Webinar #9

I’ll be honest. When we first included a session on microblogging in the Using Emerging Tech to Improve Your Library program, I had a completely different game plan in mind for the webinar. But hey, that was nine months ago – eons in 21st century terms.

Microblogging is the practice of posting very short (200 characters or less) ongoing updates – statuses in Facebook, and Tweets in Twitter, but there are others – Tumblr and Haiku are gaining popularity among students. Many say that microblogging is a narcissistic waste of time, and it can be just that. But with a purpose, it is a transformational communication tool. It’s ability to connect you with, well, everyone on the grid is incredibly powerful. Just take a look at the developments in the Middle East over the past few weeks. I will be the first to admit that I am not a Twitter expert, I have relatively few followers and I can’t seem to match my peers’ Tweet frequency, and yet, it is still changing the way I learn and teach. Daily. We are not talking three professional development (PD) days per days a year anymore.  We now have access to on-demand, individualized PD 24/7. Exhausting? Definitely. Way cool? That too. 

There are some idiosyncrasies to using microblogging for productivity, thus we will have Emerging Tech member Courtney Walters on hand to facilitate the chat while I present the webinar. This is a model that emerged from session 7 on social capital when Lisa Nielsen dropped in and actively contributed to the discussion. It worked so well that Lisa suggested I replicate it and fortunately, Courtney (who has been feeding me great Twitter tips for a while now) agreed to help out!

What was the original game plan? How, at New Canaan High School library, we use Twitter with kids for tech support and instruction. The obvious problem with this topic is that so many Emerging Tech members work in schools that censor social media. So we while we will touch on that, because seriously folks, change IS gonna come - and we want you to be prepared when it does, we will also talk about microblogging for professional growth and networking. We have some very cool examples!

So join us on March 9 at 4PM Eastern Time for a lively discussion on microblogging! It's FREE!

Recommended resources:




Nine Reasons to Twitter in Schools by russeltarr
The Evolution of a Twitter User by birklearns
When Will We Start Our Egyptian Revolution in the Classroom? by web20classroom
Twitter can SAVE you Time by plugusin
Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter by Verne Kopytoff  at New York Times & Tweeted by wilrich45
Twitter 102 (MUST SEE video) by stumpteacher 
Curating the #TLChat Daily by joycevalenza
Twitter for Education by MikeGwaltney

Videos

New tutorials for Gale/Cengage iPhone and iPad apps, and also for QuickCite.

Quick Cite: The App for Citings Books! from michelle luhtala on Vimeo.


Gale/Cengage Access my Library iPad app from michelle luhtala on Vimeo.


Gale/Cengage Access my Library app from michelle luhtala on Vimeo.

Blocked v. Unblocked

On February 10, my colleague Cathy Swan (Technology Integration Teacher at New Canaan High School) and I, along with our director of technology Robert Miller, gave a talk to the 9th grade parent body about the value of using Facebook in school. Here is the low down. 

We first surveyed our students. I already blogged about that.

Then we surveyed the parents from our workshop. Most answers were aligned with our students', but there were a few glaring discrepancies.

Now, we are in the process of surveying students from other schools. As I mentioned earlier, I already blogged about this. Based on the first 170 responses, we found that students in UNBLOCKED schools spend

• 12% MORE Facebook time on schoolwork
• 8% LESS Facebook time sharing videos and pictures
• 6% LESS Facebook time talking to friends about movies, books and music.