Embracing Social Media

The suggestion of embracing social media in schools triggers a variety of reactions, from excitement to outright refusal. But teaching students and engaging families who live their lives in an increasingly digital world means the embrace of social media is no longer optional—it is imperative. Education leaders have the tremendous opportunity to leverage the rich opportunities of social media for teaching, learning, and communicating. And this work can be done safely and constructively through a risk management process built on policy, procedures, and professional development.Embracing Social Media: A Practical Guide to Manage Risk and Leverage Opportunity is a practical guide for anyone wishing to facilitate the embrace of social media in a school system. Included are steps for creating policy, procedures, and guidelines, as well as specific strategies to help open the minds of reluctant colleagues and leaders. Also included are best practices for social media, with numerous examples for teaching and learning, professional development, communications with parents, and successfully managing difficult situations online. Key features of this book include:•Encouragement and support for education leaders working to bring social media into their school systems.•A compelling case for why social media matters to schools•Understanding the risks and fears of social media in schools•Steps to develop policy, procedures, and guidelines that manage social media’s risks and leverage its opportunities in a school system•Examples of how social media can be used in the classroom for teaching and learning•Best practices for using social media as a communications tool•Specific strategies for managing challenging situations on social media

Magette appears to have plenty of experience of implementing a social media policy in an American school district. There is a lot of specific advice born from experience, much of which makes good sense. Chapter Two, in particular, contains some sensitive arguments against prejudices and concerns that may be encountered when trying to pull recalcitrant communities on board, and Chapter Seven provides a useful smorgasbord of suggestions about good practice in a few social media sites. In general, it is packed with recommendations, suggestions and patterns to follow that school administrators might find useful in implementing a social media policy., As educators, we cannot afford not to take advantage of this powerful resource for our students and for ourselves. This is a good addition to your bookshelf.

Kristin Magette is a public relations professional and director of communications for Eudora Schools in Eudora, Kansas. She serves as an officer with the Kansas School Public Relations Association and can usually be found with her husband and two young children cheering on the Cardinals in Eudora.