Before I started writing this blog, I would have said that there is no way that the schools should embrace Social Networking. And, I would have used the policy written by the Board of Education as my justification. However, the National Boards of Education now say that the internet isn’t as dangerous as people think and that teachers should let students use social media networks at school. This recommendation comes as a result of a study funded by Microsoft, News Corporation, and Verizon (http://tech.blorge.com/Structure:%20/2007/08/07/schoolboards-net-dangers-over-rated-bring-social-networks-to-school/).
Most schools ban Face book, MySpace, Twitter, and other social networking sites from school computers. The logic behind the ban is twofold. First, there is the belief that students are less likely to be distracted when the school computers don’t give the access to their favorite websites. And second, Administrators, teachers, and parents all fear the negative consequences that can result from social networking. However, a school social network is one solution that combines the capabilities of the social network that kids enjoy with the educational relevance that teacher’s desire (http://edudemic.com/2011/07/school-social-networks/).
The common beliefs within AASL’s “Standards for the 21st-Century-Learner” state that technology and social network skills are essential to the development of 21st-Century-Students in order for them to be viable members of the working community (http://www.ala.org/news/news/pressreleases2008/june2008/AASLsurvey).
Social networking has transformed communication and sharing of information in today’s society. Social networking uses software to build online social networks for communities of people who share interests and activities. Social networking is providing new opportunities for personal expression, the creation of interest communities, collaboration and sharing. It is growing in popularity among young people and has increasing interest from the business sector as a way of marketing and collaboration. As the internet continues to evolve, educators must keep pace with the latest tools and understand both the opportunities and threats these present. Educators need to develop policies that strike a balance between safety and freedom while still allowing teachers to use the tools that are a part of the everyday life for today’s students (http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/153058530).
During the time it takes me to write this sentence, 42,000 people will update their Face book status, 36,000 tweets will be sent, and fifteen hours of video will be uploaded to YouTube. The world as we know it is quickly becoming wired through social media. These additions bring to light the fact we are struggling once again in education to keep up with the pace of a drastically changing society. Outside of school, social media outlets are ‘THE’ way that people now communicate, young and old alike. The fact that we as educators even have to have discussions on whether or not social media is good for schools is sad. Social Media just ‘IS’. …it is ‘LIFE’ (http://www.edutopia.org/social-media-case-education-edchat-steve-johnson).
Despite this, inside the vast majority of our school walls, social media tools are blocked and filtered. The general consensus for this revolves around fear of cyber bullying and inappropriate use by students. Many have blamed the media for blowing the negative out of proportion. In light of these fears, we need to stop talking cyber bullying and start talking cyber citizenship. Flip to the positive. The focus in schools needs to shift towards responsible, positive use of social media. I would rather have mistakes happen transparently where learning can take place. Why do you say?
1. It is quickly becoming our duty as educators in the 21st Century to guide our students toward responsible use of social media.
2. Social media is becoming the new first impression when we interview for jobs.
3. Connected, community based learning is important.
4. Within the near future (5 years), the filters will be gone whether we like it or not due to the expansion of wifi and smart phones.
As a society, we have spent too much time focused on what media are doing to young people and not enough time asking what young people are doing with media. We need to embrace an approach based on media ethics, one that empowers young people to take greater responsibility for their own actions and holds them accountable for the choices they make as members of an online community. As these youth take on the role of media makers (using websites, YouTube videos, Flickr photographs and a wealth of other software) they are becoming part of the ‘participatory culture’ indicative of Web 2.0. Despite a tendency to talk of ‘digital natives,’ these students are not born understanding how to navigate cyberspace and they don’t always know the right thing to do as they confront situations that were not part of the childhood worlds of their parents or educators. As we prepare young people for a world that is more and more defined around collaboration and collective problem solving, we must help them acquire the social skills necessary to meaningfully contribute to a network of other learners. Too often, educators are adopting positions that close off the exploration of the new media, rather than encouraging young people to acquire the skills needed to meaningfully participate, and fostering an ethical perspective that allows them to use their abilities responsibly and safely (http://www.goodworkproject.org/ourspacefiles/VIII_A1_How_We_Got_Here_Our_Space.pdf).
a year after seventh grade teacher, Elizabeth Delmatoff started a pilot social media program in her Portland, Oregon classroom, 20% of students school-wide were completing extra assignments for no credit, grades had gone up more than 50%, and chronic absenteeism was reduced by more than a third. For the first time in its history, the school met its adequate yearly progress goal for absenteeism. At a time when many teachers are made wary by reports of predators and bullies online, social media in the classroom is not the most popular proposition. Teachers like Delmatoff, however, are embracing it rather than banning it. They argue that the educational benefits of social media far outweigh the risks, and they worry that schools are missing out on an opportunity to incorporate learning tools the student already know how to use. What started out as a Face book like forum where Delmatoff posted assignments has grown into a social media component for almost every subject. Why does Delmatoff say we should use social media?
1. Social Media isn’t going away. Don’t fight a losing battle. It’s better to be on the cutting edge and be moving with the kids than moving against them. They should be taught to use the media for a good cause.
2. When kids are engaged, they learn better. Delmatoff said that when she started using blogs to teach writing, kids started to come to school early to use the computer for her social media program. Additionally, the quality of their work improved.
3. Safe social media tools are available and they are free. Kidsblog.org is one of many free tools that allow teachers to control an online environment while still benefiting from social media. Delmatoff managed her social media class without a budget by using free tools like Edmodo and Edublogs.
4. Replace online procrastination with Social Education. Between 2004 and 2009, the amount of time that kids between the ages of 2 and 11 spent online increased by 63% according to a Nielsen study. And there is no reason that schools shouldn’t compete with other media sites for part of that time.
5. Social Media encourages collaboration instead of cliques. When you get in the business world, it’s collaborative immediately. And we come unprepared to collaborate on projects. Social media as a teaching tool has a natural collaborative element. Students critique and comment on each other’s assignments, work in teams to create content, and can easily access each other and the teacher with questions to start a discussion.
6. Cell phones aren’t the enemy. Delmatoff used cell phones to wake chronically absent kids up before school or send messages when they were running late. She called her program “Texts in time,” and it improved chronic absenteeism by about 35% without costing the school a dime. The cell phone is a parent sponsored, parent funded communication channel and schools need to wrap their mind around it to reach and engage the kids.
No one will dispute that the risks of children using social media are real and not to be taken lightly. But there are also dangers offline. The teachers and parents who embrace social media say the best way to keep kids safe, online, is to teach them.
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