I’ve been looking for an excuse to use the online tool for awhile now. Using their free plan, I was able to create a type of infographic based on a great article by titled . Basically, Thinglink allows you to add interactive elements to an image of your choosing. In my case, I created the image you see below and by navigating to the information icons you can view . This image can be shared socially in a variety of ways including Twitter.
As an Educational Technology Mentor, I thoroughly enjoy my role as I get to research, develop, and provide professional development on a wide range of edtech topics to my peers. Reading the article has given me reflection on some of my practices.
I want to review my PD materials to ensure they are balanced, provide strategies and resources for students to use social media in a positive manner. The analogy of learning to drive to that of learning how to use social media was great. I agree that there is not only a need to not only train teachers to become more confident in their own use of social media but promote the ways in which they can model of appropriate use in the classroom.
I agree that parents are an untapped resource or at least traditional ways of reaching out to this group have tended to be ineffective. To me, the difficulty lies in time. Teachers, parents and students all have seemingly increasing busy lives where time is a premium. I would like to investigate how other education systems are strengthening ties with parents in true partnerships using digital mediums. I recently provided educators in our district with a 4 part series on developing classroom websites using best practices. The purpose of these sites is to develop better communication channels with parents, students and the community. In my district, I would like to see tools like or used to provide opportunity for connections (i.e. training, information sessions, committees, etc.) between home and school.
