From Banning to Embracing Social Media: #GovTechLive Names #NYCSchoolsTech Facebook Group & Twitter Chat Best in NYC

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The New York City Department of Education has come a long way since 2012 when I took a risk and criticized the city's conservative approach to social media. It wasn't long after that I was brought on to help New York City schools embrace social media for teaching and learning. We started by developing guidelines "with" students and staff and offered related learning opportunities throughout the year.

Fast forward to 2017 and the NYC DOE was honored as the Best in NYC for its innovative use of social media to engage citizens for the work happening via our #NYCSchoolsTech Facebook group and Twitter Chat moderated by tech teacher Eileen Lennon.

You can see photos and our acceptance speeches, which were about 5 minutes total, at this link. (Notice how nicely Google Photos allows you to display photos, video, and text.)

You can read our speeches below.

Best of NYC Schools for the #NYCSchoolsTechChat

(Eileen Lennon)

Over the course of this past year, whenever you hear the word “tweet” in the news, it ends up dividing our nation a little more.

I’m here to say that not all tweets do that.

We here at the NYC Department of Education use tweets to engage, enlighten, and encourage.

We run a twitter chat once a month for teachers to discuss various topics from parent engagement to tomorrow’s topic; tech tools that embrace diversity in the classroom.

The Division of Instructional and Information Technology knows that engaging teachers in relevant topics is the foundation of the work in ensuring our students are prepared for success in the 21st century. They also know that if we want our teachers to be prepared we must move from digital citizenship to digital leadership. That is why we give educators across New York City an opportunity to share ideas and connect not only with each other, but also with experts and authors around the globe.  

I stand here with my co-moderator Lisa Nielsen, and some of our rock star contributors to each month’s chat, JoJo Farrell, and Clemencia Acevedo to say thank you for recognizing this important work.  

Best Use of Social Media to Engage Citizens:  #NYCSchoolsTech Group on Facebook (Lisa Nielsen)

A wise man once said, “The ‘good old days’ weren’t so good for a lot of people. In the analog age, too many voices weren’t heard…”

That man was Mayor Bill DeBlasio

He was right. When I started my career back in the 90s as a library and tech teacher at the New York City Department of education, I felt completely alone. My voice wasn’t heard and I couldn’t hear the voices of anyone else. The only approved way to communicate was via snail mail, that first made a pit stop at the principal's office. By the time information got to us teachers, usually it was no longer relevant.

Working in isolation benefits no one. Not the teachers or students we serve and protect. Those days as a media specialist have impacted my practice today as Director of Digital Engagement & Learning. As a beginning teacher I knew how powerful it would have been to be able to connect with expert peers. As an experienced educator I understand the value of sharing insights and practices about innovative techniques and technologies.

When I began working in the digital communication group at the DOE one of my priorities was: To help other innovative educators connect, engage, interact and grow stronger together. I tried a lot of different things: Ning, Yammer, Edmodo, Google+... but what took off is one of the principles right out of the mayor’s “Digital Playbook” which advises government employees to build upon what works and reach people where they are.

For us that was Facebook.

Despite the fact that Facebook was blocked in many schools in the past, this is where our teachers were and still are. Fortunately, I have a supervisor who understands the importance of that and encouraged me to follow the mayor’s advice and reach educators where they are using what works. Because of that we have connected more than 2500 tech-loving teachers with each other as well as with the experts and vendors whose products, platforms, and resources, they know and love.

Today we’ve moved past the good ol days, that really weren’t so great, and upward and onward into the digital age where innovative educators across NYC are sharing, connecting, and inspiring one another to do what is the very best for students.

I am honored and excited that Gov Tech is recognizing this important work. I am thrilled to accept this award on behalf of an amazing group of more than 2500 educators and five passionate and dedicated moderators JoJo Farrell and Eileen Lennon who join me here on stage, along with Darlynn Alfalla, Jackie Patanio, and Andrew Liebowitz who are watching this on Facebook Live.Hi friends!

I'd also like to share a special thank you to my forward-thinking supervisor who has provided unwavering support and guidance along the way: Jane Pook.

#NYCSchoolsTechChat: Diversity Matters Nov 2nd at 7pm

The New York City Department of Education is committed to Equity & Excellence for All: Diversity in NYC Schools. This means a commitment to supporting learning environments that reflect the diversity of New York City. Educators across New York City will come together on November 7th for the #NYCSchoolsTech Summit on Diversity Matters. In advance of that event, we are hosing this Twitter chat to get the conversation going.

#NYCSchoolTech teacher Eileen Lennon (@eileen_lennon) moderates with me throwing in my two cents.

You can prepare for the conversation by thinking about answers to these questions:

Q1. Why is the topic of #NYCSchoolsDiversity important to you, your students, and families? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q2 What are some ways tech can be used to tell the diverse stories of the students in your school? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q3 What are some ways ed tech companies can address the needs of diverse learners? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q4 What translation tools can students & parents use to communicate with speakers of other languages? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q5 What are considerations we should have around diversity & accessibility for school websites? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q6 What are some ways ed tech companies can do a better job of employing underrepresented groups? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Chat details are below:

• Meeting date/time: November 2nd at 7:00 pm

• Topic: #NYCSchoolsDiversity

• Your Host: @eileen_lennon (@NYCSchools)

• Co-Host: @InnovativeEdu (@NYCSchools)

Remember to respond using the hashtag #NYCSchoolsTechChat and include the number of the question you are answering in your response i.e. A1 and your answer.
We hope you can view the chat live, but if you are unable, please visit our archive at
https://www.participate.com/chats/nycschoolstechchat. You can also participate in the chat at that link or if you have an iPhone download the app at https://www.participate.com/apps (coming to Android soon).

A Real & Relevant Way to Meet Math Standards & Develop #MoneySmartKids

Like many adults of my generation, I left high school and college without financial literacy skills. I’m not alone. In fact two-thirds of Americans couldn’t even pass a basic financial literacy test. It’s no wonder our household debt in our country is at a new peak.

Despite being one of the most important topics to prepare students for success in the world, financial literacy is not present in most classrooms. It also is not included in many pre-service teaching programs.

Fortunately, it seems more and more institutions are taking notice and stepping up to provide resources that educators can incorporate into the classroom at no cost.

Financial Literacy Interactive for Students

Star Banks Adventure Game is one that provides an interactive way to help students grasp important real-world financial concepts. Student learn about 1) setting financial goals, 2) saving and spending wisely, 3) asset allocation, 4) earning interest, 5) inflation and even 6) diversification. It can be played on the web via a computer, laptop, or Chromebooks as well as on iOS and Android devices.

Financial Literacy Quiz for Adults

Students aren’t the only ones who will benefit. Teachers and families can learn right along with students. On the resource page educators can start by taking a money smarts quiz and instantly get their results. Did you know saving just $166 a month after college in an investment with a 7% compounded rate of return, would earn you have half a million dollars upon retirement? If you did, you may score well on the quiz.

Financial Literacy Site for Families

There is a whole site for families where they can access the quiz, find conversation starters, and find a 30 day calendar to financial literacy. The calendar provides activities that can be done and reinforced in the classroom or home. For example, one activity is visiting a bank. Something that could be a fun class field trip as well as an enlightening experience to do with a parent. Resources such as this are an important support for families. That’s because despite the fact that 69% of parents want to set a good financial example for their children, most find talking to their children worrisome so are reluctant to do so.

Support and Resources for Educators

Teachers have access to a helpful curriculum matrix that correlates to the national standards that put a smile on many administrator’s faces. The Teacher version has a Classroom Mode that ties to the six key literacy concepts that align to standards in personal finance, economics and the Common Core. Teachers can break down the six concepts in the game and integrate them into existing lessons along with a host of educator resources they will find at Money Confident Kids.com. There they’ll find teaching tools and activities such as downloadable magazines for students, printables, videos, conversation starters and more.  

Educators can look under the hood at what their students are doing with a Teacher Dashboard. The Dashboard website helps teachers administer the game in the classroom and provides statistics that help compare different classrooms and track individual students' progress. Students will know their progress because they collect Trophies (for completing levels) and Graduation Hats (by completing Quizzes).

Innovative educators know the importance of teaching digital literacy, computer literacy, media literacy, and news literacy. The Star Banks Adventure Game provides educators with an interactive game, accompanying materials, and resources for parents that will help ensure students are prepared for success with financial literacy as well.   
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STAR BANKS ADVENTURE and MONEY CONFIDENT KIDS are registered trademarks of T. Rowe Price Group, Inc.

The Hottest Posts on The Innovative Educator

Haven’t been keeping up with The Innovative Educator? Don’t worry. That’s what this wrap up is for. 

What’s hot? Messaging and Music: To be or not to be.

In these posts we look at the advantages, considerations, and challenges when it comes to allowing students to listen to music and use messaging in the classroom.  

Want to know the verdict?  

Check out the hottest posts on The Innovative Educator for the answer.

Music - Tool of Engagement or Weapon of Mass Distraction...

Oct 7, 2017

Messaging - Tool of Engagement or Weapon of Mass Distraction...

Oct 11, 2017

Is AR BS or Good Teaching & Learning?

Augmented Reality is nothing new for youth. It has been a part of student's social experience in apps like Snapchat and it made a big splash when Pokemon Go made its debut. But when it comes to learning, does it have a place?

While seeing an object, insect, or animal up close in an augmented reality is certainly preferably to reading about it in your science text, is it really the best way to help students learn?  

Let's start by thinking about the processed food of learning: The Textbook.

Is learning via AR it better than that?

Well, yeah. Probably. It will engage kids with the wow factor for a bit, but then what?

And what about the source? Who wants us to buy into this? A textbook provider? A publisher? A testing company? A hardware or software provider?  

What's in it for them?

And, what about all the other ways to learn? Is it better than that? Is it cost effective?

AR: The Verdict? It depends.

When compared to textbooks, most would agree that AR improves upon the learning experience. It can also help make a textbook a bit more interactive and give it some life.

But what about other options? A powerful novel? A game? A MagniScope? A PBS documentary? A YouTube expert?

To help think about this, I turned to my friends at Modern Learners for some insights.

When thinking about AR, VR, mixed reality, and etc, Gary Stager, asks, are we "investing in reality first" before we invest in such technologies?

That's a good question. Especially for kids who live in big cities like where I work. In New York City we have cultural neighborhoods, experiences, some of the finest museums, zoos, gardens, and experts right in the backyard of our schools. Are we taking students there? Or if we aren't in such communities, are we using resources like Facebook Live, Periscope, and Skype to connect and interact with real people and places in other parts of the world?

When I served as a library media specialist in an inner city school in Harlem, we had immersive experiences in places like Chinatown, Little Italy, and Spanish Harlem. We visited places like El Museo Del Bario and the Tenement Museum. We had scavenger hunts around the neighborhoods and the museums were happy to freely open their doors to our inner city youth visiting on weekdays.

Of course there are times when a real experience can not occur in place of a virtual experience. For example, a trip to Mars or the Titanic are out of reach. Engaging in or witnessing a dangerous activity for a newbie such as driving a car, plane, train, are other examples.

But even with such extremes, there may be a movie, field trip, game, or museum experience that might provide a better learning experience.

In his Modern Learners podcast Will Richardson puts it this way. If for some reason we really can't invest in realities, then yes, these "halfway measures for poor kids" make sense, but only if it really is not possible to bring students more authentic opportunities.

But let’s make sure those real experiences are not available before jumping into augmented ones.

Consider this...

When trying to determine what is best for students, here are some questions you can ask:  

• How would a student use this outside of school?
• Does it help a young person create agency over learning?
• Does this have a real-life use?
• Is this better than...
• Reading about it?
• Watching it?
• Doing it?

When you consider those questions, you will be better positioned to determine and explain if augmented reality should become a reality for the students where you teach.

Google Movies: Fast, Fun, Easy Way to Capture & Celebrate Learning

Part of providing an effective learning opportunity includes capturing and celebrating the learning. There are numerous ways to do this. Lately, my favorite is Google Movies because it is a fast, fun, and easy way to document events.

Here's what you do.

During the event:

• Take photos 
• Record videos

After the event:

• Go to Google Assistant on your phone
• Tap "Movie"
• Select photos and videos you want to feature
• Tap "Create"

Here's what that looks like.

Viola! 

You've made a movie. Google will pick the filter and music, but you can always go back to edit and select your own filter or music.

Here are movies I've recently created:

Successful 1:1 Onboarding 

#NYCSchoolsTech Educators Hit The MakerEd Forum

MakerBot Social

Saturday Learning: Common Sense Digital Citizenship

What do you think? Do any of my movies inspire you? Is this something you might try using to capture the learning at your next event, workshop or learning activity? How could you get students involved? What else do you think is possible?