I wanted to let Ypulse readers know about just one of the many cool things we're doing at the Mashup in July. We're going to recognize a "Totally Wired Teacher." The "we" being Yahoo! Teachers (Yahoo! is the founding sponsor of the event) and The George Lucas Educational Foundation/Edutopia.

You may ask, why are you giving an award to a teacher at a "marketing conference"? To which I say (and regular readers know), the Ypulse brand is about much more than just marketing. It's about understanding teens today and all of the forces shaping their lives. With this Mashup, it's technology (social media, mobile), with a future Mashup it will be gaming (just dropped a hint about one of our next events). Since young people spend most of their days in school where more often than not, teachers are struggling just to teach to the test, I wanted to honor a teacher who is pushing the envelope and is actually using social media in the classroom as an educational tool. Derek Baird from Yahoo! Teachers posted an eloquent blog about what we're doing, so I'm going to repost it here:

This July at the 2007 Ypulse Mashup in San Francisco, Yahoo! Teachers and the George Lucas Educational Foundation will honor a teacher who has successfully used social media (blogs, wikis, social networking, photo/video sharing or audio groups) in the classroom.

The winner of the Totally Wired Teacher Award will have successfully navigated their school ecosystem and overcome challenges from parents and administrators in order to use technology, but because they understand how students use social media outside of school, they have persevered and worked collaboratively with students, ultimately sharing their insight and knowledge with the larger teaching community.

If you, or a teacher you know is Totally Wired, you can nominate them by sending and email along with why you feel they are deserving to: Jim Daley at Edutopia.