Spreading the Social Networking Message
This afternoon I had the pleasure of presenting to a large group of teachers and principals on Social Networking and in particular some basics around Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. I was invited to present by Julie Parke, National Operations Manager at Beacon Foundation at their National ‘Bridging the Gap’ conference held at Bayview on the Park in Melbourne (follow @beaconites).
The conference is attended by principals and teachers from numerous secondary schools across the country to learn more about the ‘No Dole‘ program offered to Year 10 students and to be inspired to implement programs and initiatives back in their respective schools.
Many questions were raised whilst I was presenting, around child protection laws, harrassment and other safety fears teachers and principals have around the growing use of the web by young people to interact and share. This is a conversation and discussion that needs to be happening and remain ongoing with the Education Dept and schools and educational institutions in Victoria but nation wide. I would love to be involved in these conversations.
Other attendees were grateful to get a better understanding of the technologies that are so often referred to in schools, the media and by their children. I took the group live into a number of tools including Twitter and Facebook, with another guest speaker Sam Cawthorn tweeting live from the back row to show the immediacy and potential use of the technology.
After the presentation I was approached by many people who appreciated the candid view inside these technologies which are being utilised by the students they teach and in many cases their own children. There is evidence that the reverse mentoring initiative I am managing inside IBM to educate members of our Executive team in these emerging social technologies could translate to all areas of public and private sector. With technology changing so rapidly, we need to consider how we educate on the web and social networking platforms, so teachers are equipped to assist, give advice and better understand the potential opportunities and challenges of these platforms.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to share my knowledge and that it was so helpful, I look forward to continuing this effort.
