Social networking being used within the
school setting is becoming more and more popular as we further indulge into
this technology filled world. While some
schools are jumping on the social media wagon, others are still against it and
continue to block most of the popular social media tools out there. My personal feelings towards social media use
in the classroom are still up in the air.
I am not all for it nor am I against it.
I am a very visual learner and so I think that if I went to workshop and
received some training on what exactly using social media in the classroom or
media center looks like, then I could better formulate a more direct
answer. I have used blogging in my
classroom and it didn’t go as well as I would have liked. Just as Dr. Cooper tells us not to respond to
people’s post by just saying “I agree with your” or “I think that is a great
idea!”, that is exactly what my students were doing and so I didn’t think they
were really getting a genuine learning experience, so I stopped requiring blogs
in the classroom. However, I am on the
leadership team at my school and get a chance to mingle and talk with others
from other departments pretty regularly.
One of the English teachers explained to me that she used Twitter as a
final project after they read Antigone.
She said that she posted a question on Twitter and the students had to
answer the question as if they were one of the characters from the book. I thought that was a really neat way of
incorporating social media and so did the kids!
My students who were in class at the time came to me and shared with how
much they enjoyed the assignment and how funny it was to read the responses
from the other students. Now Twitter
along most of the other popular social media sites are blocked at my school;
however nowadays most all students have smart phones in the high school level
and so the students had to complete the assignment at home on their smartphones
or personal computers. This particular
English teacher teaches IB and AP students which make up maybe 10-15% of our
school population. While it was
successful in her classroom, I am not sure how successful it would be in a
general education classroom given that we are a Title 1 school and there were
so many of our students eligible for free and reduced lunch that they gave free
lunch to the entire school. It is more
likely for general education students to not have Internet access at home and
so I am unsure of how successful it would be since the site is blocked at
school as well.
Having said that, I definitely do think
that there is a “role” for social media in the school setting. I think that for social media use to be
effective in the classroom or media center, you must fist do your research to
see which ones would be the best fit for what it is that you are trying to
convey to the students or staff. For
example, Creekview High School’s LMC webpages from the previous assignment made
an excellent use of Flickr! It showed
students in action participating in the creative writing club, celebrating a
teacher on her last day, displaying student poetry, as well as displaying
different displays in the media center.
I thought that this was a very effective use of this type of social
media tool.
As I stated earlier in the post, our school blocks all
social media including YouTube. They
also block many other sites that stream audio or video because it seems like
our network can’t handle these types of websites without crashing. While I do think social media networks could
be the new hot trend to engage
students in learning something they would normally be interested in, I am
drawing a blank when I try to think of ways they could be used in the school
setting. After thinking long and hard
and coming up short, I decided to do some research on how schools are
effectively implementing the use of social media in the classroom. When I researched, I found Twitter to be one
of the top tools used in the classroom.
Some of the ways it was being used in the classroom included tweeting
live fieldtrips, tracking has tags for a closer look at trends, role playing,
chatting with industry professionals, engaging parents and many more things
(Check out this website for more ideas http://www.teachhub.com/50-ways-use-twitter-classroom). I also found a great site that displayed how
schools are using social media with faculty/staff and students (http://www.eschoolnews.com/2011/10/21/ten-ways-schools-are-using-social-media-effectively/). On this website, it says that schools are
using social media for professional development, community outreach, parent
communication, and distant learning to name a few. It also mentioned that schools are using
Schoology to create their own private social networks, which is what I use in
my classroom. Completing this assignment
has opened my eyes to incorporating social media into my classroom and has given
me some ideas as to how to go about doing it to promote learning. Checkout this video that I found on YouTube as well below that explains how students use social media in the classroom and the benefit of it!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOXPBYx5AOU
I think that Social Media has gotten a real bad reputation as being used by students only as a way to blow off steam. What we need to realize is that students these days are digital natives and it is truly their way of connecting with each other.
ReplyDeleteSocial Media can include anything from blogs, podcasts, wikis, and even the ever-popular Instagram and Facebook. It is hard to look at Instagram and Facebook as having any educational value whatsoever. But teachers need to start looking for ways our students can take these various social media platforms and tie them into the students educational experience.
Integration of social media is acceptable and has become the new normal for schools. In our school, we have Follett Destiny available with Destiny Quest. When I was first introduced to this feature, I was stoked beyond belief. It is such an easy and fun way for students to look at books as the things that tie them together socially. Destiny Quest is a great tool that allows students to like books, request books, place holds on books, see what books their friends recommend, get book reviews, etc. For elementary students who are not yet old enough to officially have a Facebook account, this is a great way for them to have a social media experience that is connected to their education.
Our school district also encourages teachers to use My Big Campus to communicate with parents. I have not been very active on this site though and would be curious if anyone else in our classes has used this site effectively.
All of these social networking sites are good and awesome. However, at the crux of it all, the SLMS must also help encourage students to be good digital citizens by encouraging and teaching students what good Digital Citizenship looks like. This includes teaching students behaviors that are acceptable online, the issues of cyber-bullying, as well as what to do if they are approached online by someone they don't know.
In conclusion, it is our responsibility as media specialists to incorporate positive and educational ways for Web 2.0 to be integrated in the students educational process. This will make happy and healthy digital citizens who are also well-rounded socially.
Hey Stacy,
DeleteI just wanted to let you know that our school has used My Big Campus briefly when we had to do a book study for Professional Learning. We only used it that one time and I wasn't really impressed with it. It was really confusing and the layout was just not user friendly in my opinion. There was talks about us using this tool with students, but I am glad nothing came of it! I used Edmodo in the past and currently use Schoology now in my classroom.
My concern with social media sites is that students, teachers and parents are being asked to join too many sites. If we are asking them to join new sites such as Big Campus and Edmodo in addition to the standard facebook, youtube, twitter, instagram accounts then we are potentially spreading everyone too thin. I just finished reviewing Powtoon and helping my son write a book report using Powtoon. It has the capabiltiy embedded in the site to share his report on social media. Of course he doesn't have a site so I used my personal Youtube page. His classmates will probably never see it. As a slms I would want access to book reports/reviews for the schoool library web page.
ReplyDeleteEach school is going to have its own rules and regulations concerning internet use and social media. It will be our job to discover what is available at our own particular school and guide teachers with media literacy, safety and social media sharing. We must advocate to have the internet rules loosened if they are too strict by showing specific uses and their value in learning and teaching media literacy.
Depending upon how the social media tools are being used within the classroom, I find the use of social media tools beneficial to students. The tools should be used so that students are problem solving and using their critical thinking skills. According to a female high school student I interviewed, Twitter and Instragram are popular among middle school students and high school students. She stated that Facebook was not as popular due to the number of parents having their own Facebook account. Due to its popularity, I researched Instragram usages within the classroom and I discovered numerous ways to use Instagram with the students. Included on the We are Teachers website was an article stating the 10 Ways to use Instagram in the classroom. Three of the suggestions that stood out to me were: Imagine how a famous person in history would use Instagram, Imagine what a favorite character from a book would post, and record the steps in a science experiment. All of these ideas allow the students to use their critical thinking skills to determine what images would best fit their topic. Students could then take this even further and take the images and place them into a Flipagram or print the images and create a writing assignment to go with the images/Flipagram. For more ideas check out the article: http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2014/08/07/10-ways-to-use-instagram-in-the-classroom
ReplyDeleteI have never heard about Schoology and I went and pursued the website. I am very interested in this tool! We currently use My Big Campus (as also mentioned by Stacy) and it has many benefits, however, I do not believe are teachers and students have seen these benefits. My Big Campus is an ‘educational hub’ for students, parents, and teachers. It allows students that cannot use popular social media tools, a safe and educational environment to practice their skills. My Big Campus was introduced two years ago, so the teachers are still slowly learning (due to the other number of new materials they have to discover). My Big Campus offers discussion boards and blogs among many other things. I think if we make sure to set the standards on how to use the discussion boards and blogs, then the students can gain from their use. With the Milestones test requiring students to use the computer to record their responses, the use of blogs and discussion boards can be useful. Students would be able to practice their keyboarding skills, critical thinking skills, and be able to analyze others thoughts and opinions.
This sounds like a blog entry that I could have written. I feel there is a place for social media in the school setting but I too agree that I am not so sure how and where. I have the same difficulties you have being at a Title I school. There are very few students with internet access at home and our school district blocks every kind of social media. I would be challenged as to where to start with the integration process. I would probably begin with trying to get the teachers onboard with some sort of class or implementation process into ways of using social media. Your ESchoolNews article was very helpful and identified some ways that I can hopefully get my staff intrigued to go the social media route.
ReplyDeleteLike you said, I feel there are benefits for this in education but am scared of what might develop when allowing free reign to elementary students. Great job on your blog!