What is this?
Well, I'm glad you asked. When you think about using social media in the classroom, your mind probably goes to an image of chaos. I'll let you stew on that for a bit.
However, there are actually (yes, really) ways to effectively and safely use social media in the classroom. You can use things like blogs, or class Facebook or Twitter pages to keep parents informed! Social media doesn't need to be this terrifying thing in a classroom, and can be very fun and engaging for the kids.
Why Does This Matter?
There are legitimate arguments both for and against using social media in the classroom. some would argue that since the children are already exposed to so much social media already, there is no need, or even reason, to introduce it into classrooms. On the other hand though, students are introduced to social media at a younger and younger age, and so it makes sense to include social media units into classroom learning. Here is a site that covers both sides of the arguments, and goes a bit more in depth with both sides.
6 Pros and Cons of Social Media in the Classroom
I personally believe that using social media in the classroom is a good thing. Yes, there are dangers associated with it, but those can all be essentially taken care of through careful planning and execution of social media usage. I think the most important thing about using social media in school is that it teaches students valuable lessons on safely using social media in their own lives. Because if we're all honest, students will, or already do, have social media, so we should be teaching them how to use it wisely instead of sticking or heads in the sand and ignoring it.
How Can Different Social Medias Be Used in Classrooms?
I'm going to go over a couple examples of how you can use Social Media in your classroom with relative ease. I'll have a couple illustrative photos of random classrooms as well to go with each.
First up, we have a Facebook page. This is probably the easiest to understand and also the easiest to do well. Everyone knows how to use or fill a Facebook page. Take this picture of a Facebook page for an entire Elementary school for example. It is a little different than it would be for a single class, but it is very close none the less. The general format is sharing what is going on in your classroom. This makes it easy for parents to find out what their children are doing in school other than getting the dreaded "nothing" response. It can also help in getting students involved and excited to share what they are doing in their classrooms. Really, a Facebook page doesn't have to be anything super complicated, maybe even just a daily update along with a picture (be smart with the picture!).
Well, I'm glad you asked. When you think about using social media in the classroom, your mind probably goes to an image of chaos. I'll let you stew on that for a bit.
However, there are actually (yes, really) ways to effectively and safely use social media in the classroom. You can use things like blogs, or class Facebook or Twitter pages to keep parents informed! Social media doesn't need to be this terrifying thing in a classroom, and can be very fun and engaging for the kids.
Why Does This Matter?
There are legitimate arguments both for and against using social media in the classroom. some would argue that since the children are already exposed to so much social media already, there is no need, or even reason, to introduce it into classrooms. On the other hand though, students are introduced to social media at a younger and younger age, and so it makes sense to include social media units into classroom learning. Here is a site that covers both sides of the arguments, and goes a bit more in depth with both sides.
6 Pros and Cons of Social Media in the Classroom
I personally believe that using social media in the classroom is a good thing. Yes, there are dangers associated with it, but those can all be essentially taken care of through careful planning and execution of social media usage. I think the most important thing about using social media in school is that it teaches students valuable lessons on safely using social media in their own lives. Because if we're all honest, students will, or already do, have social media, so we should be teaching them how to use it wisely instead of sticking or heads in the sand and ignoring it.
How Can Different Social Medias Be Used in Classrooms?
I'm going to go over a couple examples of how you can use Social Media in your classroom with relative ease. I'll have a couple illustrative photos of random classrooms as well to go with each.
First up, we have a Facebook page. This is probably the easiest to understand and also the easiest to do well. Everyone knows how to use or fill a Facebook page. Take this picture of a Facebook page for an entire Elementary school for example. It is a little different than it would be for a single class, but it is very close none the less. The general format is sharing what is going on in your classroom. This makes it easy for parents to find out what their children are doing in school other than getting the dreaded "nothing" response. It can also help in getting students involved and excited to share what they are doing in their classrooms. Really, a Facebook page doesn't have to be anything super complicated, maybe even just a daily update along with a picture (be smart with the picture!).
Next up is an example Twitter page. A twitter page is actually very similar to a Facebook page if you are unfamiliar with Twitter. However, the amount of content you can put into a single post is more limited. Twitter is more suited to snippets, rather than detailed posts. So, say you have something quick that you would like to share with parents, Twitter is a great way to do that.
In my future classroom, I plan on implementing both of these into my classroom. I would love to have the Facebook page be something that is collaborative between my students and I where we share cool things we are doing, while using my twitter page for the most part to communicate with parents.
P.S. Make sure to use plenty of pictures to show what you are doing, but also be mindful of safe practices concerning pictures of students on social media.
How Will I Teach About Using Social Media?
I think introducing a classroom Facebook page is a great way to do this, especially with younger students! I like the Facebook platform for teaching about social media because it is a common platform that most students will become familiar with as they grow older, and so introducing it now can be a boon to their safety on the internet.
So, the lesson topic: How to use Facebook and Other Social Media
What we want students to have learned after they go through the lesson: How to use Social Media Safely and Wisely
Next question is how we will go about teaching about this. The way that I would go about this lesson would actually be to make it a year long interactive learning experience. As I said before, I want to use a Facebook Page as a collaborative work between my students and I. Every week, I want to have my class pick one activity that they would like to share on the Facebook page.
The first week however, I would need to teach the students about the rules on our page and what we can/cannot post to our page. These rules are both flexible and not at the same time, and really it's up to you to figure out what your rules would be if you taught this. Ideally, we would be able to have a discussion about what we want to share on our page, and then go from there. This is a very simple way to teach social media, but is a good way to lay a foundation of safe usage with younger students.
P.S. Make sure to use plenty of pictures to show what you are doing, but also be mindful of safe practices concerning pictures of students on social media.
How Will I Teach About Using Social Media?
I think introducing a classroom Facebook page is a great way to do this, especially with younger students! I like the Facebook platform for teaching about social media because it is a common platform that most students will become familiar with as they grow older, and so introducing it now can be a boon to their safety on the internet.
So, the lesson topic: How to use Facebook and Other Social Media
What we want students to have learned after they go through the lesson: How to use Social Media Safely and Wisely
Next question is how we will go about teaching about this. The way that I would go about this lesson would actually be to make it a year long interactive learning experience. As I said before, I want to use a Facebook Page as a collaborative work between my students and I. Every week, I want to have my class pick one activity that they would like to share on the Facebook page.
The first week however, I would need to teach the students about the rules on our page and what we can/cannot post to our page. These rules are both flexible and not at the same time, and really it's up to you to figure out what your rules would be if you taught this. Ideally, we would be able to have a discussion about what we want to share on our page, and then go from there. This is a very simple way to teach social media, but is a good way to lay a foundation of safe usage with younger students.