If you know anything about me, you know that I am passionate about showing students how they might use technology to lead in online spaces. In my Masters course I looked at existing definitions of student digital leadership and found that there wasn’t very much out there. It led me to my own definition:
Enter Wakelet. I have been using the tool to curate information since Storify ceased to exist. I first wrote about the tool here. Since then, I have been intrigued by the model and its potential and I share the tool in many PD sessions. Tisha Poncio and Deb Zeman have been using Wakelet with their SWAT program and asking students to create a digital portfolio using the tool. Deb and Tisha even collaborated with Wakelet to create a Student Ambassador program (Details and Registration here). How it works is that teachers sign up for the program, mentor their students as they engage in the 6 tasks, and then students receive a Wakelet student Ambassador badge. The tasks are awesome and it’s a wonderful way to empower your students. Check out this guest blog by 14 year old, Sihar Mohanty from India who completed the program.
In this video, Annora Elias, a Wakelet student Ambassador, shares how she uses Wakelet to curate her digital portfolio for applications for jobs and post-secondary.
I know what you are thinking, I never talk about a platform like this. And no, this post isn’t sponsored in any way. My admiration for Wakelet and what they offer educators and students alike was reaffirmed when I spoke this week with one of the Wakelet pioneers, Misbah Gedal. Wakelet is free, not because we are the product, but because they have secured funding to offer the product to educators and students without charging them. Wakelet is FERPA and COPPA compliant: they are the real deal.
Had the best conversation (and tour) with @MisbahGedal one of the masterminds behind @wakelet about empowering students! Their new student ambassador program is re-launching soon and it’s 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YXbgMw9njc
— Jennifer Casa-Todd (@JCasaTodd) November 12, 2020
After asking Gedal about how students might participate in the program independently, he shared that the Student Ambassador program is getting a refresh very soon (ahem maybe this week) and that teachers may continue to direct their students to the tasks, but that there will be an independent student component as well. Although I wish that all teachers might make time for the program, we know that there are obstacles that might prevent them from doing so. An independent component means that it may be offered as an independent project, that a parent might be a mentor, or it can be offered as an option for a digital leadership club.
Follow @Wakelet on Twitter if you don’t already for more details!