Bishop Shanahan High School

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Bishop Shanahan High School Project Overview
Create a social network using a NING within BSHS
that involves Administration and Department
Chairs (the Academic Board) Objectives -To
provide a forum for the Academic Board at
Shanahan to share ideas and information. -Use the
NING as a platform to familiarize the Board with
the concept of a social network, and as a way to
train the members on how to utilize blogs and
wikis. -To encourage members of the board to
reach out to peers outside of Shanahan to expand
learning opportunities within their respective
disciplines. -Lay the groundwork for the rollout
to the entire faculty.
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Motivation -Until the faculty can grasp the
concept of social networking, the implementation
of Web 2.0 tools with students would provide
minimal pedagogical impact. -Social Networking
will represent a significant culture change with
current members of the Academic Board. (Top-down
vs. bottom-up). -Significant training gaps with
the faculty. (Some still consider e-mail a major
technical hurdle) -Introducing the social network
concept to a smaller group will enable a smoother
migration to the entire faculty.
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Timeframes and Tasks By June 2009 -Introduce the
NING at April or May Academic Board Meeting.
Invite members to the NING, and request that
invitees update their profiles. This will be
primarily a hands-on training session. -Begin a
discussion for Technology Initiatives. Allow
members of the NING to use this board to kick
the tires on how to use a blog. Request weekly
participation. -Moderator of the board will begin
discussions on a number of relevant topics to
solicit feedback. Request that members of the
NING respond at least once per week to the topic.
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By September 2009 -Establish a WIKI for the
dissemination of information to the entire
faculty. Training for the faculty to occur on
first day back. WIKI will include (initially)
the Principals Weekly Bulletin. -Agenda items
for the first half-day faculty meeting (usually
in October) will be generated using the WIKI with
input from the faculty. 50 participation will
be a success!! -WIKI will also be the repository
for departmental meeting agendas and minutes
until intranet is established. Limit the use of
e-mail and paper.