Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Why Twitter and Facebook could be Good instruction...

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Why Twitter and Facebook could be Good instruction...: Social Media Outposts (Photo credit: the tartanpodcast ) I think Paul Barnwell in his Education Week Teacher Article has some great points. I would like to add the following thoughts on using Social Networking in the classroom...

Good vs. Evil
This blog article makes an amazing point that extends past the use of Social Media in the classroom...just like with any profession a tool is only as good as the way it is used. Case in point - a hammer in a classroom can be used to beat a slow computer into pieces or it can be used to make a shelf to house books in the library. Same tool, different uses and intentions.

Social Media (Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, Twitter, Blogger, etc) has become the preverbal hammer of the 2013 classroom. Most teachers and administrators cringe at the thought of allowing these resources into our classrooms, yet in most cases, they are already in our classrooms thanks to under-the-table smartphone use. 

Our Fear is Paralyzing 
We educators are paralyzed by the same fear that stood in the way of installing the internet into classrooms a decade ago. We are so caught up in the "what ifs" of negative impacts that we are turning a blind eye to the "what ifs" of the amazing and positive impact. 

Fear is human nature. Recently, I began allowing my sons (aged 8 and 11 at the time) to play in our cul-de-sac without sitting outside and watching them, only because I couldn't accomplish all that I needed to do inside while watching their every move. I was terrified that "Chester the Molester" was going to pull up beside them in a windowless van, offering puppies and candy. I could see my elder child falling for the puppy scheme! In preparation of my decision I began giving them detailed "stranger danger" talks. I showed them videos of missing children. I kept an open dialoge about what was appropriate and inappropriate when they were outside. Well, I taught them a bit too well. See, I failed to mention that not all men in windowless vans are evil...more specifically, men in Fed Ex vans with Fed Ex uniforms delivering a box of recently purchased bed linens. When this poor, unsuspecting Fed Ex delivery man asked my 11 year old for help with the oddly large, but light package, my 8 year old stepped in front of the 11 year old, yelled "STRANGER DANGER" to the top of his lungs and physically pulled the 11 year old into the garage...and closed the garage...on the Fed Ex man. The package was left in the middle of the driveway and I am pretty sure this poor man was as rattled as the kids were. I was, oddly, proud of the 8 year old, because I would rather he err on the side of caution. Now, I should point out that not two weeks later my 11 year old came running home to ask if he could go in the van of the neighbors yard man and look at puppies...you can guess my answer (but he did ask).

What was the point of that trip down Malpas family memory lane...fear can keep us from doing what we need to get done and if we take proper precautions, we can alleviate the risk (ie my 8 year old chasing away the Fed Ex man...who he later said looked "sketchy"). By preparing our students for the tools we give them and addressing not only the technical aspects of the tools, but the social consequences of the tools, we are preparing them for the real world.

Prepare, Engage and Empower
Fear is the friend of mediocrity - our kids deserve more than a mediocre educational experience. We are afraid that our students will do something to harm themselves, others or our reputations. We are afraid that we will get a call from a parent upset that little Johnny was taught how to use Social Media. We are afraid that we are creating more work for ourselves and our administrators. The truth is, if implemented correctly and in conjunction with our school feeder patterns, we are simplifying our jobs and creating a group of students who are collaborative communicators - skills in demand in our current workplace.

Am I saying that we should allow all students unfettered access to Facebook, with no parameters of appropriate use? NO! Every school with an internet has or should have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). Creating comprehensive AUPs with specific consequences for violations and consistently enforcing these policies are the most critical and difficult components to the succes of any digital program, including the use of Social Media in classrooms. When the AUP places the same consequence on playing Solitaire during class as downloading inappropriate materials, a great injustice is done to both offenders. So how do I think Social Media can be successfully added to the classroom? The answer is much less about Social Media and more about the climate created within a 1:1 or BYOD school.

1. AUPs must be given great detail and must address the multiple levels of violations with concise consequences that match the level of the violation.  
2. Students must be educated with more than a 10 minute presentation of the AUP before signing and returning the form (with or without parental signature). Students in a digital environment need to be deeply educated over a period of days, in a consistent, meaningful and explicit way by multiple educators. The education of students must be ongoing as technology is continually offering more opportunities/threats for students.
3. Teachers must be educated on the potential for danger brought about by the online tools available (not only Social Media, but also the variety of multimedia and collaborative tools available online). This education must be specific, intentional, and ongoing. It must also involve two-way dialogs that empower teachers to express, without fear of retribution or judgement, their honest thoughts, needs, fears, observations and gripes. This can easily be accomplished by ANONYMOUS surveys.  
4. Teachers must be continually educated and supported on the potential for excellence brought about by online tools. Spend the most time supporting the teachers that are not digital natives. Use resources like webcast, videocasts and collaboration groups to find out what needs are not being met...and then devise a way to meet those needs. Teachers who feel supported and empowered perform leaps and bounds above those who feel overwhelmed and lost. 
5. Get input from the stakeholders of the school(s) on a regular bases to see how the effect of the implementation of the technology is being seen. Parents and community leaders are great resources of how we are preparing our students for the "real world"...because they are living in the "real world"

The End Result

Once we have a system in place to address the dangers, fears, learning needs and obstacles of Social Media in the classroom, we have opened up a learning tool that has exponential learning power. These tools are the very essence of what Learning 2.0 is about - collaboration, communication, networking, feedback, and real world connections. 

Have students create a Facebook group to collaborate for solutions to their Problem Based Learning project. Allow students to tweet a question related to a PBL and gather information from Twitter followers from around the globe. Use LinkedIn to create a group of students who wish to gain entrance to a particular University and teach them how to find professors and administrators of that University within LinkedIn to join their group. The possibilities are ENDLESS!