702 Blog #4 Can Social media be used effectively in the classroom? After watching Nadine Gilkison’s screencast about Insta Influencers, and her review of Instabrains by Sarah Weiss, the answer to the question, “Can social media be used effectively in the classroom?” seems like an obvious “Heck yeah!” In order to engage Generation Z and Alpha we have to use these tools in our classrooms. These are the tools they are becoming experts at using and they are the tools that excite them. I am from the tail end of the Baby Boomer generation so this social media craze is exhausting to me and I am slow to join in, but these Gen Z and Alphas tell me, “Come on in, the water’s fine. Actually, it is amazing!” If you are friends or family with any kids that are in these age ranges (my own kids are) then of course you have to have an Instagram account or you will never know anything they are doing. There is nothing more annoying than having your friends comment on what your kids are doing and you have no clue what they are talking about because you don’t follow them on their social media. So what does it mean to use social media effectively? Safety first is still my motto so before I would feel comfortable bringing social media into the assignments in my classroom, I would spend time teaching students about internet safety and digital citizenship. It is especially important for students to be aware of privacy settings, accountability for things they post, and to keep interactions positive. The article in Digital Education, “Social Media is “Tearing Us Apart” Middle and High Students Say” by Alison Klein referred to polls done by Common Sense Media that had some disturbing results. The poll showed that 31% of kids thought it was okay to share something that they know was not true, a third also said that being online meant you would have to accept some of the threatening or offensive content. While 40% of kids said it was okay to be on social media while you are hanging out with friends, 60% did not agree. Cyberbullying has been an issue at our school in the past but we educate students better about the effects of cyberbullying, what to do about it, how to report it, and the accountability and consequences for being a cyber bully. This educational piece has done a lot to decrease problems with cyberbullying on our campus. The lessons were created by our school counselors and delivered in our homeroom classes and included a discussion and community circle activity. The topic is reviewed throughout the year at several different times in the homeroom. The article from NEA also does a great job of defining teacher responsibilities and boundaries for using social media with students. Once a safety threshold is established, there are so many options for social media in the classroom. Some of the platforms that Gilkison included in her review we simply cannot do school without here in NVUSD. Google’s G Suite is used everyday by Napa educators and that is technically a social media platform. YouTube videos are also a staple in the classroom, DL or in person. Our school has a FB and Instagram page for posting school events and news to parents and we also heavily rely on Parent Square for communication, which is another social media ap school’s use. I have allowed students to use a Pinterest board to collect research and collaborate with teammates. TikTok is fairly new but I did have students use it to do video presentations last year. They preferred it because it was so easy to use and share. I use YouTube videos all the time to introduce or reinforce science concepts and it is also how I share my screencasts with my classes. I am beginning to see the value of Twitter for researching ideas and people, but it has a dark side so I don’t imagine I will have my students using it in class. I like the idea that Matt Miller and Gilkison both suggest which is that you can make an assignment or activity look like a social media platform, but not really connect to the platform. I have done this with Snapchat and there was something kind of novel about it for the students, plus it was a great way to get to the gist of a science idea because they were limited by the number of characters for the chat. This is also a good idea for younger students who may not have smart phones yet or access to aps. Matt Miller has 12 templates for free on his website that you can use to create these social media inspired templates that you can use with Google Slides. They are really clever and include a Spotify playlist, Netflix template (this one is really versatile), a Facebook profile (perfect for a famous person report or character analysis), an Instagram story template, and a Tick Tok template that Miller recommends for PSAs. Check out these free templates at DitchThatTextbook.com. Photo credit Photo by Tim Bennett on Unsplash.
3 Comments
Janine Burt
10/27/2020 06:23:40 pm
Hi Betsy, it's good to hear your concerns and your thinking about the possibilities for social media in the classroom. I agree that safety first is a good policy and I was also really surprised (shocked really) by the statistics that Klein shared.
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Amy Bardwell
10/27/2020 09:43:01 pm
I totally agree with you and your thoughts. Safety always seems to be an issue. Nadine really outlined it great in her presentation. Thank you for sending the message about watching her presentation. I guess I am just like this new generation. When I see and hear important content, I absorb it more into my knowledge base. Thank again for stating your great thoughts. I wonder how my students; generation Alpha will do when they get to your class content.
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Jamie Lutz
10/28/2020 04:40:40 pm
Hi Betsy, I'm really impressed with all of the ways that you have been able to incorporate social media into your classroom already. It is great to hear that your school has formal lessons that are taught to students so that they can stay safe online. I wish that we had a format like a "homeroom" where this could be taught to all students.
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AuthorHello! Welcome to my blog! This will be a fun place to share thoughts about teaching and learning. I am a middle school science teacher at Redwood. When I'm not teaching, I'm hanging out at home with my family or enjoying nature somewhere in the valley. Archives
March 2021
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