I remember the first time I logged onto to Facebook nearly a
decade ago. It was during the time when
one had to be linked to a group in order to be accepted to Facebook. I was linked into my undergraduate university’s
group and my love affair with social media began! Today, as school districts explore the use of
social media throughout the school day and perhaps as a way to extend
instruction; many teachers, media specialists, and administrators are deciding
to create wikis, publish videos online, participate in blogging, and yes, to
participate in social networking. I see
social networking as having transformed the way we communicate and share
information with each other in an ever-changing technological society.
Most social networking sites are web-based and can be everything
from blogs, to messaging or chats, to discussion groups, wikis, or podcasting. I love the idea of social networking being
utilized in school settings because this kind of technology allows students to
connect with more people, in more ways.
Additionally, students today long for immediate connection. Thus, with
the use of social networking, students often gain immediate feedback and
comments on their posts via social netowrking from people all over the world. Now, besides a teacher looking over a child’s
geography work, students who live in that specific geographic area can comment
and add to a student's page on a given social media site. This becomes real
to students and often prompts additional writing and hopefully more
learning.
However, before taking the social networking plunge, teachers should
investigate some good sites. Because I
work at an elementary school, teachers need to check the minimum age that certain sites
will accept. My school uses social media
daily. We have parents to like our
Facebook page and consequently, we have hundreds and hundreds of likes from parents, community partners, and alumni. We like to post "happening now" events and post
various pictures of children and their involvement throughout the day. We have found that
parents love the posts! The administrators have
rights to the page as well as three teachers and the Media Specialist. Social networking has been a great way for my
school to communicate with parents and for parents to stay up to date with
various events at the school. I promote
reading nights through social media. I
also use social networking to let parents know the current books for our books
of the month reading club, books for our reading bowl team, as well as summer
reading lists. Parents really appreciate
having this information displayed on a social networking forum. I believe that social media encourages
educators to participate in social computing setting and strive to create an
atmosphere of trust for parents. For whatever reason, people feel connected
through this form of communication. As a
school, I think we have a great approach to social networking which allows for involvement in the global
conversation in which many parents, teachers, and community members are
contributing.
Honestly, I am a recovering social networking addict :) i found that it was too addictive because of the constant updates and post from numerous connections, but this is the very reason why social networking is so important in schools. I love your ideas for allowing students to connect with people from a certain geographic area during a social studies lesson. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI really like your thoughts on using the social media for feedback. I have never thought about your example with geography. That would be such a good real world connection for the students to have somebody review there work or comment on their work that was from that part of the country.
ReplyDeleteI do like the idea of having a Facebook for parents or the school. I think that many parents in our school would benefit from a sharing on a social media site.
I agree that there is a place for social media in schools. So often when we refer to social media, Facebook is the first and only thing that people think of. Here you pointed out that there are number other ways to communicate...blogging, podcasts, wikis, discussion groups...and we should be utilizing these tools to talk with our students. That 'quiet' child that sits in the back of class and never participates in class discussions sometimes will have much to say if given the chance to communicate in other ways. I love that your school has found ways to embrace social media.
ReplyDeleteYour examples of the use of social networking at your school are fabulous! I've noticed in the last 2 years my children's elementary school has become more visible on Facebook and I do appreciate these posts. I also agree with your comment about making sure the site is age appropriate. I hear about high school teachers with Facebook pages for students to follow about class, but this would not be appropriate for an elementary school teachers. I get "sweaty palms" thinking about communicating through Facebook professionally. I think the content is not as private on this site. It took me a long time to personally join and now that I am a Facebook member I do not allow parents or coworkers to friend me. I have nothing to hide, but still. I would recommend Edmodo for K-8 teachers.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that it is time for all educators to join the social networking community, whether to use for classrooms or for professional learning. There is so much to learn and be apart of. As you mentioned, students can collaborate with people in their geographic location, not just the people in their classroom. Teachers can collaborate with other teachers globally and not just at a National/International Conferencel.
You have found a free avenue to increasing parental and community involvement! I find your enthusiasm for the use of social media and its potential use in the classroom. I am leery about he use of teacher directed social media in the course of instruction. I would not want to be the teacher that directed the students to Facebook or Twitter. There are other ways to disseminate information.
ReplyDeleteShould schools allow teachers and students to collaborate via social network sites? Now that I know how others are incorporating social media networks within the curriculum, I would say that it is another technology tool that influence student learning. Many schools now allow teachers and students to have access to YouTube and Flickr; however, Facebook and Twitter are not yet as accessible. The concerns go back to children safety and what they should be privy too.
ReplyDeleteHi Kristie,
ReplyDeleteYou make me feel like a sourpuss. You are so upbeat and positive about using social media. I guess us older teachers can sometimes get jaded and think of all the negative things that can come from social media. I try to be open to new ideas and embrace technology driven tools for my classroom, but with social media I am skeptical. I think the key is using it responsibly and effectively and it sounds like you are doing both. I like your ideas for using social media, the featured books, reading club, reading bowl, and summer reading lists. I also agree that parents are much more likely to check social media sites, than the school’s media site. If it helps get our parents more involved, then let’s do it!
Great job!
Belinda