{"id":242796,"date":"2024-07-12T20:44:35","date_gmt":"2024-07-12T20:44:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/12\/how-to-connect-schools-and-communities\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:14:49","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:14:49","slug":"how-to-connect-schools-and-communities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/12\/how-to-connect-schools-and-communities\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Connect Schools And Communities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> [ad_1]<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\">\n<\/aside>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"756\" height=\"567\" alt=\"How To Connect Schools And Communities Using Technology\" class=\"wp-image-47457 perfmatters-lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology.jpg\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology.jpg 756w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology-750x563.jpg 750w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 756px) 100vw, 756px\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"756\" height=\"567\" src=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology.jpg\" alt=\"How To Connect Schools And Communities Using Technology\" class=\"wp-image-47457\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology.jpg 756w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/How-To-Connect-Schools-And-Communities-Using-Technology-750x563.jpg 750w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 756px) 100vw, 756px\"\/><\/figure>\n<p>by <strong>Terry Heick<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s possible that there is no time in the history of education that our systems of educating have been so out of touch with the communities. Growing populations, shifting communities, and increasingly inwardly-focused schools all play a role.<\/p>\n<p>In light of the access of modern technology, social media, and new learning models that reconfigure the time and place learning happens, it doesn\u2019t have to be that way. Schools can evolve while simultaneously growing closer to the people they serve.<\/p>\n<p>First, for the purpose of this post let\u2019s think of technology and social media as distinct.<\/p>\n<p>Technology has many forms, but in education, it is most visible in terms of computing hardware and software. The hardware is pretty obvious\u2014phones, wearable technology from Apple and Android, iPads, personal computers, Macs, Chromebooks, graphing calculators, and the like.<\/p>\n<p>The software is a bit more inconspicuous because it\u2019s embedded in the hardware. Here we have fundamental PC software like Microsoft Windows or Mac OS; we have productivity suites like Microsoft Office; we have web browsers like Google Chrome or Safari or Firefox; and we have niche programs like reading assessment tools or educational games, which function like what we\u2019d now consider computer-based apps.<\/p>\n<p>There are also less visible forms of technology that make teaching and learning with technology possible, including electricity (you take it for granted until it doesn\u2019t work) WiFi (imagine your classroom looking like it does behind your television\u2014wires everywhere), the cloud (which enables mobile learning, hardware sharing, flipped classrooms, and other advances), and more. Each of these technology tools is critical in their own way, working together to make whatever we\u2019d define as a \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/pedagogy\/every-modern-classroom\/\"><strong>modern classroom<\/strong><\/a>\u2018 and \u2018<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/the-future-of-learning\/principles-modern-learning\/\">modern learning<\/a><\/strong>\u2018 work.<\/p>\n<p>But hidden with this list is one bit of seemingly dated software that can be concept-mapped on its own in a million other directions of possibility. No one gets excited by it, but it still makes the internet go: the web browser.<\/p>\n<p>Although itself just a program that translates html code to visual information, the modern web browser has become a vessel that everything else attaches itself to. For schools looking to connect with communities, it also actuates social media channels like Instagram, twitter, facebook, and pinterest, and allows for the blogging or site updates that keep parents informed.<\/p>\n<p>None of this is new, really. The technology has been there for years. Parents have always been \u2018informed\u2019\u2014but of what? That\u2019s where there is potential. What we\u2019re communicating as educators, when, and why.<\/p>\n<p>So what can social media \u2018do\u2019?<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-solicit-mentoring-relationships\"><strong>Solicit mentoring relationships<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Whether organized by a district, school, teacher, family, or the student themselves, connecting with potential mentors through social media is compelling because it\u2019s A) Public\u2014transparent and safer than \u2018social media\u2019 sounds and B) Because it\u2019s public, it can encourage companies to respond when they may not in private.<\/p>\n<p>Connecting students to the artists, architects, engineers, makers, writers, farmers, cooks, and other \u2018roles\u2019 for the purpose of mentoring and apprenticeship is one way to begin to repair the disconnect between schools and communities.<\/p>\n<p>This one is closely related to the idea of \u2018mentoring\u2019 in the sense that it connects students with people outside of the classroom from their community. But rather than for the purpose of mentoring, it could be less involved\u2014topical but authentic communication between those leading the community, and those living in it, and social media is the perfect way to make it happen.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-share-school-work\"><strong>Share \u2018school work\u2019 <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p id=\"h-deally-authentic-productshare-school-work\">Ideally authentic products and artifacts produced through new skills and knowledge useful to people and communities.<\/p>\n<p>Want work to leave the classroom? Use social media to publish it with the world. Worried about privacy? Assign students anonymous codes or avatars to publish under. Used closed communities (Facebook Groups, for example) that, while not fully open, are still school-wide. There are ways.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-curate-cultural-artifacts-and-local-memory\"><strong>Curate cultural artifacts and \u2018local memory\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Today, museums do the work of \u2018curating,\u2019 but that\u2019s a crude way to preserve the cultural artifacts that matter. Why can\u2019t schools do this? And why can\u2019t technology be used to streamline and crowdsource it?<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-connect-schools-and-communities-using-technology-1\"><strong>How To Connect Schools And Communities Using Technology<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>In addition to connecting with the world students live and breathe in, new learning models afforded by technology are also useful in reconnecting with families, neighborhoods, and native places students have affection for.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-flipped-classroom\"><strong>Flipped Classroom<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The flipped classroom is one way to exchange where learning happens\u2014or at least what kind of learning happens where. Here, the roles are reversed: Students are exposed to content at home and practice it at school.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-mobile-learning\"><strong>Mobile learning<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Mobile learning is a brilliant way to immerse students in native places and landscapes. The challenge here is that education isn\u2019t quite ready for it, but if you can figure it out, the possibilities are extraordinary: Deep integration of learning, place, and people.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-place-based-education\"><strong>Place-based education<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>See above\u2014learning that is based on place and not an indexed set of nationalized curriculum. Authentic, familiar, and personal.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-project-based-learning\"><strong>Project-based learning<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Project-based learning can incorporate all of the above\u2014flipped classrooms, place-based learning, mobile learning, and so on. The idea is that teaching and learning are anchored through the process of authentic projects constructed over time. These \u2018reason\u2019 or \u2018need to know\u2019 for these projects will ideally both start and finish in communities.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-experiential-learning-scenario-based-learning\"><strong>Experiential learning\/Scenario-based learning<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Treat the school like a think tank. Explore and address local community issues. Use social media to connect with families and neighborhoods and businesses and organizations, then use problem-based or scenario-based learning to address them.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-conclusion\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Technology, so far, hasn\u2019t healed the disconnect between schools and communities, but that could be because we\u2019re selling it short for what it can do\u2014which might start with not seeing its potential fully. Today, popular uses are sharing grades, missing work, test dates, snow days, and basic school announcements. This isn\u2019t nearly good enough.<\/p>\n<p>Whether you\u2019re talking about hardware, software, social media, or something in between, more than anything else, technology connects. As educators, we just need to be intentional about what we\u2019re connecting, and why.<\/p>\n<p><em>image attribution flickr user <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/departmentofed\/15007216570\/\">usdepartmentofeducation<\/a>; how to connect schools and communities<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>[ad_2]<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.teachthought.com\/technology\/connect-schools-communities\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[ad_1] by Terry Heick It\u2019s possible that there is no time in the history of education that our systems of educating have been so out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":242797,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242796"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=242796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/242796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/242797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=242796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=242796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=242796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}