The School Leader's Guide to Social Media

Williamson (educational leadership, Eastern Michigan U.) and Johnston (secondary education, U. of South Florida) present a guide that helps school leaders understand the benefits and concerns presented by social media, with a focus on the issues, skills, and strategies needed, not the technology. After introducing social media technology and its potential for schools, they address issues of school and student safety, including cyberbullying and sexting; encouraging responsible use; the roles of principals, teachers, students, parents, and the community; crisis planning and response; and developing acceptable-use policies. They then discuss the use of social media from blogs to wikis to podcasts in school management, for communication, productivity, and professional growth, and to enhance learning, with discussion of tools like web pages, RSS feeds and aggregators, Facebook and Twitter, photo and video sharing, video conferencing, games, and simulation, with an emphasis on providing instructional leadership for their integration. No index is supplied. Annotation Ac2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Ronald Williamson is Professor of Educational Leadership at Eastern Michigan University. He has served as Executive Director of the National Middle School Association and as President of the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform. He is also the author of seven books.