How Teachers CAN Use Twitter

Some educators at the recent European Council of International Schools annual conference in France appeared skeptical that Twitter could be a learning tool. But educator Kathy Schrock told educators that Twitter can be used for professional development or to engage students in the classroom by having them summarize reading in tweets, collaborate with peers or follow breaking news

Get engaged! Add your voice to NAMLE’s media literacy conference

Looking for a way to share your media literacy work with others? If so, then the National Association for Media Literacy Education wants to hear from you. NAMLE is seeking proposals for its 2011 conference, “Global Visions, Local Connections: Voices in Media Literacy Education”, and welcomes program proposals that magnify the core principles of media literacy education; illustrate pedagogical practices in the field; reflect the diversity of voices in the field; showcase the diversity of media and technology forms within media literacy education; or present findings of recent research on the efficacy of media literacy education.

The NAMLE conference serves a diverse constituency, including P-16 teachers, art educators, community leaders, media producers, nonprofit partners, faith-based groups, pediatricians, and other health professionals. Next year’s gathering takes place at the Sheraton Society Hill in the heart of historic Philadelphia, July 22-25, 2011. Proposals are due January 7, 2011. For more information visit www.NAMLE.net/conference.

Using social media to foster student collaboration, learning

A Chicago-area English teacher is using social media to help interest his high-school students in literature and reading. Chuck Moore uses PBworks and edmodo, which both offer free social networks for students to collaborate and discuss assignments. Moore's students use the Internet to further their understanding of books and social networking to discuss books online. "It's like what they're used to doing when they socialize with each other," Moore said.

Lesson Plans for Developing Digital Literacies

Lesson Plans for Developing Digital Literacies is the title of a new text just released by NCTE at its annual convention, here in Orlando. It is a follow up to the very popular Lesson Plans for Creating Media-Rich Classrooms. Tell your library media specialist: both would make great additions to your media center professional collections.

Critical Thinking and Elementary Media Literacy

Here is an excellent write up about a presentation that targeted elementary students: it includes some good links, resources, and streaming video clips.

The Power of Classroom Blogging

"The power of classroom blogging is that students are not merely writing to their teachers, what they think the teacher wants to read, and only for a grade," one educational consultant said. "They are writing with the knowledge that at least their classmates will be reading what they are writing and responding to what they are writing."

Students participate more in class when using Twitter

A study published in a November issue of the Journal of Computer Assisted Learning finds that college students asked to complete assignments and engage in class discussion using Twitter over one semester increased their engagement more than twice as much as a group that utilized a different social networking website for these same assignments.