#ISTE17 – How to Expand Learning into the Social Media Sphere

Posted on Author bradshreff

My first impression on this session was walking into “What Does the Clock Say?” an Ylvis spoof of the viral sensation. So yeah, that happened.

Mister C (Kevin Cornell) seems like a really cool guy. I know, that sounds cheesy, but it’s kinda true. He is engaging and fun, he got the audience laughing (despite the session starting at 9 am). He also has a clear idea of his brand and image on point. He definitely understands how to send a consistent message for who he is and what he does. If you don’t believe me, this is the infomercial he made for his YouTube channel:

Anyways, onto the session:

Twenty minutes into the session, I get the idea clearly that Mister C knows what he is doing on social media. He is pointing out the importance of protecting yourself with what you post (making sure you follow district rules, disconnecting your public and personal social media).

He included an interactive activity (that I volunteered for) in which we were given ten seconds to blow up a long bag. I and another one filled up about 3 feet of it. He then had his own, and in one breath (while letting someone else hold the other end) filled the majority of it. His point was that we need to think about working smarter, and that social media can be a tool to help us work smarter, not harder.

What I don’t get out of this session is how to extend student learning into social media. It feels like he is advocating for teacher use of social media to become experts in their field, or to build their own brand. I was hoping based on the title to see more of how to get students generating content to show their learning.

One slide for example includes the following:

Build an Audience:

  • Keeping the two identities separate.
  • Maintain professionalism
  • Create targeted content
  • Provide them what they are seeking

This is all good advice. He also talks about engaging with your audience, making things fun, maintaining your audience, thinking about the consequences of what you post, etc.

Despite the fact that this session didn’t really met what I wanted, Mister C knows his stuff, and the session was good. I suspect that the audience in the room got some things out of it they will use.

So, check out his stuff and connect with him.