Becoming a Digital School Administrator
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This is Really HARD . . . . and Fascinating

10/29/2016

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I have been absolutely pounding Twitter and working my professional network for my "Becoming a Digital School Administrator" collection housed here at this site and on iTunes U. I started the collection in 2013 and it needs a major refresh. I went back to the original contributors and learned that many had moved on to central district posts or were now full-time consultants and presenters. This would not do because I hold to a strict criterion-- All exhibits must represent school building admins in the trenches.

Some of my former contributors were clearly done with me, which was fine since I needed new blood and new technology. I have sent emails, direct messages, tweets to literally hundreds of prospects:

1) The great majority ignore me.

2) Some show passing interest but don't answer my pesty follow-ups.

3) Others suggest I read their book or blog, which on any scale is sort of out of the question and not really usable at the site. One chap sent me his dissertation.

4) The three responses above would be pretty discouraging if I did not strike gold every so often with reactions from  digital admins such as....
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"This is a great resource."
Thanks for sharing"
"Fantastic stuff, Larry."
"Honoured to be mentioned on it.."


Actually it has been my honor to learn from and be connected to the many generous person featured at this site. Despite the tough plowing, this has already been a gratifying project.
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"Thank goodness for Twitter. . . ."

10/27/2016

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"Thank goodness for Twitter ... would love to connect some students"  was recently the tweet that I received from @NancyinLux1  This would be Nancy Lhoest Squicciarini, Assistant Principal at the International School of Luxembourg. We had crossed paths on Twitter and we are hoping to connect our student tech groups at The Student Tech Team Hub that the Mercy iWizards are developing.

Folks are often surprised when I tell them that nearly all of my professional development as a school administrator is through Twitter. In the last month I booked speakers from Massachusetts, S. Korea, Canada, and Dubai to make virtual presentations at Mercy's Tech Talk in February. I also did a podcast with an educator in Ottawa and had Google Hangouts with principals in Illinois and Jakarta. In each case my initial connection with these interesting educators was made through Twitter. For me, social media is most often intellectually stimulating, professionally gratifying, (and fun).

I am pretty sure our Dean of Students and Athletic Director would not say the same thing. I work closely with both individuals and social media-- particularly in the form of Twitter and Snapchat often lead to major hurt and headaches. In the "old days" a student might be mean to a peer or a parent rude to a coach. But on social media these remarks get shared and go viral. It is much harder to get past being stupid or inconsiderate when the messages or photos get seen by dozens or hundreds of others. When this happens, it's awful...and guess what, social media is not going away soon. In fact it's changing our world.

So I am not naive about Twitter but I think we really need to consider as schools what obligations we have to instruct students about this form of communication. A one hour assembly every couple of years is probably not enough....but what is the best way?
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I'll make sure that I will follow the best educators on Twitter who have something to say helpful to say about this important topic.

Larry Baker -- Cross-published at

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Live Streaming

10/24/2016

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 I was introduced to Periscope live streaming at our Tech Talk for Educators  last February.  I invited Doug Cohen from Frameable Faces to conduct a Periscope workshop. Unfortunately, because I was running the greater conference, I could only sit in on a portion of Doug's fascinating presentation.

I have recently had a second powerful experience with Periscope. While searching for best practices by digital school administrators for this web site. I stumbled on Craig Vroom's periscope during a school field trip to Washington DC. It was so cool that parents back home could enjoy the wreath-laying ceremony in which their children participated.

I also discovered that Matthew Mayer was using Facebook Live in much the same way.

I will definitely way the pros and cons of each and report back after I have done some live streaming of my own. Check out more about Craig's and Matthew's efforts at ​http://digprinclivestreaming.weebly.com/
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Why I Blog

10/23/2016

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Back to Blogs

I primarily blog for selfish purposes. Blogging helps me to refine my thoughts (In this case about blogging itself). I usually write a post after I have been involved in a project or event. Writing helps me to reflect upon the experience, and sometimes it  also actually helps to i refine the design of later events.

I also may want to showcase a student activity. The school has an assortment of social media that can be used to share all the many things that may be happening throughout the community, but I can take a deeper dive. In such cases I can also cross-post to our I.T. Blog.

Blogging here and at the school IT page is an exercise in transparency, but it also  sets the bar higher for me, when I write about ideas that have hatched or events in progress.  

I think this is even more important for Larry Baker the administrator to blog than Larry Baker the teacher.  As Lucy Grey has pointed out, my blogging has served as a means for documenting our school's technology innovations over five years.

As my readership grows, the blog allows me to extend whatever educational leadership I have to offer beyond Mercy and the university course I teach. I've always enjoyed writing and this blog gives me a nice reason to do so.

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Global Collaboration

10/22/2016

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Of course one of the great instructional advantages of placing a mobile device in each student’s hands is that she has a world of information at her fingertips. But as a learner and teacher, I have found that being connected to other people has had an even more powerful impact on deep learning.
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At the very founding of our iWizards student tech team group, our consultant, Lucy Gray, arranged Google Hangouts with other groups, such as the Tech Sherpas of Central Maine. More recently, we experienced a fun collaboration with the iWarriors of Birmingham Brother Rice. Together tech team members visited the ultra-techie-cool Data Center of Rock Financial in Detroit. This was a terrific learning experience about technology , engineering, and careers.

In this spirit of collaboration the iWizards are now trying to connect globally with other student tech teams. We have established a hub where teams can gather virtually and share. Even though it is only under construction, I invite you to see it (and promote it on social media).  http://techteamhub.weebly.com/


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    Larry Baker

    Assoc Principal. ADE '09. Presents on PD, tech teams, admin tech. Moderator of iWizards. Founded Tech Talk at MHS. Love family, sports, cycling, music. @labcbaker

    Former blog: may be found Larry's Opinion Drive-thru 

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