The document discusses teaching social connectedness and digital citizenship strategies using social media and blogging platforms. It argues that teaching these skills in schools is important because teens seek social connection through digital tools, but may not know how to use them effectively. Benefits of these strategies include linking to students' lives, empowering student-centered learning, facilitating feedback and relationships between teachers and students, and developing literacy, critical thinking, and ICT skills. The document recommends advocating for social media in education and adopting blogging platforms like Edublogs to engage students and prepare them for a changing future job market.

1. Social connectedness teaching
strategy
Elke Schneider
QSITE 2015 presentation
https://elketeaches.wordpress.com/qsite/
@elketeaches

2. What is social connectedness?
• How people come together and interact
• Family, friends, acquaintances, outside of
your social circle
• Social connectedness helps create social
capital, increases feelings of belonging and
can be a source of enjoyment and support

3. Teens and social media
• Digital communication
• Connect with friends
• Seek public life
• Gain a sense of self
• Self-presentation management
*plenty of critics: parents, educators, media & general
society
*this does NOT mean that student naturally know how
to use social media in an effective way for education

4. An argument for teaching social
media & digital citizenship at school

5. - a tool for a digital social
connectedness teaching strategy
https://elketeaches.wordpress.com/qsite/
https://schneiderlessons.edublogs.org
http://sampai.edublogs.org/
http://jthom466.edublogs.org/
http://danielhelman.edublogs.org/
http://dougijr.edublogs.org/
http://sirscrubvgc.edublogs.org/

6. Benefits for teachers
• Authentic – links to teenagers’ lives & future work
• Empowered students – student in centre of learning
• Timely feedback
• Build on student-teacher relationships
• Extend high achieving students
• Literacy skills
• Creative & critical thinking skills
• Reflective skills
• Flipped-classroom
• Inquiry-driven teaching & learning
• Digital collaboration
• ICT skills

7. Digital literacy
It’s not just about how to use a computer!
• Making meaning of a range of digital media
• Finding context, locating information
• Visual – images, videos, animation, games
• Critical analysis of digital media – detecting
bias, evaluating information
• Create information, digital manipulation
• Digital communication, digital citizenship

8. Links to the Australian Curriculum

9. Recommendations
• Advocate for social media use in education
• Use Edublogs
• School-wide adoption of Edublogs CampusPress
– global2.vic.edu.au blog network for all schools in
Victoria
– Parklands School Division in Canada
http://www.psdblogs.ca/
– St Stephen’s School in Western Australia
http://blogs.ststephens.wa.edu.au/
Photo by Laura Smith https://www.flickr.com/photos/blushingmulberry/5060079536/

10. Further recommendations
• Teach youth how to code and develop
websites, apps, games, animation and other
digital media
–When people know the architecture or code
of how technology and media work, then
they are better able to analyse digital media
and create digital technologies.

11. A picture can say a 1000 words

12. Or, a picture can be fake! A good reason to teach students about
the architecture/technology behind what they read, use or see

13. Future of work is changing
• Edublogs is a tool you can use to engage
teenagers in learning by leveraging their need
for social connectedness.
• ICT skills, literacy, creativity, critical thinking
skills, ethical considerations and more can be
linked to the use of Edublogs in teaching.
Job transformations Globalisation
Technology Digital skills required