How Do You Teach Social Media? #azk12

When Tony Vincent asked me about leading a strand at Camp Plug and Play, I initially had no idea how to plan it. So much of tech training tends to be focussed on tools and strategies. And yet, social media tends to be relational and messy. It has to be. It's connective. It's human. Initially, I struggle to try to prove that social media is relevant. I point out how it can be used for communicating, connecting, curating, creating and critical thinking. I have a linear outline. I plan it all out, complete with my alliteration and hope to be effecient in what I convey. But then it hits me this morning. I'm introducing them to an experience. I'm introducing them to a community. So, if the conversations meander or go flat or feel confusing, well . . . that's social media. And my hope is that people embrace the mess, because that mess is a beautiful mess. That community is packed full of teachers who saved my career in my darkest moments. That's what I want them to see. I want them to fall in love with the concept of a PLN, because teaching can be lonely and hard and sometimes it's someone in another state or another country or another subject or grade level band who gets me and encourages me and debates me and challenges me in ways that might not happen in a staff lounge. I have no idea how this week will go. I feel like I talked too much and didn't explain the platforms well enough. However, my hope is this: that they will experience social media and the personal learning network in such a way that they want to experience it even more.