Social media often gets a bad rap. Educationally, social media is often a no go. Its blocked, or at the very least, heavily censored. And why wouldn’t it be. Social media is filled with lots of really bad stuff. Lots of great stuff, too. But we tend to concentrate on the bad over the good. Just like life, really.
Defining social media is tricky, as there are likely to be many definitions, but I like this one. “Social Media is the arena where users can engage in the creation and development of content and gather online to share knowledge, information, opinions using web-based applications, and tools” (Grover & Stewart, 2010, p. 9). It’s about an exchange of ideas and communicating thinking. Something I think we could do more of. Something we should do more of.
I want to create a movement of social media for good. To take a platform which is like second nature to our students and make it work for both us and them. Am I suggesting a free for all? No. But I am suggesting we have a look at some of the things that social media can do for us as teachers. And then see how we can apply that thinking to our students.
I love Twitter. I’ll put that out there straight away. But I didn’t always love Twitter. I thought it was another waste of time. I will add that when I first watched the Simpsons, I thought it was stupid and would only last a couple of seasons at the most, but now quite enjoy Homer’s antics. Not sure if that adds to the argument or takes away from it? As part of a University unit, we were asked to blog and use Twitter to promote the blog. The more comfortable I became with Twitter the platform, the more I understood the platform and the better use I made of it. The more you put into it, the more likely you are to see an outcome. As part of her PhD, Deb Netolicky looked at self-motivated learning strategies. She speaks of a teacher who described Twitter as “powerful, ongoing, up-to-the-minute professional learning”. And I’d agree. Twitter is my go to. It’s the place I find the most up to date information about almost everything. Not suggesting it is always 100% accurate, and that is where we need to meet our students. This is some of the learning we need to help our students understand. And our teachers. Just another handy tip. Not everything you read on the internet is 100% accurate. Just saying.
Deb goes on to say “Participants discussed connected learning using social media as a way to learn and connect with people, trends and resources. They described Twitter as low-cost, constant, daily, individualised professional learning with a worldwide personal learning community in which hierarchies are collapsed and robust, global conversations can occur based on commonalities of interest, rather than role or status.” That’s something we could all use in a time like this. I would suggest all teachers get on Twitter, to really understand the platform and make informed decisions, we need to embrace the technology and what it can bring to us.
Our food classes started using Instagram as a way of getting students to take more care with presentation when plating food in our classes. The results have been amazing. Is it about learning or something more than that? The impact of an audience? For Teachers, social media has many benefits. Not least of which engaging students in something they may actually take outside the classroom. Even better still, they might bring things they learn in the ‘real’ world into our classrooms. Imagine that. Students learning outside our classrooms!
Yes, there is another side. What about the pitfalls? Pitfalls. There are many. We are increasingly living in an online world where what we post can often have repercussions for our real self. The issues are real and we need to talk about them. What better place to discuss these issues than within our families. An advantage, though, would be for parents and teachers to work together to understand the reality of the digital world and what it means to safely navigate that world. We could better connect families with schools and help keep other accountable. As a parent, I like the idea.
As teachers, we need to involve ourselves in the digital world. A 21st Century approach to learning requires teachers to be conversant with 21st Century technologies. It is the reality of where our students exist. Not getting involved leads to the risk of alienating ourselves even further from the very students sitting within our classrooms. We need to understand the pitfalls and make sure our students do not find trouble in the digital world.
We need to reclaim social media for good. To teach our students what it means to be a responsible digital citizen. I think it’s time social media played a bigger role in our classrooms. If you don’t believe me, have a conversation with your student when you get the opportunity.
Netolicky, D. (2016) Heutagogical and transformational: Journeys of discovery, discomfort and breakthrough Blog post.
Grover and Stewart (2010) as cited in Ahlquist, J. (2016) Technology Terminology (viewed 18/10/2016)
http://www.josieahlquist.com/educator/blog/resources-old/technologyterminology/
mattwasthinking.wordpress.com 