Public vs. Private Instagram

Public vs. Private.
 
For many teachers this is something we consider carefully when setting up any type of on-line account for our students and classrooms. We need to ensure that our decisions align with divisional policy and media permissions, and at the same time allow us to embed technology into our teaching in a way that is meaningful and purposeful for students. Technology changes much faster than policy. Our kids are keeping up with the change. It's their world. We need to do what we can to meet them along the way. That often means that we as classroom teachers need to drive change in policy forward. Sometimes it can be a long and frustrating process, especially when we attempt to redefine a task using a technology that is new, or at least new to policy makers. Sometimes they need a little bit of convincing in order to change a policy or approve a project... sometimes they need a lot. Either way, the work is worth it. Every time.

Here is what I've found works well:

1.      Know Your System - Find out how information flows in your school division. Who do you need to talk to first? Make sure to provide them with enough information about what you want to do and why it's important for kids. I usually send a follow up email so that they have something in writing that they can send up the chain.

2.      Be Transparent - Provide as much information as you can about the program/web tool/device you want to use. Give them all of the information they need. If possible, include examples of other teachers doing what you want to do.

3.      Power in Numbers - If there are other teachers that want to do what you want to do, enlist their help. It's best if everyone is sending the same message and it's harder to ignore a message being sent by a group of people.

4.      Welcome Guests - Invite your principal or upper admin to come into your classroom and see how you embed technology in your teaching. Offer to show them what you do or explain in person.

 

Sometimes we need to be creative and compromise a little in order to be able to use the technology we want to use, and at the same time respect the policies that govern us. For this particular project, I created "The Rules of Instagram" for my classroom. I created the rules for a couple of reasons. Most importantly, I want my students to be responsible contributors of this digital community AND to learn to take great photos. Secondly, wanted to ensure that my school division would be on board and support the project (Rule #3 - Stuff not People, ensured that they would).

Many of the classroom and schools that are participating in the challenge are following our "Rules" for the photo challenge. Here they are:
 



NOTE: If your Instagram account is private, your photos won't show up in our Instagram gadget (on the side bar of this blog) or in a hashtag search. If you have a private account, only the people that you've allowed to follow you will be able to search and see your photos.