SOCIAL NETWORKING POLICIES: THE REASONABLE (AND SAFE) APPROACH TO DEVELOPING SMARTER SOCIAL CULTURES IN SCHOOLS

Topics such as social networking and cyberbullying have made the headlines ring, and schools, districts, and even governments have been compelled to enact heavy restrictions on teachers and students. While social networks may have received bad news press, social sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Ning are still heavily used by students, teachers, school districts, administrators, and parents. This session addresses appropriate use of such sites and policies that can be developed to allow the school culture to made wise choices about social networking.

This session addresses the question, "How can we protect our students, staff members, and schools?" Providing template resources and case studies, this presentation goes immediately to the heart of the social networking site problem and offers concrete, research-based tools. Solutions have been developed by the 17th largest school district in the USA, as well as the 2010 winner of the Broad Prize (the largest award in the country for school districts). The presenter is a nationally-recognized expert and author in the area of school technology policies and procedures. This presentation includes best practices from a variety of sources, including industry and educational thought leaders in the areas of instructional technology and social networking in organizations. Instead of focusing on a single platform, content takes a step higher and addresses current and emerging technologies as well in a low-jargon, high-applicability format for your school, district, or higher-education environment.