The document discusses several social media tools that can be useful for educators, including Twitter, Glogster, and Pinterest. It outlines how the author has used Glogster and Pinterest successfully in the classroom by having students create online posters and organizing inspiration boards. While exploring social bookmarking with Diigo, the author is still experimenting with how best to utilize it. The document also provides brief overviews of Moodle, Twitter, Glogster, Pinterest, Diigo, and Google+ and their educational applications. It concludes that integrating social media can boost student engagement and that educators should continue learning new online resources.

1. Social Media for Educators
Created By: Kristen Mascitelli

2. Most Useful Tools
● Twitter
○ I am still learning how to most effectively use this tool in my professional life. My goal is
to keep my account more focused on education, instead of personal interest.
● Glogster
○ I am most excited to try this online resource in my classroom in the next couple of weeks.
I think it is a great tool for students to create online posters through the use of
multimedia resources.
● Pinterest
○ This is one of my favorite and most used social media networks. Since I have been on
Pinterest, I have become more creative with my lesson delivery and expectations.

3. Biggest Successes
● Glogster
○ By creating online posters, I can include videos and visuals to present new information to
students. It can also be used as a culminating activity for our science units in which
students need to sum up the information they learned through a virtual poster.
● Pinterest
○ I have cleaned up my boards related to education so that they are focused on a particular
topic. I am also starting to follow friends in the teaching community to collaborate
additional ideas and engage resources we have made or found to better our classroom
instruction.

4. Challenges
● Social Bookmarking
○ I chose to explore Diigo for social bookmarking. While I do see the benefits of having a
platform for organizing and managing information I have found and read online, I am still
experimenting with how I will best utilize this resource in the future.
○ I did like how it is cloud-based. Also, highlighting and sticky note tools are added to your
web-browser to utilize when you are scanning a text.

5. Moodle and Online Learning
● Can access resources online anytime of the day on any device
● Allows students to work at their own pace
● Creates a platform for online learning - geared more towards
middle or high school students and up

6. Twitter
● Social network that allows users to send
and post “tweets” or short messages and links
about a topic
○ Encourages collaboration, conversation and networking among
individuals and other organizations
○ Allows teachers to remind students of what was, is or will be covered
in class
○ Creates opportunities for students to think outside of the box by
limiting how many characters a tweet can be when posting or
responding to a tweet

7. Diigo
● Social bookmarking website
○ Cloud-based personal management system
○ Adds tool to your web-browser, such as highlighters and sticky notes to
mark important information on a webpage
○ Information becomes accessible from anywhere on any device
○ Allows sharing and collaboration among personal learning networks

8. Glogster
● Online tool that allows individuals to create
virtual posters
○ Ability to embed text, images, videos, links and audio onto a poster
○ Creates a platform for students to design and share digital information
○ Encourages students to be critical readers and ability to evaluate online
resources
○ Templates are provided to help students / teachers effectively layout
information in a logical presentation

9. Pinterest
● Social network that allows users to share
information visually and post (“pin”) ideas to their own
boards that are of interest to them
○ Provides inspiration for the classroom, such as organization,
management, lesson plans and activities
○ Posts can lead to blogs or other sites with additional information
and resources
○ Creates collaboration and conversation among educators about
topics related to their area of teaching

10. Google +
● A social network within Google Apps
○ Circles allow users to group other members with similar interests or
profession for sharing purposes
○ Photo and video storage and sharing
○ Hangouts allow members within a circle to discuss topics face-to-
face and engage in meaningful conversation
○ Users can share links, images and videos with a select circle, instead
of having this information visible for everyone to see

11. Conclusion
● Social Media is the new revolution in our society and education. As
an educator, it is important to stay current with all of these
available resources and learn how to effectively use them in our
classroom. Integrating social media in education can help boost
student engagement and ownership for learning.
● As I move forward in my teaching career, I will continue to learn
and try new online resources as they become available. Since
technology is constantly changing and evolving, we too, as
educators, must join this revolution to create the productive
learning environment for our students.