Social Media and Students
I apologize for the video syncing. Screencastify just ain't what she used to be.
I have a feeling that this week's chapter will stir up a struggle with all of you. It is a sensitive subject for the majority of teachers as social media and students is a tough beast to tame. I just had this issue two days ago as a teacher was frustrated with students abusing Hangouts during class. So it begs me to question the approach of banning something. For some reason, these students want to use Hangouts. What if you found a way to use Hangouts for the purpose of learning? (I know...easier said than done, but certainly something to ponder.)
So your job this week is to brainstorm a way to utilize a form of social media in your classroom. You could use a class social media account and reach out to an expert. You could utilize a specific hashtag that represents your learning. You could use any number of the tools that I'll list below to practice social media. It could even be spending time talking about the impact of social media and setting up norms/expectations if you were to utilize it for learning. Why is this important?
If you are highly against this idea, feel free to share your ideas of why. I don't want to assume that you do this project just because I said so. :) I welcome all points of view.
- Here is the article about Blue and digital citizenship
- Here is my posts on Today's Meet
- Here is a resource on how to post items from SeeSaw to social media
- Here is the direct link to SeeSaw if you are unfamiliar
- Common Sense has a ton of resources on digital citizenship, here is their section on digital footprint
I love how some teachers are using facebook to showcase what is going on in the classroom. Parents love to see their own students and what a great way to share what they are learning. It is a pretty easy and very effective way to communicate. I feel we must keep up with technology and if it saves time and communicates with parents, I say yes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you Susan. I know a lot of parents that have commented to me that they love to see what their students are engaged in. I have high school students and their parents all tell me that their communication skills lack once they get to high school so having a twitter or a facebook account for your class can cross that communication barrier!
DeleteYou're exactly right, Sue. It is even more powerful if the teacher gets the students involved with the process. Maybe show them how to post positive things out there. Show kids how to connect with others in a positive light.
DeleteI have a Twitter account and I think a way I could get students involved is something that we did. Maybe once a week have the students find an article or post related to the STEM field and post about it. Then my students need to pick a one of the articles and write a short review on a Hangout and talk about each article. Within math classes we get away from reading and writing and this would be a good way to incorporate that into what we are doing. I could use a hashtag so all the students know what to look for. Something like #mathtalk4Tuttle or maybe more original!
ReplyDeleteI believe teaching students how to properly use social media is necessary because it's how communication is now happening. It's a tug-of-war because of the ability to misuse it. It's difficult to manage a whole classroom of students at the same time while on social media. I'm in the elementary school setting and I wonder if students will take it seriously or if they're too young to see the importance of being mindful of their digital footprint. I'm thinking of 3rd through 5th graders mainly.
ReplyDeleteI work with ELL students throughout K-5 and wonder what would be the best way to connect these students through social media, especially with the variety of grade levels. What would be the best social media source to use to connect these students with each other, their parents, and possibly other elementary ELL students from other schools?