How McDonogh School teaches intentional tech use with #WinAtSocial to strengthen school culture
According to EdWeek, a positive school culture can improve students’ academic achievement, attendance, engagement, and behavior, as well as teacher satisfaction and retention. To fuel students’ happiness, health, and future success, innovative schools empower students to navigate their tech-fueled world intentionally to foster a strong school culture where students feel supported.
With culture’s strong impact on the success of students and the school community, how can schools ensure that they foster a positive environment where students are engaged and ready to learn?
It is no secret that tech challenges like cyberbullying, digital distractions, and group chat drama can negatively impact the well-being of students. This can make it difficult for students to learn and succeed academically. Recognizing the impact that tech has on student well-being and school culture, McDonogh School, a PK-12 independent school in Maryland, is on a mission to empower students to use tech intentionally and positively. To achieve this goal, McDonogh partnered with The Social Institute to implement #WinAtSocial, a positive and proactive approach to social media education.
The Importance of Intentional Tech Use
McDonogh’s mission is to “provide life-altering educational experiences that inspire personal and intellectual growth.” In a world where technology is ever-present in students’ lives, McDonogh wanted to fuel academic success and strengthen school culture by teaching students how to use technology intentionally. To support this mission, Aisha Bryant, Director of Educational Technology at McDonogh, focused on finding a solution that equips students with the skills to positively navigate tech challenges such as AI deepfakes and online disagreements.
“We’re looking at intentional use of tech tools, and it’s never just tech for tech’s sake,” Bryant shared. “We want to not only introduce these tools to our teachers and our students, but we really want to guide them through the best practices.”
When educators and students are empowered to use technology effectively and responsibly, they harness the benefits of these tools. McDonogh understood that scaring students or restricting their access to technology was not an effective approach. Bryant recognized the power that technology holds and just how much it can fuel students’ academic success when used intentionally. For example, when students learn how to use AI to support their academics, they may find they study more efficiently.
Creating a Positive Social Media Narrative
As part of its mission, McDonogh has three key pillars: Lifelong relationships, the pursuit of excellence, and a shared commitment to maximizing a positive impact—each of which the school found aligns with The Social Institute’s positive and proactive approach to tech and social media education.
“When I first met with The Social Institute… the whole idea of changing the narrative of how we teach and how we expose our students to social media and other digital platforms was refreshing for me to hear. The idea is to move away from ‘don’t do this’ and move toward teaching more positive ways that [students] can utilize social media and technology.”
While running #WinAtSocial Lessons, students at McDonogh huddle on ways to use social media and AI positively, rather than avoiding tech tools completely. By shifting the narrative around social media and technology, McDonogh empowers students to use technology for good, in and out of the classroom.
Strengthening Student Engagement and Classroom Culture
Initially, McDonogh implemented #WinAtSocial Lessons with fourth-grade students because it was easy to integrate discussions about social media and technology into their schedules. Their tech integrationist, Jonna Wahle, efficiently implemented #WinAtSocial Lessons in their Lower School, and Bryant saw a positive impact right away.
“Our fourth graders were opening up and sharing so much from each of the Huddle questions, and they were really engaged with the lessons,” Bryant shared. “We got to a point where we had fourth graders having discussions and saying, ‘I know what to do, but there are times where I just don’t wanna do that,’ and now we’re in a great space to say ‘let’s talk about that feeling.’”
While running #WinAtSocial Lessons, teachers at McDonogh are increasing student engagement and creating an open space where students are comfortable talking to adults about how they feel. Not only is this strengthening the relationship between students and their teachers, but it is fostering a positive classroom climate where students feel like their voices are heard.
Building on the success of #WinAtSocial in the fourth grade, McDonogh quickly expanded its impact by supporting middle and upper school students with a comprehensive, developmentally appropriate approach to teaching intentional technology use. In addition to adding more grades, Bryant encouraged upper school students to take on a leadership role with #WinAtSocial.
McDonogh trained upper schoolers as peer mentors to facilitate #WinAtSocial Lessons in the Lower School. They even had a peer educator event where upper school students facilitated #WinAtSocial Lessons and coached the fourth-grade students on positive social media and tech use. “It was fantastic to see our entire fourth grade having that connection with students in our Upper School,” Bryant shared.
Using #WinAtSocial Insights to Fuel Data-Driven Decisions
Through #WinAtSocial, McDonogh has access to lesson-generated student insights that deliver real-time anonymous data on school culture and student experiences. Bryant uses this feature to help McDonogh see student trends in a clear and informative way, helping the School make data-driven decisions at a counseling and leadership level.
Bryant revealed that with #WinAtSocial Insights, she can go to administrators and share trends she sees among her students. #WinAtSocial Insights allows Bryant to see the big topics students discuss in class, data on where students are getting information from, and popular platforms they use.
These insights, which are generated by running #WinAtSocial Lessons, also give McDonogh the opportunity to compare their answers to discussion questions with other schools across the globe.
“Being able to compare [#WinAtSocial Insights] to other schools and institutions that are using the program and answering those same questions is great,” Bryant highlighted. “We see where we land, and then we can ask our students, okay, well, what do you think? Why are we trending so much one way while others are trending another way? Getting them to think about that as well has been really helpful.”
Supporting Your School
As school culture impacts student learning and engagement in such a big way, school leadership is increasingly tasked with creating a positive environment where students are happy, healthy, and ready to learn. By teaching intentional tech use, understanding their students through real-time data, and empowering student voices, McDonogh School is strengthening school culture and creating engaging learning environments for all its students.
Interested in running #WinAtSocial in your school? Request a demo for some of McDonogh’s favorite Trending Lessons:
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- Trending Lesson for grades 3-4:
- Trending Lesson for grades 9-12:
- Cyberback lesson for grade 4:
The Social Institute (TSI) is the leader in empowering students by understanding students. Through #WinAtSocial, our gamified, peer-to-peer learning platform, we equip students, educators, and families to navigate their social world – in the classroom and beyond, online and offline – in healthy, high-character ways. Our unique, student-respected approach empowers and equips, rather than scares and restricts. We incorporate timely topics about social media, tech use, and current events that are impacting student well-being and learning. #WinAtSocial Lessons teach life skills for the modern day, capture student voice, and provide school leaders with actionable insights. Through these insights, students play an essential role in school efforts to support their own health, happiness, and future success as we enable high-impact teaching, meaningful family conversations, and a healthy school culture.