My county has recently become a 1:1 learning community, providing MacBooks to our 9 - 12 graders. We plan to add grades 7 and 8 in the 2013-14 school year. There were plenty of bumps in the road, but now most teachers on my campus are at least beginning to redefine their lesson plans to integrate technology.
Currently, my school system blocks from student computers ALL Social Media and Video websites as well as most Blogs. The blocking system also picks up key words that insinuate "inappropriate material", which can often be innocuous words or phrases. This is a major problem for innovative teachers, like myself. I have had numerous times where lessons were planned and tested against these blocks only to find new blocks added in the time between my test and implementation within my classroom. To say this is frustrating is an understatement. I am not alone in my quest to include Social Media in the classroom. USA Today covered this topic in this article, dated July, 2011.
I understand the theory behind the blocks, but would like to make the case against such blocks:
- Students need direction in properly using Social Media - Social Media creates as many opportunities as it does problems. Most parents have little knowledge of the Digital Footprint their children are creating. Today's students and parents need to be educated on the far-reaching effects of poor decisions on Social Media. Until schools begin to incorporate systematic and in-depth education for both students and parents on the many potential dangers of Social Media, we are not truly educating our students. Incorporating Social Media in the class is the first step in this process. By having academic Social Media accounts that are backed by parent and student contracts of appropriate behavior, schools are taking the lead in teaching students how to harness the power of the Internet and use it for their benefit. Some schools are actually teaching students to "Scrub their Digital Footprint", while others, like Burlington, MA, is taking the lead in educating both students and parents, as is described in this article. You can find many great ideas of implementation plans and rules, but none as interesting and complete as this article.
- Students are already using Social Media during school via their mobile devices - No matter how hard we try, fighting the use of Social Media via mobile devices during school is a losing battle. Even if teachers are vigilant in their classroom, there is no way to engage with students and monitor every motion of all 30 plus students in your room. It is also impossible to control postings from the restrooms, during break and in lunch. If students are already accessing Social Media in the school setting, why not harness that interest for academic purposes, which brings me to the next point...
- Teachers need to meet students where they are - I have heard too many students refer to the computers as a "waste of money" and as "boring" and "useless". WHAT?!?? I then ask the same students how they use the computer that is fun...and the winner is...yep, Social Media! How engaging would it be to give students the freedom to collect information for a project using their favorite Social Media site? How about creating a mentor program that allows students to correspond with community leaders (NOT Strangers!) via Twitter? Students could have a Twitter chat with other students from around the globe studying common subjects or harness the power of hashtags. The opportunities are engaging and endless, but also blocked! Lessons using Twitter
- Students will not have such blocks in college and beyond - By not training students to manage their use of Social Media (and other digital distractions), we are doing them a disservice. It is much akin to not teaching time-management or collaboration skills. When students move to the next level, either college or career, they are completely unleashed into the Social Media universe and we are not preparing them to manage all that is entailed in that freedom. This point is well developed in this article by Ian Jukes
- Teachers, coaches and club sponsors already turn to Social Media to get out important information - Social Media is the best, cheapest and most effective for of advertisement for school and athletic events. Almost every club, sport and major function at school is somehow on Social Media. By not incorporating students with the planning and disbursement of these Social Media advertisements, we are missing a huge learning opportunity. As it stands currently, either a teacher or parent has to create the ad OR a student had to create it at home without the direction of a teacher. Social Media can not only serve as a marketing tool for organizations, but also an actual meeting place, as is the case in this Canadian school book club.
- Social Media is the best mechanism for sharing content with all school stakeholders - One of the best parts of "Open House" for my elementary aged son is showing off his hard work. Once a student hits the teen years, they still want to show you their accomplishments - just not in front of their peers. Posting finished projects to Social Media gives students the ability to show off their work without being embarrassed. It also allows teachers to show the community what exciting projects are being completed in her class. There are a host of ways to use Social Media to communicate, such as those outlined in this article. YouTube allows students to create projects that can be appreciated and viewed by a global or local audience. The most important objective of a publicly shared project is teaching students what is appropriate and inappropriate to post and what personal information is safe to include in your Social Media site. If you are wanting to control the audience of such projects, Vimeo offers video upload sites that can be password protected. Vine, Twitters new video site, offers a multitude of lesson opportunities.
- Authentic learning opportunities abound with Social Media - When a student knows that his or her work is going to be used for an authentic purpose, the engagement and attention to detail increases exponentially. I have recently created a YouTube channel for our Guidance office. The content on the site has been created by Freshmen in my Multimedia Design class. Instead of creating fake videos for fake events, the students have worked in groups on videos that include directions for registration for each grade level, athletic offerings and guidelines, an overview of current clubs, and, most impressive, a Virtual Tour of the school that integrates a video tour of the school with a 3D Model of both the exterior and interior of the school. Not one person in this project did not participate. The drawback to this project was that, because YouTube is blocked, I had to complete the project by uploading, organizing and tagging their finished products. This was an enormous missed opportunity. While I did show the students the steps that I took to upload, organize and tag the videos, student engagement was minimal. It was a very sad ending to a wonderful project. Other teachers have used Social Media for authentic learning, as is described in this article.
- Social Media opens new lines of communication - Students who correspond with educators and administrators in an appropriate Social Media manner are given a new way of sharing problems, warning of impending trouble and reaching out for help in times of crises. Connected educators can also support students' needs through applicable posts without singling out a specific group or person. Schools are also given the opportunity to share information with large groups. Even Marketing firms recognize the potential for communication expansion, as this article, published by Innovative Marketing Resources.com, well explains.
- Social Media is everywhere - From QR codes to Facebook; from Twitter to Instagram, you can't turn on the TV, read a magazine or check your mail (both snail mail and email) without seeing a reference to Social Media. Every business and organization is leveraging these free, powerful tools to grab the attention and engagement of customers - why is education choosing a different path?
A Teacher's Guide to Social Media
The 25 Best Pinterest Boards for Educators
Why Teachers Should Use Twitter
Using Social Media for Real-World Learning
5 Steps to Using Social Media in the Classroom
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