Understand the Importance of Critical Media Literacy for Students By Katie Kelly, Lester Laminack, and Vivian Vasquez Global social media users increased from 970 million people in 2010 to 2.96 billion in 2020, according to Statista. Children are born into today’s world of increasing media use, where
Two recent reports sounded alarms about the health and educational well-being of our nation’s adolescents. In late May, in a report entitled Social Media and Youth Mental Health, the Surgeon General notes that social media use by youth is “nearly universal” and argues that while
Halloween may be behind us, but this fall season has been filled with horrifying stories about information pollution. Perhaps the most dramatic: Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, founder of the InfoWars site, was found liable in two recent cases for falsely claiming that parents of murdered
Leaders who make the most far-reaching impact have a knack for empowering the people on their team. Those who feel valued and encouraged produce more high quality work. In education, this means leaders who empower teachers and students are helping to build a culture of
Dear Colleagues, I’ve been thinking about the issue of time that keeps popping up in a number of national studies, surveys, and professional positions. In a nutshell, the issue involves recommendations to start the school day later in the morning at the middle and high school levels…and
Putting ourselves out there can be really intimidating maybe even terrifying but it doesn’t have to be. Social media and blogging are an opportunity to share our unique voices with a community who is invested in learning and growing with us. A few years ago I,
This past summer, I watched rising first graders co-teach a PD workshop for teachers with their kindergarten teacher @mlsmeg (Meg Franco) to demonstrate why and how to use Twitter and Mystery Skype in the classroom. These six-year-olds may have been the least expensive and best
I’m fortunate to have been a Connected Educator for nearly six years and never give up an opportunity to share with others why being a Connected Educator is so beneficial. I believe in being connected so much that I co-wrote the book Breaking Out of
A teacher recently shared with me that she was excited to have her secondary art students use Instagram and she wanted to ensure they would be safe online. To do that she said she wouldn’t allow them to use their real names and they wouldn’t
When Tom Whitby and I set out to write The Relevant Educator: How Connectedness Empowers Learning, we wanted to provide a manual for any educator who had a desire to improve their practice, as many have already done, by utilizing social media and other tools.