What do we need to follow in addition to updates to Twitter, FB pages, blogs and YouTube channels? How about Edutopia's Pinterest board...? This is why I like Brainpicking

Just when I thought that I was overwhelmed with "notifications" of updates, I found another useful filter.   My current favorite curator is Brainpickings.org and I even send $1 a month to the editor.  Twitter, FB, Youtube and blogs each generate notifications by email (including this blog, which has only five subscribers.   Can some of you who are reading this check to see if you might possibly have forgotten to subscribe to this blog?)



So what is the best procedure for students?  What should they see their teachers do?   I wonder if it makes sense to show students how to sign up for a blog with a "throwaway" or "public email address, so that the notifications don't clutter the inbox?  Or is it important to be confronted (as I am) with notifications daily?

IN FAVOR OF DAILY EXPOSURE TO NOTIFICATIONS
1.  I found out about Dimitri Christiakis through an email notification.
2.  I can choose WHEN to expose myself to the list of interesting items that flow toward me.
3.  I might as well look at the floow, at least three times a week, because I tend not to schedule a quiet time to evaluate what is out there.   Better to 

AGAINST DAILY EXPOSURE TO NOTIFICATIONS
1.  The brain does better without the 
2.  Daniel Amen made that observation:  
Checking for messages is an important way to communicate, but it is better to set aside specific times each day to work on them and leave them alone the rest of the time.
-- Dr. Daniel Amen, Magnificent Mind at Any Age

See the full post here


Here is the comment that I left at the Edutopia site:

Since using the FLIPPED CLASSROOM, I no longer have a "teacher voice."   Now I randomly and unintentionally whisper to people "...and for class tomorrow, please come in ready to talk about this topic."  


So the purpose of this post is (1) to invite you to discover Edutopia ... and if you know the site, at least you can also sign up for their Pinterest board.  They have curated a collection of posts that have benefitted me by providing quick items for posters.
I even found the following link ... (which I sent to the teachers in Bologna with whom I shared a Skype session)...

I remember the effort to put ipads in the Italian school.

I hope this article is helpful.

http://www.edudemic.com/2013/03/the-10-skills-modern-teachers-must-have/

 
This is why it makes sense to subscribe to BrainPickings.org

(2) The second purpose is to underline the usefulness of BrainPickings.org.

Look at these posts:
Book of Symbols
Aldous Huxley's book for children
an interview with the 84-year-old Carl Jung


Wow.




Here are some more links to items that I found through the Edutopia Pinterest page

21 ways to become a 21st Century Teacher


Ten skills that modern teachers need

A White Paper about Social Media might be just what math students need to analyze their favorite platforms for interacting

Here is an interesting invitation... to obtain a "white paper" about social media.   Why not?

http://actionpaper.net/Social_media_and_your_e-publications/ap.html

I'm too cheap to get the Windows 8 Phone, but I like the idea: "It's not about apps.... it's about PEOPLE." That's how I teach, so why not communicate in the same way?

Here's a message from one of my students:

You should buy a Windows Phone 8! E.g. Nokia Lumia 720. You would really love using it.

Why? First, it's NOT all about apps. It's all about people! All information from different accounts in a single place, the people hub. 

Easily share on Facebook. 

Perfect Skype integration.

Try it!

Visit the video

Lutz 

Von meinem Windows Phone gesendet

Von: Steve THE EBOOK MAN McCrea

Gesendet: ‎30.‎05.‎2013 18:57

Thank you, Lutz.

I will pass on comments to Lutz if you want to contact him.  He really knows Windows.  If you are committed to a PC, then you should know what Lutz has in his head.   And he enjoys sharing his insights.  (But he rightly protects his privacy...so send me a message and I'll pass on your questions to Lutz...)

What options do teachers have for using Facebook for creating informal learning by students? Can Facebook be used to alert students that their teacher has just read an interesting article on Scribd.com?

Building a responsible and protected space for students on the Internet is a challenge.  

It's nice when students can create a profile that appears with their profile on the same location as a teacher's profile.

Consider the status of "colleague" that a student might feel if that student also appears on JacketFlap.com.  "My teacher is an author... and I'm an author, too!"

http://www.jacketflap.com/profile.asp?member=smccrea

This is my profile.  Imagine if one of my students creates a book on Createspace.com and then posts the information on Jacketflap.com.   Colleagues... 

How can we use Facebook without being "friends"?
One of the advantages of using Facebook publicly as a teacher is that when I visit Scribd.com and Youtube, the LIKES that I click on are public and go to my public wall.  Any student that is "friends" with me gets a notification:  Steve just read a document on Scribd.com.

Some of my students then read the document.  This is part of the YourNetImpact.com effect.  Teachers can lead students in the use of social media.  

Is it possible to have the same impact if the teacher is not in direct relation with the student?  Well, what if a teacher creates an open group that the students can join?   Then the teacher can post a link, such as, "Here's a document on scribd.com that I found interesting."

CLOSED GROUP

https://www.facebook.com/groups/146455595399703

This is a closed group

My students have to be members to see the posts in this group.


OPEN GROUP
Here's an example of an open group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/ITDEnet

When I post something, my students can see the items, even if they are not members of the group.

This is an example of a post (by Teri) that shows items that she is looking at.  Others in the group (and other people who are not members, such as my students) can see what Teri has recommended.



Here are some sample looks:

1. Should Professors Use Facebook to Communicate with Students ...

   www.facultyfocus.com/.../should-professors-use-facebook-to-communic...
   

   
   

   Feb 27, 2012 – Nearly 85% of faculty have a Facebook account, two-thirds are on LinkedIn, and 50% are on Twitter according to research from Faculty Focus.
2. 
   

   Friendly Advice For Teachers: Beware Of Facebook : NPR

   www.npr.org › News › US › Education
   

   
   

   • 

     Find this graphic

   Dec 7, 2011 – It's becoming a particular challenge for teachers who can quickly rile ...too broad and may have prevented teachers from using Facebook at all.
3. 
   

   How college professors use Facebook - Schools.com

   www.schools.com › Visuals
   

   
   

   Apr 27, 2011 – It's a known fact that students are Facebook-obsessed. A new survey shows that teachers might rival their younger counterparts when it comes ...
4. 
   

   Do College Professors Use Facebook? | Edudemic

   edudemic.com/2011/04/college-professors-facebook/
   

   
   

   Apr 28, 2011 – From connecting students to enhancing the educational experience, it's popping up everywhere. Does that mean college professors u.
5. 
   

   Every Teacher's Must-Have Guide To Facebook | Edudemic

   edudemic.com/2011/01/every-teachers-must-have-guide-to-facebook/
   

   
   

   Jan 2, 2011 – What do you think about teachers using Facebook? Are both students and teachers responsible for online interaction? Should teachers create ...

The general idea is "be safe.  Be careful about what you post.  Perhaps students can get information from you if you create a Subscribe opportunity."

This is a typical administrative attitude about the relationship between an instructor and a student.  It is easily addressed by having the professor sending the student to the official channel, thereby leaving the FB channel open for other interactions.

Send comments to TheEbookMan@gmail.com

Here's another example of what I do with Scribd.com and Facebook (with a little jump on Twitter).

I can post an announcement on the Facebook page called FreeEnglishLessons.com and then I can tweet a short link to the scribd.com

These interactions can lead to informal learning outside the classroom.

We can strategically reinforce something that happened in class by going onto Facebook and posting some items.

Students who don't use Facebook miss these interactions but can sometimes get the information from peers.  Hmmm.  Any other suggestions about how to use FB to make discussions more interesting?

How to Promote Lifelong Learning and Random "Teaching Moments": (1) Connect with your students on Facebook, YouTube and other social media, (2) Post only items that are favorable to the education of students and (3) Set your settings at "Public."

Why should a teacher make his website and Facebook account public?  Why should a teacher connect with students?  Why should a teacher set photos on "public"?

Here's the "Sad Songs Say So Much" video

Here's a short clip from a workshop that I gave in April 2013.  This clip appeared on my Facebook activity.  My students (who are connected to my Facebook account) can see what I'm doing.   

Why is it important for students to see an adult's activity on the Internet?  Because my Facebook work shows that teachers really do useful things outside the classroom.  Youtube uploads, Scribd.com documents, tweets can all help students see that there are productive things that adults do with social media.

When a Youtube account is connected to a Facebook account,
the activities are captured

Some of my mentors include Ryan Cohn of WhatsNextMarketing and Bob Finch from ifinch.net.  Both Bob and Ryan have demonstrated the use of social media in business settings and their work shows me how to act responsibly with various accounts.   Some of their tips:  (1) connect your accounts so when you post on Scribd.com, your contacts on Facebook learn about the update.  (2) connect widely.  Take time to create an account on the following:  twitter, facebook, scribd.com, youtube.com, tumbler, stumbleupon, and consider the advantages of Sites Google, Vimeo,  (3) take the time to clic on other people's projects and ask them to click on your projects.  This shared clicking will increase the traffic that is counted by Klout.com.    I recently saw this post on Facebook by Ryan:  

Had a great time speaking at the Social Fresh East Conference in Tampa. Big thanks to Jason, Corey, Nick and many others. Check out the slides from my presentation, "What Doesn't My CEO Get About Social Media?" here:http://bit.ly/Social_CEO (2 photos)    [ post by Ryan Cohn ]

This is an example of the "activity log" that
a Facebook account maintains.  Look at these
multiple postings of videos to my YouTube account.

So I reposted this link and added the following: Ryan Cohn will be seen 20 years from now as one of the quiet advocates of social media for business. I hope he creates a "social media handbook" for teens so my students can practice today building skills for use in their careers. If you are a teacher, link with Ryan and learn about the future. They say that our students are preparing for jobs that haven't been invented yet. Learn more about Ryan's work and you'll join me in staring at the future.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHNBaxBdgWc

Here's a student who lives on a long island in the Caribbean who would like to interact with my students.  We talked about her favorite song, "Beautiful Goodbye" by Maroon Five.  

These moments are available to my students.  My teenaged students can get a glimpse of the world that they will enter soon and they can ask me about these experiences.

So, mentors, show us your best side.  Share your special traits and strengths.  Send me your highlights and show us your workspace.   See what BoxOfCrayons did with a 9-minute office tour.

This is a valuable exercise.  Help my students tour an office.  Let students see what is real in the "real world."  ... and do the tour on Facebook, where my students live.   That's why I have seen that teachers (and mentors) can have impact on students' lives through social media.

People might object to a teacher who "exposes" students to the adult world.  My aim is to show my students things that are true, pure, honest, lovely, just, of good report, ... let's think on these things.