Social Networking Tools and Leadership

Leaders in education should use and model social networking tools in order to improve teaching practice.

Teacher leaders in IT need to learn how to use these social networking tools and think of creative ways of how to apply them to real world learning in order to engage students.  The best way to learn about social networking tools is to learn the pros and cons of the tool and to experiment with it.  One way a leader can experiment with social networking is to create a Personal Learning Network or PLN.  The creation of the PLN allows teachers to create, collaborate and communicate.  By doing this a teacher not only shares information but can also receive feedback and ideas from others.  By engaging in conversations in social networks the teacher is exposed to many new ideas which can lead to a change in teaching practice.  Social networks allows teachers to create relationships through dialogue, by being supportive of each other and the sharing of ideas and resources.  As the teacher uses their PLN, they naturally reach out to others and invite them in to join in on conversations.  The process will create new learners and leaders.

This year my teaching partner, Chantelle Davies and I have had a few teachers begin to ask questions about blogging and how use it in the classroom.  By using this networking tool in our classes and by sharing our experience and knowledge we have begun to model how to use social networking.

We would be interested to know if you have how you have used social networking to improve your teaching practice?