My District's Social Media Policy & My Thoughts

So this week for 790 EDU - Social Media & Emerging Technologies we are taking a look at our district's student and employee social media policies.  As I have mentioned many times in previous posts, I work for ECHO Joint Agreement which is a special education cooperative that serves 17 districts in the south suburbs of Chicago.

ECHO Website Banner

ECHO's policy is called:
Personal Technology and Social Media Usage and Conduct.   

 link to ECHO's policy

Here is a quick overview of the policy

1.  The policy only regards employee's use of their own personal technology and      social media

• staff is required to use cooperative provided or supported methods to communicate with students and their parents  
• it can not interfere or disrupt the educational environment or process
• refrain from using the Cooperative's logo without permission
• must comply with all other cooperative policy's   

2.  Use of personal technology and social media must:

• only be used for personal use
• be used only during duty free time
• only be used during times and at places that will not interfere with job duties, educational environment, and learning activities   

3.  Assume all risks that go along with the use of personal technology and social      media at school or school sponsored activities 

• includes students viewing anything inappropriate

4.  The rest covers what will happen if found violating the policy and how                administration will communicate the cooperative's policy with the employees

That's it........

A few things that I noticed:

• there is no mention of what you can and cannot do on ECHO provided technology
• no mention of student use of social media on personal devices or on ECHO technology 
• no mention of educating students on safe practices when navigating social media and the use of the internet                                                

Needless to say that I was disappointed with the cooperative's narrow view of the use of technology and social media.  I am still in the process of learning what a healthy school policy looks like, but I am sure that it would be much more robust and encompassing than what my cooperative currently provides.

I still have much to learn about technology and social media usage policy

...... and so does my district.  

What is Community - Social Media & PLN's

790 EDU continues on for it's second week. This week we have been focusing on what an online community is and how I can use it to contribute to my professional and personal growth. It turns out that there are four benefits that come from participating in PLN's.  They are:

Social - Teachers can often feel isolated but by connecting with other teachers throughout the country and even the world, they can feel part of a bigger picture and have a much larger circle of relationships. 

Affective - Teachers can find support from other teachers which may help them be willing to take risks and get feedback from others.

Cognitive - Teachers can identify new resources, tools, and teaching strategies.  Plus, they can get a peek into other teachers classrooms to see how they do things.

Identity - Through PLN's teachers can change their perspective of their role from the teacher in front of the classroom to becoming co-learners with the students. 

So what benefit(s) do I feel I gain from my PLN you ask?  Well, I most identify with the Cognitive benefit.  I enjoy and get inspired most by what I see other teachers are doing in their classrooms.  I enjoy learning and being exposed to new tools, strategies, and ideas. 

This week I also created a Symbaloo and shared it with my PLN.  Symbaloo is an interface that lets you collect all of your bookmarks and favorite websites into one place that can be accessed anywhere.  Below is a video giving an overview of how it works.

My Symbaloo - personal screenshot

Here is a screenshot of me sharing my Symbaloo on my PLN.

Personal Screenshot 

I found building my Symbaloo a little challenging.  It took more time than I would have liked it too.  The end result is pretty cool though.

Here is a link to my personal Symbaloo.......        My Symbaloo

EDU 790 - Getting To Know Me

Welcome EDU 790 to my blog.....

My Profile Picture for Everything

  https://twitter.com/Bmattson_teach

My name is Bonnie Mattson. This is my second semester in my pursuit of a Technology Specialist endorsement and eventual Masters in Education with Dominican University.

 I have been teaching off and on for 15 years in special education.  Currently, I work for ECHO Joint Agreement and teach 3rd & 4th grade for their Communication Development (CD) program.  CD serves students with language processing disorders which includes students with autism, severe learning disabilities, and or significant speech impediments.  My classroom is housed at Nathan Hale Elementary in Lansing, Illinois.  

My dad was my inspiration for going into special education.  He had a severe stroke at the young age of 36 (I was 8 years old) and had to learn how to talk, walk, and do practically everything all over again. Thanks to my dad and other great people I have gotten to know over the years, I can say that serving people with special needs is a true love and passion of mine!

Outside of teaching, I have been married for 22 yrs. to my wonderful husband Bob.  I have 3 crazy kids.  Abbie is 19 and attending her first year of college at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN.  Shaun is soon to be 18 and a senior in high school.  He is passionate about soccer and loves to play chess.  Lindsay is 16 and wants to be an ER nurse.   And of course our 60lb dog Chance who tries really hard to be a lap dog.

Special needs has also touched my immediate family.  My son Shaun has a rare form of muscular dystrophy called Emery-Driefuss.  The disease also affected his heart which resulted in his needing to get a pacemaker at the age of 10.  Lindsay has ADHD   ........And I am going blind.  I have a rare retinal disease which is causing me to lose all of my peripheral vision.  We are all doing well, thriving, and have gotten pretty good at learning how to roll with the curve balls life can throw at you.

My Twitter profile says. “I am a wife, mother, a special education teacher, I love dancing, and I just like to have fun”.  That describes me pretty well.  I am looking forward to getting to know all of you as we travel through EDU 790 together.

Some family pictures........

Shaun, Lindsay, & Abbie

Facebook album picture

Bob & Me

Facebook picture

Chance the Dog

Personal Photograph