Kessler, S. (2010, September 29).
The Case For Social Media in Schools, http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/
In this article, a 7th grade teacher argues that
social media can be useful in schools, based upon evidence that her school
experience reduced absenteeism, an increase in grades, and a visible increase
in student investment in online assignments.
Based on her research, she states social media in schools provides
educational benefits that far outweigh the risks. She has several arguments for her stance on
using social media in schools; 1, it should be taught instead of fought; 2, it
engages students more than traditional assignments do; 3, there is a surge of
safe and school friendly programs now available for use in classrooms; 4, it
provides a productive activity for students to do online instead of what they
will do alternatively; and 5, it promotes collaboration similar to that they
will be expected to participate in as adults in the business world; and 6, cell
phones can be used to promote attendance and updates via texting.
I am a believer that social media, when used effectively,
can be extremely beneficial in getting students to open up about their ideas,
work collaboratively, and access online resources. Students are usually very excited to use
computers for classwork, and sites such as Edmodo and Edublog
being used effectively in classrooms across the country. This is a platform that most today's students are
accustomed to communicating in and expressing themselves with. I agree that it can be a dangerous tool,
which is why it is important for teachers to be aware of the pitfalls and to
have a structure in place to promote online responsibility and to follow a code
of conduct for behavior online. With the
abundance of classroom-friendly programs now available, it is easy to manage
student work and to cultivate a responsible online presence within
classrooms. I think that there needs to
be a lot more education for teachers on how to use social media as a resource,
because I agree that the benefits can far outweigh the risks when used
properly. I myself have started to use
social media in the classroom, and while I have managed to enforce a code of
conduct for behavior and expectations among my students, I think I could use a
few lessons on how to use it to its full potential.
Q1: How can I use
social media to enhance the learning in my classroom?
Students can use social media through blogging and sharing
their knowledge with other students on certain topics. Shy students may be more apt to participate
in discussions, and to contribute to polls to enhance student discourse.
Q2: What tools are
available for teachers to use social media safely in their classrooms?
Kidblogs, edmodo, edublogs, schoolology, remind101, and a
variety of other free online services are just a few of the the
closed-system, classroom friendly social media sites that are currently available
for teachers to use in the virtual classroom.
Hopefully there will be more in the future as teachers begin to see the
benefits of social media use in education.
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