Can social media be used effectively in the classroom? If so, how? At what ages? And, with what tools?
To be completely honest, I have been one of those teachers who have feared social media in the classroom because of all the reasons many other professionals have...fear of cyberbullying, fear of shattered confidences because of the negativity and crippling effects from other people's opinions, and fear of too much screen time. However, I am seeing the other side. I do believe social media can be used effectively in the classroom. First of all, it begins with education. We are teachers and it is our job to teach. Social media is "real" for our students. They are growing up in a world that revolves around the internet and social media. We teach our students how to get along with others on the playground, in our classrooms, in their homes and out in the real world through Social Emotional Learning programs, so why wouldn't we teach our students how to behave properly and get along online? It seems to me that we would be neglecting our responsibility as educators if we do. The article published in Edutopia, titled Making the Case for Social Media in Schools states, "We need to stop talking cyberbullying and start talking cybercitizenship" (@benpaddlejones). If we teach students how to act properly and model how to use social media in a positive way then we are teaching them how to be responsible doing something that we know they will do without our lessons, anyway. Also, we can address any mistakes they may make. "Every mistake and misstep in social media is a brilliant learning opportunity for all involved" says Ben Paddle Jones (Edutopia). However, before we initiate teaching lessons in/with social media in our classrooms, we need to have our school district create guidelines. We know social media should be modeled and taught to our students for more positive results for our students' futures. Therefor a team needs to be put in place, and approved by the school district board, to create guidelines for teachers, students and parents. Our current NVUSD Social Media Release is not a social media guideline. It only covers the release of students' pictures, published work, video's, interviews, and subject of new stories. It gives parents the right to withhold their child from participating in the aforementioned mediums. How do we go about creating this team to move forward with guidelines so we can properly teach our students how to be responsible on social media? Now that we are in a distance learning situation due to COVID-19, we need a "board approved" social media plan more than ever. I believe a silver lining from our distance learning experience is the acceptance of how social media plays a positive and an important role in our lives. It is the way of the 21st century. I never thought that I would be teaching using the Google Classroom platform, while using a number of engaging applications or webpages. This is all new for me but I like it. I find my students more engaged, more creative, and more responsive. Please remember that I teach 3rd graders (8 and 9 year olds). If they are showing improvements and more engagement, I can only imagine what is happening for students in older grade levels. I always thought age 11 was an appropriate age for my personal children to have more freedom with the internet. However, after teaching 8 and 9 year olds how to use the internet for good, rather than them learning it on their own for bad, I feel we should be educating students at a younger age. We need to catch them young and teach them sooner rather than later. It is much harder to change and correct a behavior after the fact than it is to teach them the right way of doing it from the beginning. According to the article by eschoolnews, titled, 10 Ways Schools are Using Social Media Effectively, smart phones should be used in the classroom. They also go on to state that social media can enhance professional development, can give feedback and initiate stimulating conversations. In addition, you can use free websites, like schoology.com to create private social networking which is focused around your curriculum. Social media platforms can reduce language barriers for some of our families and increase parent communication. Districts can use security programs like Gaggle.net. This medium allows students to learn how to use social media in a professional manner. Social media posts follow you and can haunt you forever, if they are not positive and created responsibly. College recruiters, employment offices and others will search for you on the internet and it can be detrimental if posts are not managed properly. As educators we need to teach our students how to use their creativity to create positive opportunities for a successful future. Gaggle.net has filters in place, uses cloud-based programs, and allows for files to be uploaded to a digital locker. In conclusion, I am completely on board with teaching social media in our classrooms. I am the BEST team lead (PBIS) at our site, and I believe teaching students to be responsible online is equally as important to teaching them to be responsible on the playground. Who else is going to teach them these important lessons? Isn't that part of our job as educators?
1 Comment
Abie
10/27/2020 05:31:15 pm
I find it really interesting to read your posts Kimberlee, since I generally look through the lens of Teens, and you have this direct connection to young students, 8-9, which means our approaches to technology are super different. I love that you are trying to find ways to engage your students in social media, but find it interesting that you think we need to be teaching it at an even younger age, since in my mind, 8 is very young to be teaching it!
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