Some say that education is one of the last sectors to adopt new technologies. If this is true, could it be because of the time required to overcome a learning curve of its features, time to understand the security and privacy issues involved, time to practice use of the app personally--and finesse its use with students, or time to collaborate in the communities and networks the app makes possible?
Some educators remain skeptical or even resistant to the adoption of social media in education; others are undecided, needing details about the benefits for students or the techniques required in order for the app to be implemented in a learning setting.
Some educators embrace social media in their practice. The moment this deck is published, some of those individuals might say how could the author have missed ______ ? It is true that in a world of apps, we have a tendency to adopt one that has been made understandable to us first, or one that grabbed our attention because it did something that the others would not do, or one that the media said was a rising star.... This deck is subject to these factors. This deck takes a decidedly safe approach with including some of the heavyweights.
This short presentation attempts to appeal to all kinds of readers: the skeptical, the undecided, the enthusiast, etc.
A movie trailer. For the cautious and time constrained, a simple image with action verbs that the application makes possible may be the most important feature of this deck. Possibly verbs that Marc Prensky would approve.
For the undecided or for the enthusiast, further notes are provided that explain how the application can be used by teachers and students with some detail.
The author is also a teacher-learner and will expand this deck to include other social media stars as cases can be made for their use in education.
1. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
Some say that education is one of the last sectors to adopt new technologies. If this is true,
could it be because of the time required to overcome a learning curve of its features, time to
understand the security and privacy issues involved, time to practice use of the app
personally--and finesse its use with students, or time to collaborate in the communities and
networks the app makes possible?
Some educators remain skeptical or even resistant to the adoption of social media in
education; others are undecided, needing details about the benefits for students or the
techniques required in order for the app to be implemented in a learning setting.
Some educators embrace social media in their practice. The moment this deck is published,
some of those individuals might say how could the author have missed ______ ? It is true that
in a world of apps, we have a tendency to adopt one that has been made understandable to
us first, or one that grabbed our attention because it did something that the others would not
2. do, or one that the media said was a rising star.... This deck is subject to these factors. This
deck takes a decidedly safe approach with including some of the heavyweights.
This short presentation attempts to appeal to all kinds of readers: the skeptical, the
undecided, the enthusiast, etc.
A movie trailer. For the cautious and time constrained, a simple image with action verbs that
the application makes possible may be the most important feature of this deck. Possibly
verbs that Marc Prensky would approve.
For the undecided or for the enthusiast, further notes are provided that explain how the
application can be used by teachers and students with some detail.
The author is also a teacher-learner and will expand this deck to include other social media
stars as cases can be made for their use in education.
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beautiful and fun.
By Blake Wile
Photo by kris krüg
page 1 of 11
3. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What is it?
Twitter is a blog that anyone can write and publish to the general public. It allows one to
tweet to individuals (@usernames) and groups (# called hashtags) and include links. All this
has to be done in 140 characters. Words have to be carefully chosen and links have to be
shortened (with URL shorteners eg. bit.ly, ow.ly, etc.). People who follow you should be
thanked, tweets that should be broadcasted to your followers should be "retweeted"--and all
kinds of other functions and "twitterquette" can be learned. "Tweets" can be embedded in
your wiki, Web site, and blog, extending the "broad casting" of helpful information.
What is its value in education?
Teachers should use Twitter for professional development. You may find that you'll read more
than usual as you follow up links, explore discussion groups, receive thought-provoking,
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4. forward-looking inspiration. Eventually you may find yourself understanding something better
or differently as you get to the heart of the matter in only 140 characters! Each day someone
will tweet something that you may decide to curate toward a topic you are studying or
"Storifying" (see that slide in this Haiku Deck). You will receive recommendations in your
email for who to follow based on your interests (eg. the author of this deck follows
@marcprensky and participates in the #edtech group; you name it...). As you regularly
participate by reading the tweets of those you follow, you will want to start contributing
yourself. Soon others will be following you. Thank them.
Students can make their understanding of a topic available to the world, hence an authentic
audience. This is done by including their tweet in a relevant hashtag group (eg.
#smallcommunity) or creating their own group (eg. #nwtleader). Criteria for an inquiry that
harnesses Twitter could be co-created to include: number of tweets on topic, number of
valuable retweets, number of conversations had with other relevant tweeters, number of
pertinent links shared, number of appropriate groups included in a tweet, number of relevant
images uploaded, etc..
Also, Twitter is being used to tell stories. Explore these at TED talks (Andrew Fitzgerald
"Adventures in Twitter Fiction"), at http://ow.ly/rX4ux .
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) Children under 13 are not to create a Twitter account because of privacy issues.
B) Children 13 and over can create an account subject to the school's acceptable use policies
and parental permission. However, it is highly advisable for students to create their accounts
at home under parent supervision of the information requested for membership.
C) Start small: teachers and students do not have to have an account to read tweets within a
community (#) or to follow what an individual is tweeting (@). Twitter can be a research tool
if you simply use the Twitter "search engine" (currently is it: twitter.com/search-home). If you
are really cautious, just troll tweets for links that tweeters provide. You simply wouldn't have
the time to find all the good information out there yourself--but the group has the time! You
only need an account when you decide to start participating by "tweeting."
D) Encourage the school board to embed significant student and teacher tweets on the
district's Web site or the principal on the school's Web site.
E) Learning can be communicated to a live audience (eg. class, staff meeting, assembly, etc.
) by projecting the tweets and conversations through any Web-enabled device.
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5. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What is it?
YouTube is a video sharing site that allows a user to upload original video tutorials, stories,
documentaries, etc. These videos can have a short description and provide several ways of
sharing through an email message, a link, and embeddable code for your blog, wiki, or Web
site.
What is its value in education?
Students can make their understanding of a topic available to the world (hence an authentic
audience) by embedding another person's YouTube video as an illustration in a wiki, blog, or
personal Web site.
Or/and they can create their own video with smartphones, tablets, or camcorders, edit it with
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6. software like iMovie or Windows Live Movie Maker (or right in YouTube itself) and upload it to
YouTube.
Marc Prensky once said video is the new essay. In video, students can show how cats sleep
anywhere as they narrate Eleanor Farajeon's poem by the same title. Students can narrate
video of the effects of less sun exposure on vegetation that grows on a north facing hillside.
Narrated video of Aboriginal government buildings and their signage can be shown to
illustrate the power and effects of nationhood, self-government, and land claim agreements.
YouTube will ask them to create a google account by providing an email or inviting them to
have a Google gmail account. The username you sign up with becomes the name of your
YouTube channel (the grouping of all the videos you upload).
If you are a new user, test the usefulness of YouTube videos by looking at some examples at
youtube.com. Use the search field at the top to explore a topic of your choice.
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) Children under 13 are not to create a YouTube account because of privacy issues.
B) Children 13 and over can create an account subject to the school's acceptable use policies
and parental permission. However, it is highly advisable for students to create their accounts
at home under parent supervision of the information requested for membership.
C) Start small: there will almost always be a student who would benefit from capturing,
editing, and publishing a curricular related video during the school day. If the teacher cannot
provide the support the student needs, reverse the roles and ask the student to learn the
portion of the task they at first don't know, and then share the process with the teacher. That
student can become the mentor to other students and teachers in the class or school.
D) Encourage the school board to embed the video on the district's Web site or the principal
on the school's Web site.
E) Learning can be communicated by projecting the video presentation through any Webenabled device.
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7. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What is it?
Flickr is a photo sharing site. Some would say it is the YouTube of image sharing.
Flickr hosts many publicly owned photos from around the world called, "The Commons" along
with other interesting commercial collections. Many millions of images are also made
available under Creative Commons (cc) licenses. These images are organized according to
the six types of cc licenses. Creators choose which license they want to donate their photo to
the world under when they upload their images. These images are directly searchable by
license type at the flickr.com/creativecommons page. They're also available from the general
search field-- enter in your search term, say "blueberries", use the adjacent "Advanced
Search" feature to categorize the blueberry results. The last category there searches Creative
Commons images that can be used commercially or those that you can "modify", "adapt", "or
build upon."
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8. Double click on the image of your choice, select the "View all sizes" choice in the bottom
right 3 dot menu (***). There you can access the photo for downloading, the "some rights
reserved" license, and the creator's username--information that you need for attribution in
fulfillment of the license requirements.
What is its value in education?
With so much Web 2.0, user-created information increasingly available, students need to
learn the skills of curation, authentication, licensing, and attribution. Particularly with images,
it's more than just making a bibliography for the photos you used--it is also knowing about
and respecting the rights the creators have given up--and retained--in order to share. Flickr
makes it easy to learn about whose intellectual property (IP) you are using and what uses you
can make of the image according to the cc license.
At school, teachers can demonstrate the personal importance of IP by getting students
involved. What better way to learn about intellectual property and licensing than to share
some of your own photos within Flickr?
This IP awareness is helped along with Google images as well, by filtering with the gear tool
in the top right > advanced settings > usage rights -- to find various kinds of shareable
images.
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) Yahoo, the owner of Flickr does not contact or ask for more information from children
under 13-- than what is necessary. From a school perspective, children under 13 should not
create Flickr accounts because of privacy issues. Work can still be done under teacher
supervision using a teacher account or an account created by the teacher for the classroom.
B) Children 13 and over can create an account subject to the school's acceptable use policies
and parental permission. However, it is highly advisable for students to create their accounts
at home under parent supervision of the information requested for membership.
C) Start small: Students do not have to be logged on to any account to download Flickr
images, but must be in order to upload images. Maybe the class wants to donate their
images of the recent culture field trip they took--images that are not of individuals but of
whole groups, landscapes, animals, performances, etc. The teacher can create a couple of
online email accounts for school use. Designate one or two computers/devices for Flickr,
leaving them open to the classroom accounts. Just be aware, the username you create for
the Flickr account will be the name under every image in the "photostream" (listing of your
images). Therefore, make the username intuitive, inclusive, and multidisciplinary to reflect all
kinds of inquiries the class will conduct--and your classes in the future (eg. schoolknowledge,
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9. schoolview, classperspective, etc.).
Upload only your best work. Each photo that is uploaded can be named and briefly described.
Tags should be provided to make the image searchable. Even more importantly, a Creative
Commons license can be chosen for each image. The idea is to make the image shareable
with "some rights reserved". The default license is "all rights reserved" which may defeat the
classes' good will to meaningfully share.
D) Haiku Deck, a presentation app, and another slide in this deck, works in partnership with
Flickr to automatically make Creative Commons images available with automatic attribution.
E) Learning can be communicated by projecting the classes' photostream on a screen,
explaining to a live audience how each image grew particular understanding.
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10. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What is it?
Storify is a service that allows a user to easily search Web resources using the handy search
field for common social media services (Flickr, Twitter, YouTube, Web links, etc.) and then
drag them to a working area, rearrange and label them according to the "story" you are
telling in the field you are exploring.
Each Web source comes automatically with a visual to make the reader's experience richer.
Just click on the links to visit them or play the videos, etc.
When you are done editing your story, simply "publish." You have choice over how this is
done. If you are a Twitter user, a tweet is automatically created that includes a link to your
story. Stories can be edited after posting.
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11. What is its value in education?
Perhaps what makes it a great curation device for students and teachers is how it functions
as an area to collect thoughts, like a workshop where things are constructed or an anchor
chart that reflects the development of an idea.
As students learn to use search engines and domain finders to find and authenticate Web
resources, they can be "Storifying" their results as they go along. They may be in pursuit of
family customs in the circumpolar world and group these sites by countries, seasons,
latitude, etc. Antioxidant foods can be arranged by seasonal accessibility, by color, by those
dirty from pesticides, etc. Web sources on a particular animal from the endangered list can
be collected and sorted according to ratings in the media, science research, indigenous
knowledge, etc.
Your work is saved as you go along until you decide to "Publish" your story. But until that
time, you can weigh each resource on your topic and place it under a temporary title you
assign. For example, as a student researches geology, they can move "Glacial Lake Missoula"
information around to match whatever titles they have have made to that point--or make a
new title (eg. "quick changes"; "catastrophic events", "new theories", etc.).
Test the usefulness of this out by looking at some examples at storify.com. Use the search
field at the top to explore a topic of your choice.
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) Children under 13 are not to create Storify accounts because of privacy issues. Work can
still be done under teacher supervision using a teacher account or an account created by the
teacher for the classroom.
B) Children 13 and over can create an account subject to the school's acceptable use policies
and parental permission. However, it is highly advisable for students to create their accounts
at home under parent supervision of the information requested for membership.
C) Start small: The teacher can create a couple of online email accounts for school use.
Designate one or two computers/devices for Storify, leaving them open to the classroom
accounts. Each student user creates their own "story" under the account's user name. The
world sees all these stories as being from the account username; the student never uses
his/her name. In effect, the URL of the Storify account will include the username that the
teacher set up; make it intuitive, inclusive, and multidisciplinary to reflect all kinds of
inquiries the class will conduct (names like "We Learn" would become storify.com/welearn
D) Storify can serve as a dynamic, annotated bibliography, with students choosing and
arranging Web resources by topic-subtopic, main idea-detail, according to the criteria of the
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12. inquiry.
E) Learning can be communicated by projecting the story on a screen, explaining to a live
audience how each source grew her/his understanding. And of course, by pressing the
"Publish" button, a worldwide audience can enjoy the story. Storify provides data on the
number of views each story receives and how many viewers follow the account.
Stories can be edited throughout the year. This quality encourages students to pursue
learning not as a series of one-off assignments for someone else but as a personal endeavor
to maintain their own learning enterprises and networks.
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13. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What is it?
Social bookmarking is a service that allows a user to bookmark and save a desired Web
resource online (eg. Bookmarking services include Diigo, Delicious, etc.). By assigning
keywords or metadata called "tags", and adding a brief description of each resource, other
users can search all his/her bookmarks--or all bookmarks of users around the world who used
the same tag. A visual automatically comes with most bookmarked Web sites to make the
searcher's experience richer. Just click on the links to visit them or play the videos, etc.
Others can save these bookmarks to their own accounts.
What is its value in education?
Similar to Storify, it a great curation device for students and teachers. It functions as an area
to collect thoughts (keywords or "tags") like a workshop where things are constructed or an
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14. anchor chart or a growing synthesis of a concept. Unlike Storify, there are no titles or
subtitles; all categorizing depends upon effective and consistent use of tags.
For examples, students individually or alone could be responsible for finding, authenticating,
and bookmarking resources during the study of renewable energy sources. For each Web
resource, all students are responsible for using "renewable energy" as a common tag, in
addition to a tag for their specifically chosen areas: "solar", "wind", "geothermal", "biofuels",
hydropower", "ocean", etc.
It should be noted that Diigo provides additional annotation features such as being able
highlight text and leave sticky notes on the Web resource. These features along with a few
others might make the difference between an educator wanting to use Delicious or Diigo for
student inquiry.
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) Children under 13 are not to create Delicious accounts because of privacy issues. Work
can still be done under teacher supervision using a teacher account or an account created by
the teacher for the classroom.
B) Children 13 and over can create an account subject to the school's acceptable use policies
and parental permission. However, it is highly advisable for students to create their accounts
at home under parent supervision of the information requested for membership.
C) Start small: The teacher can create a couple of online email accounts for school use.
Designate one or two computers/devices for social media such as Delicious, leaving them
open to the classroom accounts. This account could be named some overarching name that
would include multidisciplinary work with multiple students throughout the year. That name
will become part of the URL.
D) Delicious can serve as a dynamic, annotated bibliography, with students choosing,
labeling, and tagging Web sites according to the criteria of the inquiry.
E) Even though you cannot create separate files or sets of bookmarks for individuals or
groups of students as you can with Storify, the teacher can set criteria for the inquiry that
requires use of a particular tag or tags to identify the topic or subtopic--tags that would
identify a particular person's or groups' work within the classroom's Delicious account. These
tags could be curricular topics such as "faults", "folds", "plate tectonics" for the units of study
in earth science for example (explained earlier).
F) Learning can be communicated by projecting the individual/group bookmarks, explaining
to a live audience how each source grew her/his understanding. And of course, a worldwide
audience can enjoy the links as well. These links can be edited throughout the year.
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15. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What is Pinterest?
A visual bookmarking service. Social bookmarking is a service that allows a user to bookmark
and save a desired Web resource online. Visual bookmarks go a step further in displaying the
Web resource as an image (eg. Pinterest, eduClipper, Learnist, Zootool).
What is its value in education?
Pinterest may be the YouTube of visual book marks. Similar to Storify, what makes Pinterest
a great curation device for students and teachers is how it functions as a workshop where
things are constructed or an anchor chart that reflects a growing synthesis of a concept. A
topic is called a board; the Web sites pinned there are like subtopics. The creator can
comment on each Web site; in a school setting that means justifying its inclusion according
to criteria.
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16. Imagine being able to show your Web site instead of just providing a text heavy link to it.
Perhaps the class is studying ancient societies. After teaching students to find and
authenticate Web sites, individual students or groups could be tasked with creating topicsubtopic pin boards": "Ancient societies: daily life", "Ancient societies: cultural expressions",
"Ancient societies: contributions that continue", etc. Each Web site's inclusion or "pinning"
should be explained according to co-created criteria (frequent practices; infrequent practices
with year long impacts"; practices they were known for through ancient world; etc.). In other
words, the student and teacher have agreed ahead of time, that each "pin's" (Web site)
description box will explain why the site was chosen: "this site shows mealtime, a frequent
but important part of this culture because it is a time when ..." etc.
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) Children under 13 are not to create Pinterest accounts because of privacy issues. Work
can still be done under teacher supervision using a teacher account or an account created by
the teacher for the classroom.
B) Children 13 and over can create an account subject to the school's acceptable use policies
and parental permission. However, it is highly advisable for students to create their accounts
at home under parent supervision of the information requested for membership.
C) Start small: The teacher can create a couple of online email accounts for school use and
designate one or two computers/devices for social media such as Pinterest, leaving them
open to the classroom accounts. All kinds of curricular uses can be made of this tool. For
example, students could be asked to create a list of healthy foods and comment on their
selections according to the project criteria.
D) A student's learning can be communicated by projecting the student's/group's pin board
topic, explaining to a live audience how each source grew her/his understanding. Because
education is increasingly interested in engaging student interests, a particular board can be
edited and maintained throughout the year. After all, it's more about student enterprise then
academic requirements.
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17. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What are wikis?
Wikis are simple-to-edit Web pages and are good for the development of collective thought.
Think of them as tools for a community to "get things right" before cutting/pasting the
content to a more formal Web site. Or the wiki itself could be refined as the published form of
the work, embedded with videos, avatars (or any other kind of widget) and inserted with
pictures and links, complete with a navigation bar to other Wiki pages.
Companies that sell wikis, such as wikispaces.com offer various levels of service from free
wikis to private label wikis. One great feature of wikis is how their level of openness and
participation can be customized (explained below).
What is its value to education?
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18. Most inquiries require a place to document and display data. A wiki is a place where
individuals or groups can logon and conduct work from any location, at home or at school.
Three students may be working as a group, for example, on what substances hold the most
promise for winter traction on paved road surfaces. One student is responsible for salt,
another gravel, another beet juice. The "classroom" wiki the teacher set up for the students
will show the specific edits each student did in the wiki; formative support is easy for the
teacher to assess.
Teachers or classes may want to carry on work privately where only people they make a
member can see or edit the wiki--under "permissions" within the "settings", that wiki could be
set to "private". Or a "protected" status could be chosen (the world can read, but only
members can edit). To benefit from global collaboration or readership, the "public" setting
might be desirable (the world can read and edit).
Similar to Storify and other curation apps, what makes it a great curation device for students
and teachers is how it functions as a thought-collecting device or space where ideas are
constructed or a synthesis takes shape. Links can be inserted to go out to the Web, and files
uploaded for others to use (PowerPoint, Word, PDF). Unlike Storify, there are no automatic
containers for titles or subtitles; you have to make them--which is easy to learn. Wikis are
very friendly to receiving Word processed text and tables. Tables can be created in
Wikispaces but act quirkily. Other simple codes can be used to return a viewer to "the top" of
the page, to create table of contents, etc.
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) Children under 13 are not to create Wikispaces accounts because of privacy issues. Work
can still be done under teacher supervision using a teacher account or an account created by
the teacher for the classroom. Teachers can assign students email accounts through
Wikispaces that only work inside the application.
B) Start small: The teacher should get a free educators account and choose under the
"general" button within "settings" which kind of wiki is desirable: traditional "wiki" with
obvious edit button; "basic Web site" that looks cleaner with the tool bar hidden; or
"classroom" with a new feed-comment bar at the bottom of each page to make conversations
possible, as well as an assessment tab at the top to see a visual of each student's
engagement level in the wiki or the project.
C) Wikispaces have been used as the anchor and follow up for face to face meetings or
meetings conducted online, starting as an agenda with resources and links and ending postmeeting with the inclusion of collective assets that will go forward for that community.
D) Wikispaces are good for student project work-especially group work. As said above,
student work can be monitored, formatively assessed, and supported through use of the data
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19. feed the organizer of the wiki can see.
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20. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What is Wikipedia?
Wikipedia is the most famous wiki of all; it reflects the collective world-wide thought on a
topic. In short, it is what the world knows about your topic. If your topic is not found there, it
invites you to write an article for it. This doesn't mean that you should write original research
because it would not be accepted by the key core of editors. But it does mean that you
should write a careful synthesis, drawing from sources already in print. Even if you were an
eyewitness of an event, you cannot use that information unless it has been documented
already somewhere else ("work submitted to Wikipedia must be verifiable"). Wikipedia is
based on an open source philosophy that encourages the use of shareable images as
illustrations--images that often come from Wikimedia Commons or Flickr.
What is its value to education?
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21. Wikipedia is a great starting place for an overview of a topic. It can be a source of great
shareable images ("some rights reserved") where the image author states the terms of
sharing. Tables and maps can enhance understanding. References and notes are provided at
the end of the article for indepth research. To be safe, Wikipedia is not a quotable source for
student work mostly because the authority of the anonymous writers is not known--and
validity requires authority. While it could be more valid than a single author in a single
traditional encyclopedia because it must stand collective scrutiny (together-we-are-smarter
philosophy), we do not know who those collective editors are.
As a teacher, if you notice Wikipedia is silent on a topic you think has curricular value, this
might be an invitation to edit (write) an article. Wikipedia might not have an article on the
students' small community, local hero, or landmark. This is an invitation for students to
gather documented knowledge, synthesize it in an encyclopedia format look and feel, even
creating new images that might best portray the content. Students will be more engaged
when they know this work is not only for viewers around the world curious about their
community, but also for future generations of their community's citizens.
If you think an already existing article is incomplete, this might be an invitation to edit it
(expand it with text, images, references, tables, etc.). For example, the Wikipedia article on
"Rabbits" does not show (currently) and image of rabbit tracks or trails in the snow. It doesn't
speak of how to trap a rabbit in the winter. These are potential improvements that could be
made and accepted if done well.
Again, Wikipedia offers a wonderful opportunity for students to take a subtopic, conduct
research, write a synthesis, or expand on a topic they care deeply about. The world is the
audience as they write about their community, county, region, district, etc.
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) There is no age restriction for editing or writing new articles. Never give out any personally
identifiable information. See the Wikipedia article written for young editors by googling,
"Wikipedia: Guidance for younger editors".
B) Do not let any student researcher edit Wikipedia without logging into their account or
having the teacher log in to an account he/she created with a new email for student work.
C) In order to know how to help a student once they have logged in to create or edit, the
teacher should be a little familiar with wiki text or know how to become familiar. You can do
this by simply pressing "edit" on any article and noticing the basic code others have used to
achieve the features of their article. For example, to link a word in your article to an already
existing Wikipedia article on that topic, use brackets, [[culture]]. To create subtitles, use
double equal signs, ==The importance of elders==.
Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that's simple,
beautiful and fun.
By Blake Wile
Photo by popofatticus
page 8 of 11
22. D) Learning can be communicated by projecting the Wikipedia article explaining to a live
audience how the article came to be or was improved. Links to the article can be published in
the classroom, school, or district online media spaces (Web sites, blogs, wikis, etc.).
E) Wikipedia work being conducted on "your watch" needs to be closely coached, mentored,
monitored, etc. If even one student makes a foolish comment, considered vandalism in the
Wikipedia world, that account could be permanently barred from editing. Perhaps have
students conduct all their writing in a word processor first, then copy and paste the final draft
into Wikipedia later.
Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that's simple,
beautiful and fun.
By Blake Wile
Photo by Giulia Forsythe
page 9 of 11
23. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What is Haiku Deck?
Haiku Deck is a free online presentation tool for desktops and tablets that emphasizes an
image with few words. This whole presentation is a Haiku Deck. You are reading this
information because the app allows you to write public notes--a great feature to make this an
asynchronous learning asset. Also a hint at the information you might say if you were
presenting the deckp to a live audience (those kind you would put in the private note section-more on this below). Haiku Deck makes finding photos easy. It automatically taps into stellar
images that have been made available for sharing by "Flickr photographers all over the
world." And--provides automatic attribution with a little "cc" logo (Creative Commons) in the
corner when you tap on it in play mode.
What is its value to education?
Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that's simple,
beautiful and fun.
By Blake Wile
Photo by Giulia Forsythe
page 9 of 11
24. Traditional first. Of course students can create a digital presentation with PowerPoint and
Keynote. They can find a Google image or Flickr image for those slides and draw a masking
box across the image with text in it as well as write a caption with attribution below the
image.
Haiku Deck does something that these applications don't do--it automates attribution of
images. Attribution is a task that needs reminding about and modelling. Students need to
determine whether the image is licensed by the creator for such use and then attribute to
that creator. Google images can be filtered with the gear tool > advanced settings > usage
rights -- to find various kinds of shareable images. Similarly, Flickr images can be filtered with
advanced search > Creative Commons -- to view various types of shareable licenses
according to all, commercial, or modifiable, adaptable, etc. Flickr allows you to pick licenses
by specific cc licenses by going straight to the flickr.com/creativecommons page.
So how does Haiku Deck's automation of sources work? Haiku Deck short lists beautiful
images and automatically displays the shareable license for a chosen image with the cc logo
(mentioned above). When the logo is pressed in play mode, the creator, his photostream (all
his work in Flickr), and the image's license appears. Also Haiku Deck is different because it
limits the choices to be made about presentation controls (eg. animations, transitions, etc.)
and allows the student to concentrate on the image and brief text--the features with the most
punch for viewers.
Students can present on all kinds of learning (especially on the topics presented in previous
slides in this deck): "What I value about my community"; "Examples of circle use in
architecture"; "Why my country is a good candidate for use and production of alternative
energy sources"; "How the shipping industry impacts my region"... The list is endless since it
reflects the possibilities of student chosen, curricular-related inquiries that can make use of a
bank of stellar Flickr images with automated attribution.
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) Children under 13 are not to create a Haiku Deck account because of privacy issues.
B) Children over 13 can create an account subject to the school's acceptable use policies and
parental permission. It is highly advisable for students to create their accounts at home
under parent supervision of the information requested for membership.
C) Start small: The teacher can create a couple of online email accounts for school use.
Designate one or two computers/devices for social media such as Haiku Deck, leaving them
open to the classroom accounts. Student presentations made this way will be labelled under
the name the teacher chose for the account not the student's name. Also each creation can
be set to a choice of three settings: "public" (found by anyone with a google search);
Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that's simple,
beautiful and fun.
By Blake Wile
Photo by Giulia Forsythe
page 9 of 11
25. "restricted" (found by anyone with whom you shared the link); "private" (only viewable to you
when signed into the account).
D) Depending on the privacy settings just listed above, Haiku Decks are embeddable in a
wiki, blog, or Web site.
E) Encourage the school board to embed the video on the district's Web site or the principal
on the school's Web site or feature on your classroom's wiki.
F) Learning can be communicated by projecting the presentation through any Web-enabled
device with the student explaining to a live audience her/his understanding.
Note the factors that technically impact the use of notes when viewing or presenting a Haiku
Deck:
1) Public notes: you won't see them if looking at the deck from the gallery on your iPad--but
you will if you are viewing them on the Web.
2) Private notes: If you want to present your deck with an iPad (using a VGA connector) and
see your notes for speaking purposes, but not let the audience see them, copy and paste
them from public to private--so they are in both places. The Web version will only show them
as public. But as you present with the iPad to a live audience, your private notes will show
only to yourself when you turn the iPad vertically.
This business of speaking and notes. Like any digital presentation, a student ought to "say
more" than what is masked across the slide image. If the student (or any presenter!) uses
private notes for support, they should only be an outline to resist the urge to read them word
for word. These considerations will be part of personalizing the inquiry's criteria.
Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that's simple,
beautiful and fun.
By Blake Wile
Photo by Martin Male
page 10 of 11
26. 10 SOCIAL MEDIA APPS FOR EDUCATION
What is it?
Slideshare is a service that allows a user to upload a digital presentation to a slideshow
hosting Web site. The digital presentations are searchable and can be embedded in your wiki,
blog, or Web site.
What is its value in education?
Students can make their understanding of a topic available to the world, hence an authentic
audience.
For example, a 14 year old science student who has created a digital presentation (eg. using
Haiku Deck, PowerPoint or Keynote) from their own digital images or shared Creative
Commons images while investigating mechanical systems or freshwater & saltwater systems,
Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that's simple,
beautiful and fun.
By Blake Wile
Photo by Martin Male
page 10 of 11
27. can upload their learning to a worldwide community using Slideshare.net. Haiku Decks
receive airplay in the Haiku Deck gallery but could receive even more attention with
Slideshare. Read more about this by googling terms "haiku deck slideshare".
Classroom implementation considerations & options:
A) Children under 13 are not to use Slideshare because of privacy issues. However, stellar
work can still be done under teacher supervision using a teacher account or an account
created by the teacher for the classroom.
B) Children over 18 can create an account subject to the school's acceptable use policies
C) As with other student-generated media, no identifiable, individual faces should be
displayed in a deck without written permission (parental consent for children under 18).
D) As with other student use of images, the type of intellectual property license must be
considered when building the original slides. Creative Commons "some rights reserved
licenses" (as shown by the millions in Flickr), and public domain images/work are
recommended for slideshows. This awareness will prepare students for their adult lives;
training about this can be habituated in the grade school years.
C) Start small: with written parental consent, reward the best student work with an upload to
a world-wide authentic audience within the classroom or teacher's Slideshare account.
D) Encourage the school board to embed the work on the district's Web site or the principal
on the school's Web site
E) Learning can be communicated by projecting the Slideshare presentation through any
Web-enabled device explaining to a live audience her/his understanding (of course the
presentation does not have to be Web-based on Slideshare to do this--it just saves using
other methods to access the file through USB flash drive, toting the computer it was made
on, etc.)
Created with Haiku Deck, presentation software that's simple,
beautiful and fun.
By Blake Wile
Photo by Nuria J.B.
page 11 of 11