5-4 Blog: Social Networking
In your Blogger blog, outline the pros and cons associated with allowing social networking in schools.The infographic shared in the Devon Glenn article is interesting, though it focuses on colleges, so I'm not quite sure how must it transfers to K-12 education.
So, I hunted online to find something more applicable to my own area, focusing on K-12 and discovered these:
First I this Printable Guide to Social Media at EDTECH, and while it is designed for small business, much of the information is easily transferable to the classroom.
Adoption Rates of New Styles of K-12 Teaching [Infographic]was created using data from 255 responses to a 2012 Styles of Learning Survey conducted by Enterasys, suggesting that google +, facebook, and twitter are the leading social media platforms being used in the classroom.
What are some "pros" for integrating social networking in schools?
- Well, it's engaging, and if we are being honest, too many students are getting bored in the classrooms because we are pulling out all the exciting and new technology, because of fears. Engaged students are more likely to work and achieve success.
- It is also important to recognize that if we don't start to use these tools in the classroom, and model appropriate use, we take a huge risk of allowing students to wander the social networking world without guidance. After all, wasn't it the first generation of facebook users that got caught up in the problems of social media effecting their college and career aspirations due to poor photo choices for posts? We didn't know enough to educate those students in time. Now that we know, aren't we obligated to prepare them to make wiser choices?
- Social networking develops collaborative skills in a manner that many students will use in the future.
What are some "cons" for integrating social networking in schools?
- It can be a distraction in class. True, but so can anything, in a boring class, I was fully able to distract myself with a pencil and paper for the full hour when I was in high school. We need to develop better classroom management strategies, and more engaging classrooms, not just cut out social networking.
- Less human interaction. This is a problem, one that we need to think about, we need to help teach students to find a balance between the cyber world and the real world.
- Inappropriate use, as stated earlier, it is our job to teach appropriate usage. Someone has to, and we can't leave that up to just parents.
Aimee Hosler shares some of these opinions in her article 6 Pros & Cons of Social Media in the Classroom.
This blog post started me thinking about how long a social networking platform might need to be around before it is "accepted" in a school. I remember first trying to use blogs while teaching an ESL summer school class in 2008, and now it is still viewed as a newer technology by some educators. I discovered this interesting infographic on cloudtweaks:
Infographic: Social Media Evolution provided by ProhibitionPR
I wonder what we will be using a few more years down the road?
Michele,
ReplyDeleteThe links you attached to this blog post, were awesome. I too, believe the Printable Guide to Social media, can be transferred into the general classroom. I like how straight forward you are with how we should feel obligated to educate each new generation by introducing social media and not fearing the use of it. You are right, children are going to use in one way or another and wouldn't it be smart of us to educate and provide guidance so the same poor choices aren't being made by a new generation of students. I also spoke about students interactions face to face compared to cyber communication. I often hear older generations shame technology because people use it as a main source of communication. Teaching children the balance between is also extremely important.
Thanks Olivia. It is interesting how some people are so quick to dismiss cyber communication. Personally, I think it opens up so many windows for communication. If it were not for Skype and social networks, I'd hardly ever get to stay involved with many of my friends and peers in Africa, England, and Japan. Different communication forms offer different advantages for each of us.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your post as well Michele. Thanks for the great links you attached. How much technology do you use with your students? What age group do you work with? I think the amount of technology used depends greatly on the age range.
ReplyDeleteLyndsie, I'm not teaching at the moment, but I had been teaching at a high school where we used technology all the time. I agree that the age range does change the amount of technology in use. I am a huge fan of introducing educational games to younger students to increase their fluency and comfort level with tech.
ReplyDeleteMichele,
ReplyDeleteGreat point about needing to teach these kids how to use social networking in an appropriate way. As you said, we now know the importance of sharing and posting appropriate things on the Internet. We also know that what we do cannot be erased. These are things that we must teach our students about. They need to know how important it is to be responsible digital citizens and how to make those choices about what is okay and not okay to post online. If we don't take on this responsibility, in a way, we are setting them up for failure in their futures.
Michele,
ReplyDeleteI have to second the sentiments of Olivia and thank you for sharing these links as well as that the Printable Guide to Social Media is transferable to the classroom. As a bit of a side note, I enjoy reading your blog and how you write as you are having a conversation with your audience. I find it very effective in creating an image to your thoughts.
Anyway, I also really enjoyed the point you made at the end of this post, "This blog post started me thinking about how long a social networking platform might need to be around before it is "accepted" in a school." It seems that other industries adopt to emerging technologies much faster than education. As a business educator, it worries me that this lag in adoption will hinder the critical thinking skills students will need in using these tools in their future careers. I have family and friends in construction, publishing, administration, art, computer sciences, health and wellness, and education. I can say that all of these industries minus education, utilize social media tools and they do so in creative and interesting ways to excel communication within their organization as well as with consumers. I believe if education stakeholders such as parents and administrators saw how both old positions and new emerging job positions are connected to social media, perhaps they would see how important it is for students to be well versed in these tools before heading into college or their first careers.