The debate over technology use in the classroom is not a new one. We have debated the use of the internet, standardized testing, and the teaching of evolution in the classroom, to name a few. The social media debate is the newest of those classroom debates. According to a 2013 PEW Research Study, 95% of all teens use the internet and 81% of those teens have a social networking site. (Madden, 2013) . Social Media includes the online platforms for Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Linked-in, Blogs, Slideshare, Flickr and other photo sharing sites, wiki’s, podcasts, and You Tube and other video sharing sites.
Social media in schools is a controversial topic. Through using social media in schools teachers have the opportunity to teach digital citizenship, though teaching of responsible online behavior, communication skills and encourage peer interactions. Social media in education can include what is appropriate to share online, how students can control their privacy settings, what they can post can influence their reputation, and what appropriate online interactions are. As students learn ho to interact and communicate online, they also transfer those communication skills into in person interactions. It is important to understand how students are using social media in their personal lives in order to understand how it can impact their education as students. "Social media, blogs and video games are improving education by increasing access to people and information in various forms, including Twitter feeds, blog posts, videos and books. These tools are also increasing people’s ability to share information with networks and contribute their own thoughts." (Pandolfo, 2012).
However, social media use also brings distractions of personal accounts and games. Resources are constantly shifting. Additionally, social media can distract from personal interactions and cyberbullying can potentially increase. The Edutopia website provides several resources for using social media in the classroom as well as teaching resources for digital citizenship.
Social media helps students learn to collaborate. “Teaching students to collaborate and be team players is just one of the benefits of teaching social media that has been identified.” (Hagler, 2013) Additionally, Hagler states “Students with social media skills will be better prepared to find and get jobs.”. According to DeCoskey (DeCoskey, 2011) “when students are participating in activities online, they’re more likely to be engaged, and achievement rates rise”.
While there are many benefits to using social media in the classroom, use of social media use has been linked to cyberbullying and inappropriate relationships. However, Hagler states “Given the possibilities of social media misuse, teachers have the opportunity to discuss the appropriate use of social media. Teachers have the opportunity to guide students in being respectful and courteous to people online as well as in other settings.” (Hagler, 2013)
In the classroom, teachers can use social media in several ways. Social media extends the classroom discussion time by bringing the discussion home via social media sites. Blogs can be used to create online science portfolios and work on peer to peer collaboration. Facebook allows educators to connect with other colleague’s students, parents and more. Google Docs can be used to collaborate between group members. Podcasts can be created for recorded lectures and posted to iTunes or other podcasting site.
Using Twitter and the 140 character limit allows students to feel less pressure when answering questions. Twitter in the science classroom, bring in current science news, which is an integral part of science literacy. Additionally, students can follow current scientists and engineers such as Neil deGrasse Tyson, NASA, Nova, Scientific American, Smithsonian, and more. Students can also live tweet with astronauts from the International Space Station. “In addition to teaching the use of Twitter, teachers have the opportunity to teach students a theory which is based on a concept that will be beneficial to them in their future professional lives.” (Hagler, 2013) Using Wiki’s, students will learn the benefit of writing collaboratively. Creating their own You Tube or Vine videos allows students the opportunity to show their creativity and share the science that is happening in their classroom. (Hagler, 2013)
Justin Marquis developed the following infographic depicting the pros and cons of using social media in education. (Marquis, 2012).
Source: www.onlineuniversities.com
Personally, I feel that with proper instruction and digital citizenship, social media can play a powerful role in education. Through social media, students gain online communication skills and digital literacy skills. Students gain essential 21st century skills necessary for post secondary education and careers. However, the teaching of social media requires diligence on the part of the teacher in order to monitor students use of social media in the school setting. For me, the pros out weigh the cons.
References
DeCoskey, R. (2011). Should Schools be Using Technology. Retrieved from Business 2 Business: www.business2community.com/social-media/should-schools-be-teaching-social-media-051782
Hagler, B. (2013). Value of Social Media in Today's Classroom. Journal of research in Business Education, 14-23.
Madden, M. (2013, May 21). Part 1: Teen and Social Media USe. Retrieved from PEW Research: http://www.pewinternet.org/2013/05/21/part-1-teens-and-social-media-use/
Marquis, Justin, PhD, (2012, Feb 3) The Pros and Cons of Social Media in Education, Retrieved from Online Universities: http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/02/pros-and-cons-of-social-media-in-education/Pandolfo, Nick (2012, Apr 30) Social Media and Video Games in Classrooms Can Yield Valuable Data for Teachers, Retrieved from Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/30/social-media-and-video-ga_n_1465082.html
I agree that social media can cause inappropriate relationships among students. Just last year a student (5th grade) sent an inappropriate picture through Instagram to another student. Parents dealt with it at home, but it did affect school because they were in the same class. Of course teaching digital citizenship could have possibly prevented it, it is always a risk.
ReplyDeleteKelly- I think that there are going to be risks with anything we do. I have often heard parent complaints and outrage over a topic that was "supposedly taught" in the classroom. We often fail to remember that these are just kids and things are going to be taken out of context, exaggerated and that lessons on the playground are often misconstrued and parents place the teachers as the villains. I do think the pros out weigh the cons with using social medium, and if we are to shy away from using something due to a potential conflict we are only doing a disservice to our students by not providing them with the proper tools to navigate and communicate in the digital world.
DeleteThanks for linking to your class Twitter account. Great way to engage kids in current, relevant sources! Also, I found one of the quotes that you pulled out to be very interesting...social media use will determine how easily 21st century learners will be able to get a job. We have a responsibility to at least teach our students how to handle social media in their soon-to-be-professional life!
ReplyDeleteI think it is important to remember that we are trying to instill skills in our students that are also life skills. As they become adults and enter the workforce, they need to understand how their online social profiles represent who they are and can affect their future employment and engagement with coworkers, clients etc online. Too often we are focused on the negative aspects of social media that we forget the positive uses and the long term consequences of not using it in education. I think sociasl media is extremely important in order to enable the classroom conversations to continue outside fo the school walls as well as to include additional "experts" and sources into the conversation outside of the students. This does require us as educators to be more diligent in our digital citizenship lessons in order to ensure our students are interacting in a safe environment and that outside "trolls" do not mitigate all our teachings and undermine our overall goal of providing students with the 21st century skills to be successful in post secondary education and careers.
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