Social learning is in, and teachers and administrators everywhere are enhancing their own personal and professional development by harnessing the power of social media. True or False: Educators around the world are using social media for their own professional development. And the answer is … True!
If you need help getting started, check out the following 10 ways to start using social media as a professional development tool…
Connect with like-minded learning professionals worldwide to start sharing news, information, ideas, resources, and advice. Actively participate in Twitter “chats” around a particular subject area. Lastly, be in more than one place at once. Ok not really, but did you know that if you follow Twitter backchannels while attending conferences and other events, you can keep up with everything that’s going on? It’s true!
Reflect on your work from time to time by blogging about your experiences. Decide what has worked and what hasn’t? What should you do different next time? You can always draw from other people’s expertise as well. Social media is all about collaboration, and what better way to do that then by teaching and learning from other passionate educators? Build a list of blogs to read for professional development purposes. Make sure you subscribe to them so you know when they’ve posted new content. There are many teaching related blogs out there; You have chosen a good place by starting with us @Simplek12.
Join Groups and “Like” Facebook Fan Pages that will help you grow professionally.Both are great ways to directly communicate with experts to ask questions, get new ideas, build new contacts and try things out. Find out about exciting activities by searching for events. Keep an eye out for Education Webinars and local networking events, both of which are great learning opportunities, a lot of fun, and an awesome way to connect with others.
Learn about every topic imaginable …just kidding!But seriously, with the huge variety of instructional videos available on YouTube, you certainly could if you wanted to. If you’re interested in teacher professional development videos, be sure to check out SimpleK12’s YouTube Channel.
Use the Hangout feature to video conference up to 10 people and bounce around ideas. Find out what teachers and principals need and want, as well as offer solutions to existing problems. Arrange all of your connections into targeted “circles”. This will help you quickly find the most relevant content and resources.
How do you use social media as a professional development tool?