It's Complicated
Social Media... in the CLASSROOM?!
Yep - you read that right. And before you totally disregard this and skip to the next post, let me explain that I, too, felt the same way up until about an hour ago when I read more on danah boyd's (she prefers her name to be listed in lowercase letter) extensive research on social media and the students that are in front of us. She traveled 18 different states for seven years from 2005 until 2012 collecting data on teens and their social lives using technology. She conducted over 160 interviews with teenagers of varying socioeconomic and ethnic communities over a 3-year span.
You can read more about her findings in the book she wrote, It's Complicated, or peruse this interesting presentation that summarizes it. However, here are a few points that started to shift my thinking:
- Using social media allows teenagers stay connected throughout the day, not just at school or the school-sponsored sporting events.
- For kids these days, social media is just what everyone does and is a part of their everyday lives, just like watching television (so why not use it to continue the learning?!)
- Nothing has changed: teenagers are still trying to find out where they "fit" in the world. They are still trying to make sense of everything around them. They are still drawn to friendship. They want to be understood.
- Back in my day, we'd jump on our bikes and ride to our friend's house or we would walk to school together and have this unstructured time where we got to be us. This generation though has less freedom to wander than any other generation in the past, which is mostly due to our safety-obsessed society. So instead they turn to social media to fill the void.
- And let's be honest: abduction, sexual violence, and bullying did not start on the internet. It just makes the good, bad, and ugly of everyday life more noticeable.
Although it makes complete sense, danah boyd's research began to shift my perspective a bit. Social media and the internet is not going anywhere (I think I freak out more when my internet goes out than when my power goes out and I may lose the food in my fridge! Ha!). Instead of trying to fight it or ignore it, it is time to embrace it and use it to our advantage.
Staying connected after the school day has ended? Utilizing what is already a part of their everyday lives and not having to make or create something that we think is engaging? Allowing them to have a voice, find themselves, and converse with their friends on something school-related? Encouraging students freedom to wander on an educational topic of their choosing? Capitalizing on the good, bad, and ugly of social issues that can encourage students to do something about it?
. . .
YES PLEASE!
Do not get me wrong: this can be overwhelming and difficult to visualize in your classroom or your subject matter. I was headed down a rabbit hole with too many outlets to try at once when I came across Sewickley Academy's blog post on "9 Ways to Use Social Media in Your Classroom." The very informative post gives 9 (one for every month of the school year) very do-able ways to incorporate social media into your classroom. The author, Michael-Ann Cerniglia, also states the importance of emphasizing how social media can (and will) influence their professional and academic lives, which is why it is crucial to be responsible and use it ethically.
The nine ways that the post references includes a few actionable steps for a variety of age levels, as well as a bit of information behind it. However, since the majority of my work is with adults, I started thinking about how I could use it with them first. After all - I believe in the importance of modeling it yourself to learn as much about it as you possibly can before trying to sell it to others. I also believe in calling out the reason (or "why") behind trying to do something new.
As I break down the nine outlets for you below, I encourage you to think of how else you can add to it to encourage students to think critically, use responsibly, and remain engaged in learning.
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GET SOCIAL
Everyone picks a social media service (Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and follows someone who blogs, tweets, pins, etc. about the topic of study. The purpose of this is to emphasize how learning is everywhere, including social media sites, and exposing them to ones they may not currently be comfortable with. It also allows them to learn the vocabulary and slang of various media sites, allows for the connection of seeing social media as another source of information, and kick-starts the year of being "social" for academic purposes. The author suggests that you can use this as a warm-up throughout a unit either every day or every week, sharing the new learning that has been discovered. You can also promote students to respond to the author and begin discussions from it.⇒My idea: Complete with teachers at the first staff meeting of the school year on a way they want to grow professionally. Find out what/who the staff is following and find ways to add to their learning, or find more resources for them. If you find connections in professional learning goals, you can use it to pair teachers together for small discussion groups.
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BLOG
Set up a blog and write to each other, making sure to comment on at least two other posts using meaningful feedback. Doing so hits at one of the most important motivators for strong writing: having an audience. It can also be used as a portfolio to tag and track work throughout the year(s), emphasizing on their best work. This can be done with students by transforming their writing assignments as a blog, then reading and responding to classmates throughout.⇒My idea: As teacher(s) work on their SMART Goals and Action Plans, have them blog either throughout the unit and/or after the unit is done and use as a reflection tool. They can then share these blogs with their colleagues during Sharing and Learning so that their audience can see the work that they have done, complete with student examples, and how the work transpired throughout the unit.
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TWEET
Image Source: Giphy.com
Create twitter accounts to be used for academic purposes, complete with a class hashtag that you create with them. This will promote what teenagers are yearning for: connecting with the world. As a teacher you can use it to remind students about upcoming assignments, model how you can talk to other classes in the world, or have a competitive "Tweet-Off" to see who could get the most followers. You could also have students post quick homework assignments that means something to them: pictures or articles that relate to the learning, or even re-tweeting another tweet about the topic. ⇒My idea: Create a hashtag for teachers and post great instructional strategies or observations that are seen throughout the day, or celebrations and shout-outs to those that are trying something new. Use it to create a culture of learning and growing together.
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| Image Source: Scoop.It |
⇒My idea: Since I don't know much about this, I haven't been able to think of a way that I could use it with teachers yet. It may be a good place for Social Studies teachers to collaborate when trying to find resources and articles that align with their unit of study.
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| Image Source: Wikimedia Commons |
A way to visually curate a unit of study onto a virtual board and share with others. The author of the article gives ways that this can be completed in any class, including geography, English, science, and language. For example: students in a language class could find items in a vocabulary category to pin to their board and put the word in a sentence in the description.
⇒My idea: So often we want to reward and acknowledge or staff but don't know how. Having a board that is focused on things that they would actually want (maybe a coffee bar? maybe a sweet treat? maybe a celebration?) could be beneficial. It could also be a great way to build staff camaraderie as they share their favorite recipes. I would also try to link it back to the blog somehow...
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TUMBLR
What do you get when you mix a blog with Twitter? Tumblr. Using Tumblr allows for authenticity and content creation and can be used in the classroom as a teacher manages updates about topics or projects the class is working on.⇒My idea: I am not sure about this one as I haven't ever used it and the reviews I read weren't the best... So I may hold off on this one for the moment...
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| Image Source: Wikimedia Commons |
⇒My idea: This can be a fun break or holiday activity to complete with the staff. Making sure that the images don't contain people or things they don't want to be shared (like maybe their children), they can take pictures of the sunset on their vacation or a fun activity they are participating in. Then at a staff meeting you can share the images and learn from one another.
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| Image Source: Wikipedia |
⇒My idea: This could be a great resource to use when implementing or piloting a new curriculum. Teachers can pair up with other classrooms across the country that has the same resource and problem-solve with them, actually see how it looks when set up, etc. I wish I would have done this with my teachers when we were piloting our math program!
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TIKI-TOKI
Students are able to create a timeline using this tool and collaborate on it at the same time. Students are able to comment on each other's posts to provide support and feedback on it, which creates a fantastic classroom discussion.⇒My idea: It would be very interesting for teachers to work on this as a fun activity during a staff meeting, showing the history of the district from their eyes. You can pair a veteran teacher up with a newbie and they can reflect on how much has changed throughout the years in education!
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Now that you are better equipped with some ideas on how to incorporate social media into your classroom, do you feel more willing to do so? Did it spark any other ideas you may have? I would love to know!
Karyn, this is a fantastic post! Thanks for adding in your suggestions- it gave me some great ideas.
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