A Teacher's Guide to Using Facebook

After several weeks of writing and revising, I've finally published "A Teacher's Guide to Using Facebook".

It is intended to assist teachers with creating a profile on Facebook that upholds their professional image while sharing information that can be useful in deciding what type of profile one wishes to create.

This guide was created under a Creative Commons License with some rights reserved.
I hope you enjoy reading it and find it useful in your online professional life!

Teacher's Guide to Using Facebook

How to Embed an Item into Your Blog

As per a request made by one of our blog readers, I've created a short video tutorial of how to embed an item into your blog. I used Screentoaster to create this tutorial. You can view it in full screen by selecting the "full screen" icon which is in the middle of the video screen below the "play" button.

I have written another post about how to embed a video into your blog which you can refer to here as well.

Screencasts and videos online

Twitter for Teachers as a PLN

Below is a presentation I've created on how teachers can use Twitter to build and sustain a Personal Learning Network (PLN):

Twitter for Teachers

View more OpenOffice presentations from bernadette_rego.

I would love to read your comments on this!

Before you send...

A person from a listserv to which I'm subscribed recently received an unprofessional reply by e-mail to some concerns she had regarding the philosophy of a program she will be teaching in this summer. After reading the e-mail over, I, too was appalled by the insensitivity and lack of regard for the recipient.

One unfortunately cannot read another person's facial expressions in e-mail. This is why it is so important to read over an e-mail carefully before sending it. It is particularly imperative to do so when dealing with someone who is already irate.

I remember a while back when I received an e-mail from a parent who was feeling at a loss about how the school was dealing with some interpersonal issues that were occurring between her daughter and two other girls in my class. After sending her an e-mail and speaking by phone with her, it appeared I had allayed her concerns.

A few days after, I received a most curt and accusing e-mail from this parent which really surprised both myself and my principal. At first, I felt defeated in my efforts to address the issue with her daughter and then admittedly angered that she could have attacked me in such a manner despite our generally good rapport with each other.

After having thought it over a few days, I realized some things about the nature of this e-mail which restored some calmness in me. Firstly, the e-mail was sent at 11:30PM; it is quite possible the parent was not in a very clear frame of mind when she had sent this e-mail so late. Perhaps if she had saved it as a draft and re-visited it the next day, she might not have had such strong words to share. Secondly, she had sent this e-mail after another incident had occurred with her daughter at girl scouts that evening. She could hear her daughter crying in her bedroom and felt helpless and angered. Now that I am a parent, I could imagine myself becoming very upset if my daughter were being hurt and it appeared no one cared enough to take actions to protect her.

In all of this, I felt so upset at the time and didn't fully trust myself to deal with the situation any further. I referred it to the principal who then dealt with the parent directly instead.

Going back to the present, this person who received a very curt e-mail also felt her concerns were not validated and that she was further alienated by the person in charge of this program. It made me think of how often this happens in our daily lives, both professionally and personally.

I think we need to make space in our Language Arts curriculum to teach children about writing etiquette, especially in the intermediate and secondary grades. This is one skill that, if taught and practiced, could save a lot of grief and could help in building better relationships. Although technologies now exist that allow for one to communicate through audio and video recordings, e-mail is still a very common form of communication between individuals. Thus the need to have an understanding of how to write with care is something we should probably be addressing more carefully.

Such skills could be taught using e-mail or blogs where students are expected to comment on a post. They could also be taught as part of a novel study where the student is writing to a character about a sensitive issue. In situations where a student has had a conflict with a peer, perhaps he/she could be encouraged to write down a response and have you look over it before it is sent to the other person. There are many opportunities to introduce good writing etiquette. How it is modelled in school is largely dependent on you as the teacher. Thus it is also important to be sensitive to how we as educators convey written messages to our students. I remember a student's parent once sharing with my colleague that he has taught his children that respect must be earned in order to receive it. If we are engaged in disrespectful discussion with our students, how could we honestly expect them to be otherwise with us and with their peers?


When I took a Communications class as part of my Bachelors of Commerce, we were often taught how to write professional letters. Unfortunately, there was never any opportunity to learn how to write responses to correspondence that dealt with individual concerns. Ironically, it is this type of correspondence that we commonly encounter if we are dealing with people. Even when all is well and someone is simply e-mailing to convey a neutral message (e.g. my daughter will be away for a family vacation in two weeks), it is still important to understand the nuances of e-mail writing as there is always the potential to come across in a way not intended.

Have you any experiences to share of e-mails you've sent or received that may have raised an eyebrow? What are your views on teaching students about e-mail etiquette?

Issues around Online Group Projects

(Image courtesy of Image After)

Technologies now allow one to complete a degree from a well-accredited university without leaving one's home. Unlike in the days of correspondence learning where one would complete assignments and mail them back to an instructor to be graded and returned in the same manner, there are tools that allow for more active learning and immediate feedback. There is also a greater potential to collaborate with other learners, leaving the door open to instructors who wish to implement group projects.

One of the advantages of online group work that does not necessarily apply to the traditional classroom, is the ability to more easily track member participation and effort. If using a Learning Management System (LMS) such as Blackboard or Moodle, one can create forums for small group discussions; furthermore, one is better able to determine who is or isn't participating by the number of posts under their username. One can also assess the quality of individual contributions to the group project by reading individual comments within the group discussion. Synchronous tools such as chat rooms and Skype allow students to communicate live and submit recordings of conversations to the instructor. Lastly, the instructor is able to have a sense of the general group effort in analyzing the frequency of posts and timeliness of responses to group member inquiries and comments.

There are also challenges to this learning format. In assignments that are created collaboratively, unless each member must submit a piece of their work, it can be difficult to ascertain who contributed what to the assignment. For example, if an instructor were to ask a group to submit a summary of their responses to questions, he or she may not readily be able to identify whether everyone in fact did contribute to the document or what they did contribute from looking at the final product. A conscientious member of the group may have been the one up in the late night synthesizing all the responses into one final piece while the others decided after submitting their individual responses they felt their part was done.

Another challenge within the context of the group project is knowing when to step in and when to remain the silent observer regarding the nature of comments posted in the forum. When there is a flaming incident, where one student is making a personal attack on another group member, should the instructor intervene immediately or should he/she leave a window in time to give the other members an opportunity to respond? Alternatively, if there is no discussion on the part of other members, should the instructor intervene or only allow it to continue and later grade the members in a manner that reflects their lack of participation?

Lastly, when group members are communicating through an LMS, they are mostly doing so by e-mail or discussion posts. As most of us are aware, it is hard to read facial expressions in writing alone. Thus when one student submits a comment critiquing another student's comment, it could be completely misconstrued and taken personally. This can have a detrimental impact on the group dynamic and the ability to move forward productively in a project.

I think it is crucial that in distance learning, an instructor should have a balance between group and individual assignments. There should also be criteria clearly stated somewhere for students to read and understand what the terms and conditions around group work are.

What are your thoughts? Have you an experience to share around online group projects?

Re-thinking the Definition of "Communities"

(image courtesy of Pics4Learning)

I've recently begun a Masters course on Education Technology in the Arts/Humanities Classroom. One of the readings by Palloff and Pratt, titled "Building learning Communities in Cyberspace" touched on the topic of "learning communities" and what criteria must be met to build this type of community:

-clearly define the purpose of the group
-create a distinctive gathering place for the group
-promote effective leadership from within
-define norms and a clear code of conduct
-allow for a range of member roles
-allow for and facilitate subgroups
-allow members to resolve their own disputes
(Palloff, Pratt, p.24)

Often when we think of the traditional definition of "community", this conjures a mental image of a town-like setting with people waving and talking to each other. We also picture that due to the quaintness of such places, people largely know each other on a first name basis. The traditional definition of community also tends to be associated with a place-based identity; thus community has been strictly tied to one's geographical location.

With the creating of social networks online, people are now congregating in various types of online group settings who share commonalities. Interests ranging from politics to education can bring several people together from all over the world.

From personal experience, I've been part of a professional learning network (PLN) largely through Twitter as I've mentioned in my previous post. I have found that I've learned so much from other people through their links to resources. I am also part of other online groups that come together via listserv (mailing list) where one posts discussions and they are threaded so that we can track the discussion closely. One such group is comprised of parents who are interested in sharing advice and asking for assistance relating to parenting issues. We have members from Canada, US, India, and some countries in Europe. Recently, one person wrote a comment requesting assistance relating to handling her young child's sudden emotional outbursts. Within a short time, there were a few thoughtful responses to her question. The person wrote to express her gratitude noting her delight with the level of support within this group. After reading her post, it made me strongly consider the need to re-think the definition of "community" in the context of online interactions with people.

I have heard people often refer to social networking tools such as Facebook or Twitter as places where one can feel part of a community of people. I'd like to step back and look to Palloff's and Pratt's criteria which I listed earlier and treat it like a checklist while examining these two social networking tools; having examined each criterion I would say that both Twitter and Facebook would be potentially classified as "communities" according to Palloff and Pratt. However, I still feel there is something amiss in this definition of "communities".

One might add you as a friend on Facebook or follow you on Twitter as the case may be, but is one necessarily going to have a similar community feel to that of a person in a place-based community? Apart from the lack of face-to-face interaction in the online realm, does one truly feel supported by other group members and at will to share their inner-most thoughts? Of course, comparing Twitter, a social networking tool that limits you to typing no more than 140 characters to a listserv where you could write a lengthy response, the quality and types of interactions differ greatly. Furthermore, does size also matter? In the case of a place-based community, one typically thinks of the lesser-populated environments as those where a stronger regard and understanding of others exists. However, when online, the larger the size of a "community" the more possibility in getting responses or support from others in your network.

If you refer back to my story of the parenting listserv, I think what made it seem more like a "community" of people would be that much of the questions and advice relayed are emotionally involved - that is, we are often seeking emotional support which requires opening up to others in a way that one doesn't always feel comfortable doing in other environments. There is a sense of anonymity in that we don't have profile pictures posted nor do we need to share any personal information with our audience. Perhaps in this regard, we feel more free to speak our minds and admitting that parenting is challenging at best without the risk of finger-pointing.

I think the need to re-define the term "community" with respect to the online realm is evident as we hear this word creep up more often with the rise of social media. I sometimes feel concerned we over-use it or misuse it entirely as some education professionals have mentioned before.

What are your views on using the word "community" when online? What are some factors that you think we need to consider? Is it realistic to use this term for anything other than a place-based setting as some would advocate?

Twitter for Teachers

If you don't know what Twitter is, it is a social networking tool where you can write up to 140 characters in a sentence or "tweet" and send it to those who have requested to "follow" your updates. It is similar to that of Facebook and MySpace status updates.



When I first used Twitter, I was admittedly reluctant about it. I initially didn't understand the point of sharing updates on what I was doing. As I started to read more about it, I discovered there were educators using it to share links to good websites, current events, and education articles. As I started to build my Personal Learning Network (PLN), I discovered other great people to follow through those I was already following! I now am following almost 200 education professionals, ranging from researchers to classroom teachers.

If you are a teacher and would like to enhance your professional development online, you could find some other teachers to follow at the Twitter4Teachers wiki. I would also encourage you to add your name to the wiki so that other teachers can follow you.

If you are currently using Twitter, tell us about some recommended people to follow here! Send in your comment with the Twitter ID of the person(s) and what they mainly "tweet" about.

For those of you who would like to follow my updates, I am at twitter.com/rego_b . My updates are protected so you would need to request to "follow" me.