Fifteen-year-old Adora Svitak knows students nowadays "live, work and play" social media.
"We're used to the characteristics of social media: participation, connection, instant gratification," she tells Mashable, "and when school doesn't offer the same, it's easy to tune out."
To help more educators learn about the benefits of using social media in the classroom, Adora recently taught nearly 3,000 teachers, principals and administrators how to implement Twitter and Facebook into their lives.
"The speech was successful in that a lot of new people joined Twitter and learned how to start a Facebook page for a class or school group," Adora said about her collaborative keynote presentation at the
The first-time Twitter users learned how to sign up, tweet and weave in hashtags -- pushing thankful messages to Adora during her demonstration:
@adorasv So happy that u got everyone using Twitter today. Educators need to see it as a powerful & free professional development #AIEconf— Michael Ogg (@PrincipalAlton) October 17, 2012
@adorasv thank you for modeling 21st century instruction. #aieconf— Cody Huie (@JCHuie) October 17, 2012
#aieconf 38 years in education and loving this session and the impact veteran educators can make if we listen to our students voices— Terrie Rambo (@terrie_rambo) October 17, 2012
@adorasv #AEIConf Head l swimming? Welcome to the 21st Century. Our students can lead us into an era of involved, electronic education.— Kimberly Law (@Eclectic34) October 17, 2012
"I didn't pontificate with a 'This is why this technology is awesome and you need to get your act together and use it already' tone, or throw too many resources at the audience at one time," Adora explains. "I made it easy and fun to share ideas and solutions."
Adora often stands on a stage, dispersing her knowledge and opinions about youth impact, education and Internet culture. In 2010, she gave a Ted Talk on what adults can learn from kids, and just this year, she addressed the connected generation and meme culture during her talk at Mashable Connect.
A common thread among her speeches is education -- whether it be adults teaching children or vice versa, the dynamic between the two groups should be reciprocal, she believes. Practicing what she instills in others, Adora recently recorded five "Teach Teachers Tech" videos for APlatformForGood.org.
"Any good teacher knows how important it is to connect with students and understand our culture," Adora says. "That could start with something like perusing Reddit and knowing popular memes. ... Social media has definite benefits for education."
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