The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has identified four key learning skills needed by  students in the 21st Century.  These skills known as the 4 C’s are: Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, and Collaboration. The Partnership for 21st Century Skills has developed a Framework for 21st Century Learning which states:

Learning and innovation skills increasingly are being recognized as the skills that separate students who are prepared for increasingly complex life and work environments in the 21st century, and those who are not. A focus on creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration is essential to prepare students for the future.

• Creativity and Innovation
• Critical Thinking and Problem Solving
• Communication and Collaboration

Over the next few weeks, #BYOTchat will discuss the role that BYOT plays in the development of the 4 C’s.  This week, #BYOTchat will discuss the impact that BYOT has in development of collaborative skills.  Please join us to share and discuss your thoughts, views, and resources.

Twitter
#BYOTchat
Thursdays
9 pm. (ET)

Online social collaboration is playing a significant role in the education of the 21st century student.  Students and teachers are breaking down classroom walls by connecting with each other outside the structured time and location restraints of traditional classrooms.  BYOT programs allows educators and students to capitalize on the benefits from social collaboration.

Join #BYOTchat on Thursday, May 3rd as we discuss the role of social collaboration in a BYOT environment.

#BYOTchat
Thursdays
9 pm. (ET)

A key step in launching a successful BYOT program is the marketing of the program.  Communicating to teachers, students, parents, and community members why the decision to adopt BYOT was made, and how the BYOT program will be implemented are crucial components  for the program’s success.

On Thursday, April 26, #BYOTchat will discuss various strategies a school might use to successfully launch a BYOT program.  Please join us to share your thoughts and ask your questions.

#BYOTchat
Thursdays
9:00 p.m. (ET)

In Instructional Technology there is a shift in thinking away from “Acceptable Use” toward “Responsible Use” and away from “managing devices” toward “empowering learners.”  Within the Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) learning environment, how can teachers encourage Internet safety and promote digital citizenship as students are using their personal technology devices?  Regarding BYOT, how does your school or district interpret the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)? Share your strategies and ask your questions in #BYOTchat on Thursday, April 19.

Invite your colleagues to join in on the #BYOTchat in Twitter.  It is a great way to build your PLN!

#BYOTchat
Thursdays
9:00 p.m. (ET)

Since starting #BYOTchat, I’ve received a few questions from fellow Twitter users about how I put together the Twitter Archive on the website.  The process is really quite simple.  I use a program called The Archivist Desktop and Microsoft Excel.

You can download The Archivist Desktop here - it’s a pretty simple program, although it’s unfortuantely Windows-only.  After you run this installer, you’ll see this screen:

From here, just type in the hashtag you’re using for your chat (or whatever it is you’re trying to archive), and click “Get Latest.”  The most recent tweets will populate below.  You can now click “Export To Excel” for the next step in the process.

Fire up Excel, go to Data and click “Import From Text” and click “Finish” – the default settings import the text file.  From there, quickly scan through your tweets, as sometimes parts of the tweet get bumped onto another line, and correct them.

I then delete the ID column, as I don’t use them, and sort by Date then Time – make sure you click “My data has headers.”  After that, you can keep or delete whichever columns you want, and just copy and paste into WordPress, and it shows up cleanly.  We use Auto-Hyperlink to turn all the t.co links into clickable links.

That’s it!  Pretty easy, eh?  Leave a comment if you have any questions or difficulties.

#BYOTchat and BYOTchat.com have very quickly become well used resources for sharing tips about how to take advantage of BYOT in education. Now, in order to help us curate this copious amount of information, we have created a new wiki: http://wiki.byotchat.com.

You can find a link to the wiki along with the rest of our links at the top of this page, or bookmark http://wiki.byotchat.com.

Please feel free to use information from the wiki in your own classroom, add your own favorite apps, sites, links, and lesson plans, and work WITH us to keep the wiki up to date.

BYOTchat.com and wiki.byotchat.com will compliment each other, so please bookmark both sites as educational resources, and of course continue to join #BYOTchat Twitter: Thursday nights at 9PM ET—that’s where it all begins!

Jeremy (@MyTakeOnIt)

Does BYOT in education solve problems or creates additional problems?  Is BYOT a poor substitute for 1:1?   On Thursday, April 5th, #BYOTchat will discuss the myths of BYOT.

The #BYOTchat team feels that it is important to not be surrounded by only like-minded individuals.  We are asking educators, with opposing views, to join us for a civil discussion on BYOT / BYOD in the classroom.  Regardless of your views, you will be welcomed!

#BYOTchat
Thursdays
9:00 p.m. (ET)