Yesterday, I was incredibly surprised and flattered to see a tweet from DistanceEducation.org (@onlinecourse) alerting me that I was on their list of The Top 20 in Education on Twitter for 2012.

I immediately assumed there was an error and expected a retraction. I also felt kinda guilty for tweeting almost exclusively about my many overindulgent meals consumed during winter vacation...especially after reading the really kind explanation for why they considered me:

Education, photography, and travel are just a few of the topics that @SpecialKRB covers everyday. Offering her followers a number of really great tips, @SpecialKRB is the ideal influencer to follow for anyone who loves mixing creativity and education.

I'm still grappling with how to navigate online social spaces, even as I have the chutzpah to teach my students how to do so. I predominantly post projects I work on in school, articles that interest me, stuff I learn about at conferences, weird NYC sightings, and things I do on my travels. Contrary to how it may seem, I make attempts to filter what I share and hope to avoid oversharing or banality. Additionally, I try to balance the whole professional/personal stream of information. Clearly, I've made bad choices, but I try to learn from each mistake. My New Year's resolution is to prevent my boss, my best friend, or my mother from confronting me with something that would jeopardize my job, relationship, or inheritance. Here's hoping I can stick to that for at least the duration of 2012...

DistanceEducation.org's list includes the following educators on Twitter:

Chris Lehmann @chrislehmann, Tom Barrett @tombarrett, Kevin McLaughlin @kvnmcl, Alec Couros @courosa, Kim Cofino @mscofino, Graham Stanley @grahamstanley, Joyce Seitzinger @catspyjamasnz, Jabiz Raisdana @intrepidteacher, Larry Carver @lcarver, Colette Cassinelli @ccassinelli, Karen Blumberg @SpecialKRB, Education.com @JustAskEdu, Anita Harris @iTechSpec, Angela Maiers @AngelaMaiers, Kathleen K. Manzo @kmanzo, Carrie Schneider @lattesc, Berni Wall @rliberni, Urban Education @UrbanEducation, Dr. Steve Perry @DrStevePerry, Alexander Russo @alexanderrusso

•  How can technology serve to transform teaching and learning? When we say “educational transformation”, what does that mean and how do we get there?
•  How do we increase access to technology and make it a priority in Districts to maximize learning?  Are 1:1 environments attainable?  If so how? Where does equity fit in?
• What does personalized learning look like and how can it be established? How do we move Districts, educators, and other stakeholders to embrace this concept both in and out of school?
• What is, or should be, the role of social media in education/the classroom and how can it be utilized for professional development?
• How do we engage school leaders in a conversation about the important role of technology and social media in education?  How do administrators support innovation in the age of accountability?
  

At the risk of leaving anyone out, present around the table today were: @NMHS_Principal (moderator), @tomwhitby, @InnovativeEdu, @adambellow, @Edu_Traveler (a parent at @The_School), @kenroyal, @drbpchinni, @erikendress, @timeoutdad, @agarry22, @kishizuka, @kjarrett, @MichLampinen, @teach2connect, @snowwhiteatdell, @paulallison, @susanmcp1 , @PMicheleGlaze, and @SpecialKRB (me).

Last week, I introducted the 6th grade to our internal social network creatively entitled, The Social Network. This is the fifth year we've used an in-house solution powered by Elgg. We archive the previous year's work, upgrade to the latest version of Elgg, and start with a new blank space every year. Not only does this free the server manager from the drudgery of importing the old stuff onto a new system, it reinforces that a social network is only as valuable as the information its users freely include and share. As Don Buckley, the Director of Innovation at The School at Columbia University, will tell you, a social network is populated with the following information: Who are you? Who are your friends? What do you do?

The 6th graders were really excited to join in, and we had a pretty great 30-minute discussion about appropriate information to include in a digital profile and how to behave online, especially in light of the fact that The Social Network is part of our academic suite of tools. I reminded them that they were too young to legally have a profile on Facebook, but I discussed in detail things I found inappropriate. I don't just judge; I tell them that I judge. I reminded them that they should carefully consider their actions in the virtual and the physical worlds, as it all goes towards building their character and their perceived character. I also gave them examples of kids and adults behaving badly online. [Usually I mention this sexting story when I talk about how everything online is public, permanent, and traceable: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/27/us/27sexting.html?_r=2]

Today, I was pretty annoyed and surprised when I found out from two different teachers that kids were creating private groups on The Social Network and personally inviting certain kids while gleefully excluding others. Or, maybe I'm just offended that they didn't include me in a group formed "for pretty and popular kids ONLY!!!" So, this afternoon, I gathered the 6th grade together and told them I was disappointed and surprised that within a week of joining this shared digital space, they were already making unfortunate choices.

I reminded them that in the real world I would never have middle school "friends" on Facebook and that shouldn't even think about trying to connect with me online until they can legally vote. But, here at The School, they should freely connect with their classmates and teachers. Outside of school, they are plenty of ways to ostracize based on gender, religion, race, ethnicity, sexuality, socio-economic status. Inside these walls, we should embrace our community and seek ways to learn, collaborate, and use the technology academically, respectfully, responsibly. I also reinforced that it is ok to have private groups, but there should be a purpose besides being solely exclusive.

The kids came up with pretty great examples of acceptable private groups - grade level groups, class groups, homeroom groups, and maybe creative writing groups where you would want to share your work with a select group of peer editors. I asked them to consult a teacher before creating a private group. I reminded them that they should actively consult a teacher for most things, just like I do with Don.