What do you feel about using social media in the classroom? What are some tools you use that seem to benefit your education?
Some people believe that social media is a distraction to learning and life. Some people use social media to interact with people. Others use social networks and media for entertainment. Videos, images, interactive technologies are available all across the board so why not use it to educate.
Tools like Facebook, twitter and youtube help enhance information literacy and comprehension. Current events are often casted on social media. Students are able to research information online. Students are able to connect from multiple devices and access the information. Videos, pictures and games are used to enhance comprehension. For example for at the elementary school level fifth graders can research a topic, and present the information provided. Students can watch video lectures , and examples of the material discussed so they can understand the information. for example if doing a unit on the civil war. Students can research pictures, and I video examples that demonstrate or represent the unit.
Teachers and students can use social media in order to communicate. Teachers can create a page where students and their parents can view upcoming events and assignments. Students can email or message their teachers and peers. This is helpful for collaboration. For example if students are working on a group assignment they can chat and interact with their group members through social networks like Facebook. These are just some ideas of how social media can help in the classroom.
What are some examples of how you use the Internet and social media in your school?
Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteI never used social media in the classroom. I actually had to set my personal social media accounts to private because some family members of my students were using social media in a negative way. I totally see the draw of using social media in the classroom. I get that students are going to use it anyway so we might as well address this issue. But I taught third grade and I don't know how appropriate it is to use social media with students this age. Does using a class website count? How about edmodo?
Here are an article I found about using social media in the classroom:
https://www.edsurge.com/n/2013-09-18-dipping-into-social-media-in-the-classroom
Best,
Naomi
I myself have never really used social media with my Pre-k kids. I have used Youtube but not for "social" reasons but for the Let's Dance videos for indoor recess. It is a new thing that I found this year and my kids love doing this as an alternative to sitting down watching a movie every time they have to be inside. This really helped us this year since we had so many indoor recesses this winter.
ReplyDeleteJasmine,
ReplyDeleteSocial media is a great tool and there are many ways to use it. I see that 5th graders would be quite tech saavy and into the tech world. I think, like you said, that these are greats tools to help aid in student collaboration. In Holland and in Jackson's articles, there are suggestions like Padlet and examples of other programs that could be used in the classroom to continue to promote student authentic learning and collaboration. Would you see yourself using something more simplistci like Padlet or something like Kidblog that has more options? How do you see yourself using it?
Thanks!
Holland, B. (2012, April 13). Introducing Social Media to Elementary Students. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/introducing-social-media-lower-elementary-beth-holland
Jackson, L. (2012, February 12). How to Blog With Young Students. Retrieved from http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech/tech217.shtml
Lacina, J. (2011, December). The Influence of Classroom Blogging on Elementary Student Writing. Retrieved from http://www.acei.org/volume-25-no-4/the-influence-of-classroom-blogging-on-elementary-student-writing.html
Jasmine,
ReplyDeleteSocial Media is a huge tool but it is not something that I have ever used in the classroom. My school uses twitter to communicate with families and teachers and some of my colleagues have created facebook groups with their students to communicate but I have never used it in the classroom. I have problems with using certain forms of social media in the classroom due to privacy concerns.