Twitter @Heathcote - Embracing social media & addressing concerns

I've written a few posts over the last week about how we will be using Twitter here at Heathcote.

• A primer
• Our hashtag

I also wanted to put up a post addressing the two most obvious sides of the same coin, the benefits and concerns.



I recently co-authored an article with Lisa Nielsen, the Director of Digital Literacy and Citizenship for the New York City Department of Education entitled Fear is not an option when it comes to social media in schools. I wanted to share it here as it is very relevant to what we are embarking on.

To sum it up:

• we share to celebrate the successes of the students
• we share to model good digital citizenship
• we share to demonstrate the positive aspects of the internet, particularly social media
• we share to promote all the good we see every day, all the good we are all proud of
• we know the risks and are vigilant about protecting the names of all students
• we know the risks and use them as talking points with students
• we are committed to protecting, nurturing, and educating all of our students, and in 2014 that includes guiding them through the digital landscape that is necessary for success

As with all things we do in school, using social media is a tool to promote learning, encourage collaboration, demonstrate positive digital interactions, and model appropriate and positive social media usage.

Our goal is to make all of our students positive contributors in this digital age. We are modeling the positive uses of these tools for creation, publishing, and collaboration. We want them to leave here with a solid foundation of what it means to be a good digital citizen and have a positive digital footprint. The best way to do that is show them how we do it.

As always, feel free to follow up with any questions.

Thanks