Robert's 411 on 422

JOURNAL #1…Building a Teacher and Community Site

Social Networking for the K – 12 Set by Jim Klein

In this article, Klein describes a school district that created a community site called “learning landscapes.” The district wanted to create an environment that students’ and teachers would have the tools and resources to create and share a variety of content in an easy to use, approachable way. They wanted an efficient communication source for both faculty and the community to discuss social, ethical, and legal issues. A group of three- two IT staff members and on curriculum specialist- was created and researched open source options. They created a platform at no cost to the district other than time spent. Teachers, staff, and students are coming up with new ways to use it every day. Members of the site can use any of a diverse set of content creation and sharing tools. They have the option to share with the general public, site members only, small groups, or even just themselves. These tools include user profiles, blogging tools, secure file storage and sharing, and RSS and podcasting. Currently there are over 350 users on the teacher community allowing employees to communicate and collaborate more than ever before. The Student Community, which is the newer of the two, has over 450 students online. Students as young as second grade are posting podcast and creative writing projects, while upper grades (4-6) are working on group projects such as informational science podcasts. Students are reviewing work of their peers across the district and discussing their thoughts with those on a similar educational track and not lost among thousands of students in a large online system. Improved communication and a real sense of community are key benefits of this initiative.

1. How could setting up this type of system help students in my classroom? In an effort to improve the education on technology, this would be a fun way to have students relate to other students in the same district on similar subjects. The students would be getting a perspective and the knowledge of someone their own age and would be getting a different point of view on the area of study. It would allow me to safely control the outside contact my students would be having with computer usage.

2. How could I use this type of system in a third grade classroom? In an effort to keep parents and administrators timely and effectively informed, this system would be as asset. As far as the students, they would be able to share their work with peers, parents, friends and the world. It could allow the students to collaboratively work on a social justice project by not only encompassing the entire third grade class of their school, but by including the entire district of third graders to intensify the impact.