Activity 7: Social media in teaching and professional development.
Social media - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Social media are computer-mediated tools that allow people or companies to create, share, or exchange information, career interests, ideas, and pictures/videos in virtual communities and networks.
There is a saying where I come from:
"If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!"
Many years ago, in it's early stages, I started to use Facebook. It was for practical purposes. As the mother of three, who had seen them traverse the 'Bebo' network, I thought it responsible to keep an eye on what they were posting or doing. Fortunately even though I was often saying, "get that off NOW!" they never blocked me. Now it helps me to keep in touch via Messenger as they travel around the world with work commitments.
However I was surprised some years later when my Facebook use gained me a job! Applying from a low tech school to a high tech one I was told in retrospect that when one of the board questioned whether my age would mean I would struggle with the online systems, another board member pointed out that I used Facebook regularly and uploaded photos and videos etc... so couldn't be too beyond help! Perhaps it was my one and only experience of being 'stalked?' Either way I was very glad that they could do so.
Social Media for Teaching and Learning
"I also agree that social media pervades all aspects of modern society, and it has become an imperative for us as educators -- and parents -- to model appropriate digital citizenship to even our youngest learners. Do I really believe that toddlers should have Twitter handles? Not really. But we do need to introduce children to the virtual, social world around them in appropriate and meaningful ways? Definitely."
(Holland 2013)
Children in the classroom are often social media savvy. It never ceases to amaze me when I see pupils from Year 3 'liking' my Instagram account. They are growing up in a world where the norm is to create and share online. Not every child has a parent who regularly checks up on what they are doing online. Most recently I commented to a parent that her daughter was struggling with her Basic Facts to 10. She said she couldn't understand it as the little girl was spending hours on the interactive website I had suggested. The next day when I saw her she had searched the History and found that the 'My Little Pony' game had taken a huge step forward!
The moral of the story is that at school we are 'in loco parentis.' Our responsibility is to know what each child is accessing online during school time and to also model an open and honest method of searching and responding.
To achieve this due care, each classroom in the school has clearly displayed the 'Digital Agreement' that the parents and children signed when they enrolled at the school. Beside it is a poster with all of the websites and platforms that the children can access. This is useful for relievers and also for duty teachers and senior students who work with each class. This does not mean that we can be less vigilant, as young children will still make bad choices, either on purpose or in error.
With Social Media sites I choose to access them for the children communally and show the parts that I have pre-selected for learning purposes using the Apple TV in the room. However the class are part of the loans scheme, Kiva: https://www.kiva.org/ and they love to see who and why they need money and where their money, (my money,) is best spent. They can also see the difference that a small loan makes to people from around the world. The opportunity to interact with others around the world is the greatest asset to young children who have little knowledge of the wider international community.
Skype and Facebook also give them the chance to communicate with people travelling. For instance one of our recent teachers has visited many interesting countries and sends back his thoughts and impressions of what he sees.
Challenges of Integrating into Teaching and Communication
Our school website runs as a series of blogs for informing parents about what is happening at school. Our Homepage is an intranet based blog which the teachers use to share resources, student news and knowledge that we have picked up at professional development.
Like the parent accessed blogs, it is only as useful as the people who check it regularly and are willing to share. We have found one problem with having multiple blogs. The main issue with our Junior, Middle and Senior blogs is when children move through the school into a different team, parents often say that they aren't getting information. Invariably they have not signed into the blog for the new area of the school. This takes time and patience to explain. In order to get around this we now have the option to email all of the blog announcements after they have been posted.
The school has a Facebook page which is used to advertise the school newsletter with a link back to it via the school's website. It also serves to inform parents and children of special projects and learning that has happened across the teams.
The children each have their own Google accounts controlled by the school. Any misuse of them is picked up quickly. We haven't had many issues but those that have happened were easily and quickly tracked. The children regularly use their accounts to share their writing and news with their parents, the teacher and with their peers to gain feedback and to show their parents their progress and thinking.
Some of the children get a lot of feedback from home but others are disappointed when there are no comments. An internet connection is necessary at home and we have children and family with no access. We have to go back to paper reporting for them to make sure that everyone has equal access to what their child is doing. As the years go by I am sure that this will become less of an issue as this generation becomes parents.
Social Media and Professional Development
"As more of our teachers explore and use social media, their work is transforming the way in which they present information and engage students."
(Asher 2015)
Parents log in to their child's account and they can see immediate updates of reports and class work. It is a thorough report which shares in class activity as you can upload photographs, video and scanned work. Entering a new reading level automatically updates National Standards. A 'Publish' button means that we can choose when parents see the information - so an entire class batch of reports can be released at the same time. When the button is pressed an alert goes to parents. Many of them were resistant at first. However now that we have a new generation of parents in the school they accept the program and have embraced it for how valuable it is.
Although I am a Twitter reader, as yet I have not become a tweeter. I acknowledge how much I enjoy and gain from tweets but I am uncomfortable in posting my ideas or questions to everyone, with no control over who reads it. It is my goal for the year to make at least one tweet per month this year.
I am more comfortable with using the NZ Teacher (Primary) on Facebook as it is a closed group, where the chat is focussed on resources, support for teachers and new ideas for making learning more engaging.
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| Facebook Posts for NZ Teachers (Primary) |
With a number of teachers being prosecuted for inappropriate use of the internet I prefer to not get caught out by non professionals posting adverts, scams and worse.
I regularly use my Google+ circles to interact with other teachers. At present the most valuable one is my small study group for MindLab.
In short, Social Media can be either used or abused. It is a powerful tool for reaching out to people and events for which you would have no opportunity to interact. For both the teacher and the pupil it is imperative to choose carefully who and what is accessed so that communication and learning are purposeful.
References
EDUCATION.govt.nz. (2015) Digital Technology: Safe and responsible use in schools A companion to the guidelines for the surrender and retention of property and searches. (2015)
Asher, J. (2015) Making the Case for Social Media in Schools. Edutopia
Retrieved 19.02.2016
Holland, B. (2013) Introducing Social Media to Elementary Students Edutopia
Retrieved 19.02.2016
NZ Teachers (Primary) Closed Group (2016) Facebook
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