Quick Tips for Teachers to Prep Their Classrooms for Online Learning and Engagement

Social media has become a central part of our daily lives, and many conversations we have with friends, family members, and peers shift seamlessly between online and offline communication. With the surge of social media and digital communication, it's no surprise that it has also made its mark in the classroom.

In addition to social media, digital literacy-the ability to find, analyze, share, and create content using digital technology such as computers, tablets, phones, websites, and apps-has become a hot topic for educators over the past few years.

Because of this shift in education, it's crucial that all current and future educators become familiar with how to use social media and technology to meet learning objectives for students and become connected to the global education community. As the start of the school year nears, it's an ideal time for teachers to start thinking about how to implement social media and technology into their classrooms so they can unlock their creative teaching potential. Here's a checklist that details easy ways teachers can prepare:

Two Weeks Out 

● Explore which free educator resources can work best with your lesson plans. There are helpful resources out there that will allow you to take digital development into your own hands. Here are a few examples:

○ Classroom Aid: This website has just about every digital literacy resource imaginable, from fact-checking tools to tips for creating bibliographies.

○ The Futurelab: Find real-life examples of successful implementation of digital literacy into the classroom as well as helpful links to media resources.

○ Common Sense Media: This extensive review site provides feedback for all kinds of child-specific media (think movies, books, games, apps) and should be any educator's first stop when trying to vet a new piece of media.

● Review real life examples of how teachers have used online learning techniques and tools in the classroom. Keep in mind there's no rush to completely transform your classroom; take small but meaningful steps to do it right. If you need some inspiration on ways teachers are leveraging digital tools in their classroom, head here for some real life examples. For instance:

○ Weda Bory of the Hong Kong International School is blending iPhoneography (photography taken on iPhone) with showing her students how to write and tell their own stories. She also transitions her lesson plans to center around photojournalism as the students can use iPhones to capture everyday life and document their photos in journals.

● Determine the best tools to communicate with students and parents. Whether you're chatting with parents or sharing feedback with students, there are various options when it comes to choosing an appropriate communication platform.

○ If you want to consider setting up a classroom webpage or blog, there are services like Google, Blackboard and WordPress. For example, a resource like Blackboard is great for communicating with students because there are options to have lecture notes, test scores, and homework assignments all live on one platform.

One Week Out 

● Familiarize yourself with using digital tools and social media on classroom computers and iPads. When you're in the classroom preparing for the first day of school, play around with monitors or tablets that may be available to you so you feel comfortable using them effectively. The more you know about different computer or iPad features, the more likely you'll start to implement that knowledge in the classroom and enhance learning for students as a result. Not to mention, you'll be a resource for parents when it comes to social media and technology.

○ To help you get started, here is a resource where you can read up on ways to effectively use technology in the classroom.

● Connect with parents or your fellow teachers and share ideas. Social media provides great ways to organize an online community to share ideas, tips, and tools with teachers and engage with parents.

○ On LinkedIn, you can create private or public professional groups. Start one for your school or go broader by communicating with teachers in your school district.

○ Flip the parent/teacher conference by hosting a Google Hangout with one parent or all students' parents. You can also create a Facebook community for parents to receive classroom and school updates and share pictures or videos of school projects and events.

● Create student assignments and group projects that involve social media. Teachers have been heading over to Pinterest for classroom and learning inspiration, and, in turn, Pinterest has developed dedicated tools for education such as the Teachers on Pinterest space. Given its multitude of features and more than 500,000 education-related pins, there are a significant number of opportunities on the platform. USC Rossier Online has created The Guide to Pinterest for Educators to provide teachers and administrators with the tools needed to not only navigate Pinterest, but to use the social platform as a powerful learning tool for both teachers and students. Here are two ways teachers can engage students through Pinterest:

○ Digital Student Portfolios: To congratulate students on their work and encourage them to do well on projects, teachers can have students create a portfolio board when school starts. If a student receives a high mark on an assignment or turns in something creative, students would then be encouraged to pin it to their personalized board. Over the course of the school year, students can build their digital portfolios and by year's end, they'll have a comprehensive snapshot of their work.

○ Creative Classroom Brainstorming: While working on visual projects, students can turn to Pinterest for inspiration by searching for ideas on the platform and pinning them to their boards. If working in groups, students can compare boards with one another, which may spark new or interesting ideas.

While social media and digital literacy are here to stay, that doesn't mean teachers must become experts overnight. By doing research, taking advantage of free online resources, and talking to fellow teachers about the best ways to use social media, educators will be able to effectively evaluate which platforms and strategies work best for them and their students. Overall, implementing some of these resources into the classroom will not only help teachers grow professionally, but it will also help students and their parents become more invested in the classroom.

Corinne Hyde, Ed.D. is an associate teaching professor of clinical education at USC Rossier Online. Follow them on Twitter: @DrCorinneHyde and @USCTeacher.