How can you avoid the training dump and run?

During that face-to-face training it all seems so easy. The presenter makes sense, the presentation makes sense, this is something you can do. But then, you go home and the real world converges. It's not as easy, where's that presenter now?

As a trainer and a trainee, I can relate. But it's not feasible for the trainer to visit me on site, is it? or isn't it? Why can't I get in the minute support? In this day of 24/7 internet access I think it is possible. But it does take planning, forethought and support.

Discussion Groups

One way to keep the conversation going, is to create an online discussion group.There are a variety of social media platforms that can be used for this purpose:

Facebook

Using the Groups option, you can create an open or closed discussion group. You can make it hidden, so only folks sent a link can find the group, or make posting only open to invitees but the posts viewable by anyone. Or you can leave the group completely open, anyone can see the group and post to it. 

LinkedIn 

If you are looking for a more professional space, LInkedIn is another useful site to use. Like Facebook, LinkedIn allows users to create discussion groups that can be either open or closed.  

Before You Start

It is important to identify your potential audience, develop a disclaimer and some guidelines. It is important to remind users not to refer to specific people--and to remember that if they are from a small community even a general description might be too specific.

Play

I attended the Massachusetts Early Intervention Consortium's Conference in early May. The MEIC, as it is called, is an exciting opportunity for early intervention professionals  and the parents they work with, to learn together. The key note speaker this year was Nancy Carlsson-Paige (you can read more about her here: http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/blog/). Ms. Carlsson-Paige talked about the importance of unstructured play--pretend play, that is self-directed.

I was there to present a two-day intensive workshop entitled: Social Media Strategies: Using Technology to Support and Inform. While it might seem that these two topics were incongruous, I would argue that Pinterest, one of the most popular social media sites for young mothers, shows that families are creating and sharing ideas about unstructured play.  And to prove it, I want to share some pins from families showing how to reuse those old entertainment centers:

A quick trip to a yard sale or thrift store, some paint, fabric and creativity and for under a $100 you can have a pretend kitchen that can provide hours and hours of imaginative play.

Need a Handy Guide to Social Media Sites?

social media sites

Social media includes web-based and mobile- based technologies, which allow users to create their own content and share the content of others.  Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as "a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content." Following is a sampling of social media sites, explanations of the site and when it was launched and suggested users or pages to follow, please note that these lists are not exhaustive.  There are dozens of great social media sites out there, this is just to give you a flavor of what is out there—please explore and be social and share!

Facebook

Facebook is a social networking service and website launched February 2004.  http://www.facebook.com

Facebook page insights explained here: http://ads.ak.facebook.com/ads/FacebookAds/Page_Insights_en_US.pdf

Pages to Like: EIFA, Early Intervention Parent Leadership Project, National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY), Division for Early Childhood, Center for Early Literacy Learning (CELL), Disability Scoop, Family Voices, Inc, (national and your state’s chapter), Disability.gov, Special Olympics, AMCHP, TACSEI, The Arc of the United States, AAPPD,  Friendship Circle of Michigan, Community Catalyst, PlayAbility Toys, Reach Out and Read, Zero To Three Policy Network, The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Special Education Advisor, Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults, Helen Keller National Center for Deaf-Blind Youths and Adults,

Google+

Google+ (pronounced and sometimes written as Google Plus, sometimes abbreviated as G+) is a multilingual social networking and identity service owned and operated by Google Inc.  Google+ was launched June 28, 2001.  http://www.plus.google.com/

Groups to Follow: Special Education Advisor, NICHCY,

Linked in

LinkedIn is a professional social networking website.  Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking.  http://www.linked.com/   

Groups to Join: Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), Early Intervention Professionals, Association for Childhood Education International, ZERO TO THREE Policy Network, Parents of Special Kids, Parents Helping Parents, President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities, Early Intervention Therapists,

Pinterest

Pinterest is a pinboard-style social photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections.  Launched in March 2010 it is currently one of the fastest growing social sites. http://www.pinterest.com/. Pinterest requires an invitation at the time of this writing, you can request an invite from someone you know who is already using Pinterest.

Pinners to follow: Pedia Staff on Pinterest, SPDBN, 5m4SN (5 Minutes for Special Needs), Special Needs Homeschooling, Caseywaid, Apraxia KIDS, Rick Smith (aka Noah’s Dad), NICHCY,

Tumblr

Tumblr is a micro-blogging platform and social networking website, owned and operated by Tumblr, Inc.  The service allows users to post multimedia and other content to a short-form blog, named a “tumblelog”. Users edit their content from the “dashboard” interface, where the option to post content and review posts of followed blogs appear.  Tumblr was launched on April 27, 2007.  http://tumblr.com

Twitter

Twitter is an online social networking service and micro-blogging  service that allows its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as “tweets”.  Users can group posts together by topic or type by use of hashtags – words or phrases prefixed with a "#" sign. The "@" sign followed by a username is used for mentioning or replying to other users.  To repost a message from another Twitter user, and share it with one's own followers, the retweet function is symbolized by "RT" in the message. Twitter was created in March 2006 and launched that July.  http://twitter.com

Tweeple to follow: EIFAorg, Family Voices of IN, DissemCOP (Dissemination COP), SpecialEdAdvice, aecfkidscount (Kids Count at Annie E. Casey Foundation), NDSC (National DS Congress), DSAInfo (Down Syndrome Association), ASHA, earlyautism, NCWD/Youth, Inclusive_class,  edcocp, EducationNext, DissemCoP, NICHCY, IntervenersDB, OfficeofEdTech, StephenLukeEd

Apps...

Social media apps

Apps, or application software, are computer software created to help the user to perform specific tasks. Application software generally apply in the performance of tasks that benefit the user.

Addthis

AddThis is a widely used social bookmarking service founded in 2006 and owned by Clearspring.  AddThis can be integrated into a website or browser with the use of a web widget. Once added, users can bookmark an item using a variety of services, such as Facebook, MySpace, Google Bookmarks, Pinterest, and Twitter.  http://www.addthis.com/

bitly

Bitly (formerly bit.ly) is a URL shortening and bookmarking service owned by bitly, Inc., a betaworks company.  The bitly URL shortening service is popular on micro-blogging website Twitter because it was the default URL shortening service on the website since May 6, 2009, replacing TinyURL.  http://bit.ly/

Hootsuite

HootSuite is a social media management system for brand management created in 2008. The user interface takes the form of a dashboard, and supports social network integrations for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Foursquare, Mixi, MySpace, Ping.fm, and WordPress.  Additional integrations are available via HootSuite’s App Directory which includes support for Tumblr, Trendspottr, Constant Contact. Digg, Flickr, Get Satisfaction, InboxQ, and YouTube.  http://www.hootsuite.com/

TweetDeck

TweetDeck is a social media dashboard application for management of Twitter and Facebook accounts. Like other Twitter applications it works with the Twitter API to allow users to send and receive tweets and view profiles. http://www.tweetdeck.com/

Twitpic

TwitPic is a website that allows users to easily post pictures to Twitter.  TwitPic is often used by citizen journalists to upload and distribute pictures in near real-time as an event is taking place.  http://twitpic.com/

Tweetchat

Twitter chats, sometimes known as a Twitter party or a tweet chat, happen when a group of people all tweet about the same topic using a specific tag (#) called a hashtag that allows it to be followed on Twitter. The chats are at a specific time and often repeat weekly or bi-weekly or are only at announced times. http://tweetchat.com/

Read more: http://janetfouts.com/how-to-participate-in-a-tweet-chat/#ixzz2JJpeqm3K 

So How Do You Create those graphics?

I am often asked during presentations, how did you create those great graphics?  Well, first I subscribed to Tom Kuhlman's blog over at Articulate: http://www.articulate.com/rapid-elearning/.Tom has tons of posts on how to create your own graphics, using existing graphics. I also like to take a ton of screenshots, this way I can show exactly what I want to my attendees to see on a specific social media platform, without worrying that the site might have changed, or without other distractions or worse, problems with the internet connection.  

But how do you get those screenshots?

There are two quick and easy ways to capture screenshots.

1.  Snipping Tool (Windows 7 only):

 *   Go to the Start Menu, Accessories, Snipping Tool.
 *   Once opened your screen will turn white and you can drag a red rectangle over the desired portion of the screen.
 *   In the window that pops up you can  save your Snip.

2.  Print Screen:

 *   With image you want on the screen hold down the Alt key and press the PrntScrn key. This key is located somewhere on the top right of your keyboard.
 *  Now you can save your picture.

I've got my pic, now what?

I've found that opening up my screenshot in PowerPoint and playing around with cropping the picture, adding shapes, like an arrow or circle or blurring out someone's face in the screenshot helps me to create graphics that show what I want my attendees 

Updating Content on Facebook

Facebook timeline status updates are limited to 420 characters.  In addition to personal timelines, users can create Personal pages or Fanpages for their organizations or buisnesses.

Facebook content can be updated on an hourly, daily or weekly basis.  It is important to remember when you are using Facebook as your page, rather than your personal timeline that you are posting, not as an individual, but rather as an organization.

How to Use a Facebook Page:

1.    You can switch between yourself and the page by clicking on the arrow next to Home at the top of the page, and saying you want to use Facebook as a page. Alternatively, you can use Facebook as yourself, and post to your page as yourself.  When you post this way your profile picture will be next to anything you post to your Facebook page.  when you are posting as the page—remember that you are posting as an organization, and please do not use I, me, my, as you are representing the organization as a whole, and folks will not know who is “speaking”.  If you want to post in the first person, then simply post using the link above to access the page without switching to using Facebook as a page.  (When you are using Facebook as the page and you want to return to your own persona, just follow the same directions and click on use as YOURNAME).

2.    Approximately 48 hours after posting, the analytics for your page will show for admins.  See picture below to see how the analytics show up on the admin view of the page—you need to use Facebook as a page to see the analytics.

Assessing your Social Media Needs

Making a Plan
Before you can develop a social media plan, it is a good idea to assess your needs.  Here is a quick tool to help you identify your needs.

• How frequently do you want to update your content on your website?
• every six months
• once a quarter
• monthly
• weekly

• How frequently do you want to update your content on a blog?
• monthly
• twice a week
• weekly

• How frequently do you want to update your content on a Facebook Page?
• weekly
• daily
• twice a day
• hourly

• How frequently do you want to update your content on a YouTube Channel?
• bimonthl
• monthly
• weekly

• How frequently do you want to update your content on a Twitter feed?
• a few times a week
• daily
• twice a day
• hourly
• many times an hour

Now Don't Run Away!

You do not need to use each of these mediums, though many organizations do. But you do have to recognize that twitter content moves very fast, so you need to be updating more frequently if you want your content to be seen. However, this also means that you can use the same content  many times on twitter without worry that your followers will be annoyed.  If however, you posted the same post to your blog, week after week, you would quickly lose followers.  The point is, assess what you want to accomplish with the various mediums, look at how frequently the content needs to be updated to avoid being either too stale or too annoying and chart your own course.

Add This

One of the easiest ways to “capture” web content, both hyperlinks and images from other websites and share it to Facebook is to use a browser plug-in.  One plug-in that is easy to use and you can place as a shortcut on your browser tab is: Add This.  You will have an orange-red button with a white plus sign installed on your browser bookmark list.  Once installed in your browser toolbar, you can customize to list the social media sites you use most.   You can then share a webpage via email, to Facebook, twitter, blogger, Pinterest, etc.,  

Now you can easily share any website you find! If you are signed into Facebook and using it as your page, use Add This to share some content, it will be shared as your page. If you are signed in as yourself and use add this to share some content, it will be shared on your Timeline.

Generally, one wants to sprinkle Facebook posts throughout the day, and avoid posting a series of shares at one time. This annoys your followers and reduces the importance of your posts. Recent analytic studies show that shares of posts are highest on Saturday mornings. 

Using Facebook without being Friends

As Facebook become more popular beyond its original core audience (college kids) it became apparent that there needed to be other ways to allow people to connect. The creation of the Facebook Page has enabled folks to share information without necessarily being "Friends" on Facebook.

Do I have to have a Facebook Timeline Page?

Yes, however, you do not need to friend your Facebook fans. Which means that you can post as your page, without worrying that your Page's Fans will also see your posts on your own timeline. Thus that silly joke between you and your neighbor about whose team will make it into the Final Four won't appear on your Page. As of this writing, Page Administrators have a choice about letting followers know who is administrating the page. There are of course, pros and cons to this practice. On the pro side, followers won't worry about individual administrators, trusting that the posts on the page represent the viewpoints of the page as a whole. On the con side, we've seen teens set up pages and use the ability to be anonymous to bully. With concerted effort those types of pages can be removed.

Trusted Administrators

Facebook has expanded the ability of users to have more than one person operate a Facebook page. This can be a great way to increase family leadership.  

First Things First

Before handing over the reins to your Facebook Page, it is a good idea to have a written communication plan.  This plan can be quite simple, but should outline the objectives that your organization hopes to achieve by using Facebook. It might be as simple as increasing traffic to your website, or encouraging visitors to take action on a particular activity, or it may be that you are interested in informing others about issues. A good place to start is the SocialFish white paper on social media policies. This white paper really helps users to think about the various levels of awareness and responsibility that different members might have for the organization's social media activities.

Whatever your objective, starting with a plan can guide you as you determine your page's "voice".  It is also important to be explicit with other administrator's about your expectations. Your page probably isn't the place to discuss who you are rooting for in the Super Bowl--unless your page is focused on sports fans--but, using the Super Bowl as a topic you might be able to generate interest in your page.  For instance, if your page is focused on young children with disabilities, asking how families include their child in big family events like a Super Bowl party might be a great way to generate discussion. Or you might want to talk about recent letter  from the US Department of Education regarding the importance of insuring that children with disabilities have access to school sports.

Using a communication plan can help you to schedule your posts and stay consistent with your level of activity.

Now what?

Now that you have your objectives clarified and have a communication plan in place it is time to encourage others to assist with managing the page. It will get messy. This is an opportunity to practice, post and evaluate. Remember, if all of your posts are "safe" or tame, you will not generate much buzz. On the other hand, buzzworthy posts often generate strong opinions.  It will be up to leadership to determine how much controversy is to much. Setting aside time to review posts and discuss how people are deciding what to post and when is a good way to insure that everyone is staying true to the organization's message. Generally, it is a good idea to begin by setting a timetable to review activity, rather than waiting for a misstep to schedule a discussion.

Is there another way to generate activity?

If you aren't ready to turn over the reins, or believe that you might need to spend more time supporting other content creators, there are other ways to increase your reach. One way to increase activity, without sharing administration of your page, is to ask others to share and re-share your content.  You can even create multiple sample posts, that connect with the posts shared on your page and encourage family leaders to share your page to their own timeline.  This can have a two-fold advantage, as it can increase your reach, and it can help model how to  craft an effective post.

Using YouTube to Inform

Despite being owned by Google, YouTube is still the number one search engine. While most of the videos on YouTube are there for entertainment value, there are many educational videos out there.

Finding Videos

The US Department of Education has a YouTube channel with hundreds of videos. Many of the technical assistance centers funded by the US Dept of Ed also have their own YouTube channels with hundreds of uploaded videos. Channels funded with education dollars include: 

The National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center has many wonderful training videos. The Technical Assistance Center on Social and Emotional Intervention for Young Children or TACSEI channel has wonderful videos about supporting young children's social and emotional development. There are also YouTube channels featuring the work of many of the Parent and Training and Information Centers, which are funded with funds from Part D of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).  

Creating Playlists

One way to make it easier for families, and the professionals who support them, to find high quality videos that address their informational needs is to create playlists. Playlists can be grouped by topic area, for instance, Assistive Technology, or Social and Emotional Interventions. Another great option is to use your YouTube channel to feature different videos.  An organization might choose to showcase a different video each month.  

How are Families Using Their Own Videos to Inform and Support?

Creating, and even editing, videos is getting so easy these days. Many phones take high quality video. Families of young children with disabilities use their phones to take and share videos. These videos may be used to show their children's strengths or to illustrate specific challenges. Families use video to celebrate hard won achievements, like those first steps, or the first time a child figures out how to propel their wheelchair. Families often share videos with one another, this can be particularly helpful when a child is resistant to using new equipment, or when a parent might want to see how someone else coaches their child to try something new.  It is important that the professionals who support families be aware of these practices and provide guidance to families on how they can protect their privacy.   Using video can definitely help families to feel supported, however families need to be aware that once videos are out on the web, they have little control over who sees or shares them.

How Can You Use Social Media to Develop Leaders?

Social Media really lends itself to developing leaders. Social Media can be used to provide new leaders with an opportunity to develop their communication skills. The instant messaging features of Facebook or the ability to hold a live chat using twitter can provide new leaders with an opportunity to use technology to gather, share experiences, ask questions and develop new skills.

Got Writer's Block?  How To Get that Blogpost Written

When working with new leaders it is often important to provide a recipe. In the Guest blogpost above the family leader was asked to share about her experience attending her first national conference.  The organizers provided her with a list of questions to get her started.  The questions included:  How were you picked to attend the conference?  Did you need to submit an application?  What did you do to get ready to attend the conference (did you meet with other members of your state team before the conference?  Did you have to make your travel arrangements?  How did you handle childcare while you were out of town?  What types of clothing did you pack for the trip).  What did you learn during the conference?  How will you bring that information back to your state?  What didn't you know before heading out town, that you wished you had known?

New Role?  Want to Share?

Another way to expand family leadership skills is to ask family leaders who may have new roles, Chair of a Committee, Chair of a Council, or staff to a committee.  To write a few blog posts about this new experience. This type of blogging can help answer questions for other family leaders.  It can provide a forum to explore changing roles, the complications that arise when a family leader moves into a role or when a family leader is also a provider or professional staff. Sharing these experiences can be helpful to other family leaders, and can create a community of practice.

Expand the Reach of Others

One of the reasons we like to Web 2.0 is how easy it is to share, repackage, and re-share content.  Sometimes the content we find is too complicated or uses legalese, sometimes it is too vague for our purposes. But thanks to the advances available to us we can rework content to suit our needs.  

Don't Forget to Hit the Share Button

We also like to hit that share button on Facebook or the retweet button on twitter. It's the 2013 version of that Breck's commercial: I told someone and she told someone, and so on! With only a few minutes, we have a quick blurb and can quickly share information with our followers that they might not have seen from the original poster.  We can even add our own spin, by writing our own blogpost that explores our thoughts on the topic, link to the original site and share the whole thing via Facebook and Twitter!

Won't Our Followers Be Overwhelmed?

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your viewpoint, there is so much content floating around on the web that sharing, re-packaging and re-sharing is necessary. In addition, it does take visitors time to view, absorb and act on content.  Thus re-sharing is often a necessary activity on the web.

Start With A Plan

When using social media to inform and support it is important to start with a plan of action. The first thing to do is to decide how frequently you plan on updating your contact. You can simply pull out a calendar and start scheduling your content. It is important to think about how much time it might take to develop that content. You can spend time drafting content beforehand, so that you have content ready for posting.  

Use a Calendar

One way to begin is to use a calendar and review various awareness months. April is Autism awareness, June is Aphasia awareness and October is the Campaign for Healthier Babies. Using these months can help you to plan topics. If you are trying to educate families regarding the Part C or Part B of IDEA system, then using the APR/SPP (Annual Performance Report/State Performance Plan) calendars.  For instance, a blogpost about the importance of family involvement in the development of the Annual Performance Report, would have more impact if it posted in the late Fall/early winter. 

Frequency

Decide how often you can post.  While you write a blog once a month? If you only have 12 ideas for blog posts, than once a month might be the right schedule.  It is definitely preferable to do one post per month, than to upload 12 posts in 12 days, and follow that with nothing.  You might generate some great buzz in those first 12 days, but your followers will be long gone in three months when they realize you don't have anything else to say.  You can also use other social media sites to generate buzz about your posts and to drive people to your blog or website.

What's your endgame?

Finally, it is always important to keep in mind your endgame.  Why are you writing your blog?  What do you want people to do after they've read your post?  Do you want them to contact you?  Are you hoping that they'll take some sort of action? If so, have you helped them to figure out what to do, when to do it and how to do it? If not, you'll have to go back and revise your plan to include reference to your endgame.

Why Branding is Important

Having a consistent color scheme and using consistent fonts and logo is important to your social media plan. The photo above shows a website, blog and Facebook page. Visitors can tell from the strong purple and turquoise borders and the logo that they have found the right site.  Using links that connect directly from one site to the next.

Not Ready to Jump In? 

Even if you are not sure if you want to start using Twitter or YouTube, it is probably a good idea to set up an account now using the name you wish to use, so that you can use your preferred name.  You can also take some time and check out other sites to see who others are following, what they are posting about and how many followers their posts have generated.

Visuals

It is  important to have high quality versions of your organizations logo. There's nothing worse than uploading a poor quality version of your logo.  Some sites, like Twitter and Facebook rely on square profile images, while others, like YouTube work fine with rectangular images. It is also important to know the hexidecimal codes that are used in CSS or HTML that are used to tell your browser what color to display.  Twitter and YouTube both allow users to create their own backgrounds, which can insure that you have a consistent theme across platforms.

Gentle Corrections

While the disability movement has a long and rich history, many families who find themselves raising a child with a disability often have no clue about it. Families learn their child has a diagnosis from a doctor or evaluator, or they notice that their child is missing developmental milestones over time. Others may refer a family to a program, or suggest they contact their local school district for supports and services.

What is the History of the Disability Movement?

Over time, families learn about the laws and policies that affect what supports and services might be available to their child and family. They may begin to research their child's specific disability or join support groups.This quest for support and services does not always mean that families are connected to groups that can educate them about the history of the disability movement. They may not learn about Justin Dart or Ed Roberts, they might never encounter Norman Kunc. They may not learn that before Geraldo Rivera was famous for getting hit with a chair by a skinhead, he had exposed New York State's approach to people with disabilities by filming the horrible conditions at Willowbrook. Thus families may not realize that people with disabilities, their families and the professionals who support them, have worked together to change how disabilities are viewed in our culture. Families might not know about the importance of using People First Language or using a strength-based approach to supporting people with disabilities.

How do we inform others about the Disability Movement?

It is important that family leaders and professionals share information about the history of the disability movement. Using anniversary dates or linking current activities to past activities can be helpful to insuring that families learn about the history of the disability movement. There are many wonderful YouTube videos which show the movement's activities to end the prevalence of institutions.

What Do I Do if I See Someone Using Non-People-First Language?

The first caveat is that it is never a good idea to call someone out for saying they have an Autistic son, or that their Uncle Bob is mentally ill. You'll only manage to embarrass them, and they will end up being defensive. Instead, modelling is the best first route. Mention that you have a wonderful daughter who loves to paint, is very physically active and has Down syndrome. When you see articles written by journalists, sending them a quick note thanking them for their article and ask that they use people first language or refrain from stating that a person is wheelchair bound, but rather that that person uses a wheelchair for mobility. And always share links to good references on the topic like Kathy Snow's Disability is Natural website. 

Provide Guidance

We've talked about the importance of helping families to be aware of and understand their privacy rights under the law, and how to use the available privacy controls of the different social media sites.

Got a Template?

There's good news, you don't have to reinvent the wheel. Great content is already available! You can edit that content to your liking so that you can address your audience. The NICHCY Social Media Policy is a good place to start when developing content to explain to families how they can safeguard the privacy of themselves and their children. NICHCY recognizes one of the most important facets of using web 2.0 to support and inform--share content you've developed, reshare good content that someone else has created (with a citation or attribution) and when necessary make some slight changes to fit your audience! In fact, they even have a great little toolkit called "Steal These Strategies" . On that page they encourage folks to adapt their social media policy, they have examples of Facebook and Twitter posts and they share their dissemination plan with readers. The cost? They simply ask that you share your great strategies with them! (Which is something we've been doing for some time now!).  This member of Congress has a nice social media policy, that explains that she wants to have an opportunity to hear from all of her constituents, that email is what constituents should use if they are looking for an answer, and then she gives some warnings that she will not tolerate  bullying, intimidation, or harassment on her page.

Do I Really Have to Teach People How to Use the 'net?

Unfortunately, dear reader, yes you do! Not everyone understands the subtle communication rules. Some users, simply jump in and start sharing without realizing that there are different levels of sharing. For instance, not everyone realizes that when they post to Facebook they can control (to some extent--but not completely), who see's their posts by clicking on the icon in the share box on the lower righthand side, this allows them to set whether they want a post shared with everyone by clicking on the little world icon, or you can reveal the choices, to decide if you want to share with friends except acquaintances, Only Me, Custom, etc., 

However, and this is an important point, once you've shared something on the internet, even if you've limited who has access, you no longer have control over what happens to what you've shared. Even the gurus of social media sometimes encounter problems with this. Last December, Randy Zuckerberg, sister of that Zuckerberg, posted a picture that she thought was only going to be seen by her close friends. What happened next could happen to anyone:One of her friends, saw the photo and re-shared it, then someone else re-shared and tweeted it--probably because they had added the twitter app to their Facebook page. What happened next could only happen to someone famous: a public temper tantrum. When Randy used twitter to chastise the person who tweeted the post, tech gurus everywhere laughed.They pointed out, correctly, that Facebook has a history of changing privacy settings without warning, that they often revert settings to a "default" or public setting without asking or warning users who have spent time setting their privacy controls. And finally, they reminded Randy that once it's out there it is out there.

What Other Tips Do Users Need?

Many users still need simple reminders that it is not a good idea to post their full birthdate, address or days when their home will be unoccupied on social media sites.  We've talked about these types of posts before here.  Which is why I think it is important to have a social media policy, that way folks aren't surprised when you hide or remove their posts on your page.

Recording Studio

I'm putting the finishing touches on a webinar series.The text is almost done, we've got photos--though we're thinking we want to get our "own" photos rather than use stock photos. And now it is time to add some audio. 

Engaging Webinars Need Engaging Audio

Good audio is important for an asynchronous Webinar. It needs to be clear, crisp and  engaging. I think I've got the latter down pat, but how to get clear and crisp without going to a recording studio? Have you looked at how much a recording studio costs?  $50--$75 per hour to use the equipment, well we don't have the budget for that! So I started looking into where to purchase some recording equipment. But again, that seemed too expensive too! It could easily set me back hundreds dollars. 

A quick search on some of my favorite sites and I had some ideas. I did a search on the Articulate e-Learning Heroes blog and saw a thread on making your own recording studio. 

Good Audio Needn't Break the Bank

Thanks to some ingenuity I have created the smallest recording studio ever! Using a pop-up hamper and some egg crate foam that a friend had on hand I was able to fashion a recording box. I did have to work to insure that the pieces fit in snugly so that no sound escaped or entered the box, but careful cutting and shaping and my box was ready! I found a Samson Meteorite microphone on sale and the sound is great! If you're looking for me, I'm probably in my recording studio, with my headset on, hoping that the dog doesn't bark!

Privacy Protections

These days most families of young children with disabilities are using social media to connect with one another. It is important that family leaders and the professionals who provide services and supports to families have discussions about the pros and cons of social media. In fact, it is essential that technical assistance programs get involved in social media and provide families with assistance on how to protect their privacy.

FERPA

Every child who benefits from publicly-funded education services is covered by FERPA or the Federal Education Rights and Privacy Act. FERPA limits who can share information and what information they can share about a child and/or family receiving services funded with federal education dollars. Thus children enrolled in early intervention or IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) Part C or birth to three programs are covered by FERPA. Additionally, Parent Training and Information centers and Technical Assistance centers which receive funding under Part D of IDEA have to follow FERPA. 

What About Privacy Settings?

Every social media site, whether Facebook, YouTube, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Vimeo or LinkedIn has its own privacy settings. These settings change over time too!  It is important to help families to figure out how to find and use the privacy controls on different sites.      Facebook, for instance, allows users to designate their Facebook "Friends" as close or acquaintances. In addition, users can decide whether to share their posts with only their friends, or to share posts publicly.  

What happens in Vegas, stays on Facebook, Flickr...

It is important to remind families that once they have shared something on a site, they no longer have control over who see's what they have shared or who can re-share their post, picture or video. Anyone can grab a screenshot, download or forward their information.  And in this day and age, most folks won't simply forward, but they may add their own comments or opinions.  

So, you want me to stay off the internet?

No!  Social media can be an incredible avenue for supporting and informing families with young children with disabilities. It can also create movements for system change.  However, it is important that families understand that they do have rights, and that there are ways to minimize what gets shared and with whom.  Finally, it is essential that we remind families that they are sharing on behalf of someone else.  A minor child.  As that child grows up it is important that families have regular check-ins with their child and discuss how much and with whom information is shared on the internet.  

Webinars

I have used a few different webinar hosting services. GoToMeeting, Adobe Connect, Elluminate and  Blackboard Collaborate. Each has it's own little quirks. For instance, I must use Mozilla Firefox if I'm presenting using Adobe Connect.  While Blackboard Collaborate runs much better using Google Chrome.

Getting Ready

A good Webinar requires great content. It does need to be both visually and orally interesting. For the last few years I have been either creating my own images or purchasing stock photos--though this can get expensive!  I do like to find stock photos that I can use for more than one presentation. The latest versions of most of the webinar hosting sites have gotten hip to the fact that it is nice for the presenter to be able to see their notes during their presentation--now if only Microsoft can do the same for regular Powerpoint presentations--rather than forcing every presenter to print out a copy of their presentation!

Is That a Belt AND Suspenders You Are Wearing?

Technology is not always reliable. It's true!  And one doesn't want to be standing in front of 200 people with their pants around their ankles. I generally have two computers up and ready to go--so that I can switch from one to the other if something crazy happens. I run a 5G internet network in my home--which means my WiFi can handle  running 3 computers, Netflix and a PS3  game all at the same time. However, I probably need to use my Ethernet cable if I want to present a YouTube video during a webinar with 50 participants. 

Practice, Practice and Then Practice Some More

I do multiple run throughs with my presentations. My assistant sits with a copy of my notes page, and listens while I do my practice sessions. She makes notes for me one areas, where I might get questions from the audience, or where I might not be expressing myself clearly. I also take advantage of run throughs with the webinar hosting services. When you don't use the same webinar platform for every presentation, it is important to do a quick overview, run the tests to insure that the computer being used for the presentation (and the extra computer) have the current version of Java and any add-ons from the webinar platform.

Team Based Early Intervention

I've been invited to share my perspectives on Team Based Early Intervention Services. This is an opportunity for me to share my passion for Early Intervention and my excitement about this momentous change in the way these services are provided in my state. I have already shared some of this information via YouTube with our state's Parent Training and Information Center.

Supporting families is important work. It is important that professionals who support families meet families where they are at and assume confidence and competence. It is also essential that families have the opportunity to participate in a voluntary family-directed assessment which allows them to identify their concerns, priorities and resources and enables them to develop functional, family-centered and meaningful outcomes for their child and family.

It is critical that professionals who support families are aware of current evidence-based research which demonstrates that there are ways to assist families.  That if we are to incorporate new skills into our repertoire we must have an introduction or illustration, practice and then have an opportunity to evaluate and reflect on our efforts. Carl Dunst, and his team at the Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, has done considerable research on how to empower parents and support their confidence and capacity, as they care for their child with an infant and toddler with a disability.  

Using Team Based Services that encourage providers to work as a team, rather than a series of individuals, is the first step. The next step is to provide professional development that help professionals to strengthen parent capacity as part of early intervention.

Want to Learn More?

Carl Dunst Research Scientist, Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, NC. http://www.puckett.org/  The Institute Centers include, Center for Evidence-Based Practices www.evidencebasedpractices.org, 

Center for Excellence in Early Childhood Education www.ceecenc.org, 

Center for Innovative and Promising Practices www.innovativepractices.org, 

Center for Improving Community Linkages www.communitylinkages.org, 

Center for Practical Evaluation www.practicalevaluation.org, 

Center for Dissemination and Utilization www.utlization.info. http://leadership-2012.events.tadnet.org/uploads/879/download

Dunst, C.J., Trivette, C.M., & Hamby, D.W. (2010). Meta-analysis of the effectiveness of four adult learning methods and strategies. International Journal of Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning, 3(1), 91-112.

Dunst, C. J., and; Trivette, C. M. (2009). Capacity-building family systems intervention practices. Journal of Family Social Work, 12(2), 119-143.

Swanson, J., Raab, M., & Dunst, C.J. (2011). Strengthening family capacity to provide young children everyday natural learning opportunities. Journal of Early Childhood Research, 9(1), 66-80.

Dunst, C.J., and; Trivette, C.M. (2009). Meta-analytic structural equation modeling of the influences of family-centered care on parent and child psychological health. International Journal of Pediatrics, 2009, 1-9.