLUME

• FOLLOW ALL YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA STREAMS AT ONCE

• SCOOP-IT, EVERNOTE, DELICIOUS & DIIGO

• FIND SOMETHING INTERESTING BUT DON’T KNOW WHERE TO PUT IT?

• PAPER.LI & FLIPBOARD

• TIRED OF READING “OTHER PEOPLE’S” NEWS? CREATE YOUR OWN!

• STORIFY

• MISSED A TWITTER CHAT? SUMMARIZE IT THE DAY AFTER USING STORIFY (AND HASHTAGS)

WHERE IS THIS TAKING ME?

• AS WITH MOST NEW THINGS…STARTING CAN BE THE TOUGHEST PART

• AS YOU FIND THE TOOLS THAT WORK BEST FOR YOU, YOU MAY FIND THAT THEY START TO “WORK TOGETHER” (I.E. TWITTER – SCOOP-IT – FACEBOOK – FLIPBOARD – BLOG ARE ALL TIED TOGETHER AND SUPPORT EACH OTHER).

• WHERE DO WE WANT TO GO FROM HERE AS A PROFESSIONAL GROUP?

• PLN?

• MONTHLY CHATS WITH A CHANGING FOCUS?

• COMMON SCOOP-IT/DELICIOUS/DROPBOX TO SHARE FILES AND FINDS?