Embedded Files
What is Social Media?
Social Media is a general term that refers to creating relationships, personal and professional, in an online environment. In an adolescent's life, it is a way for them to see their standing with their peer group.1 As reported by CNN, a report by Common Sense Media found that today's adolescents are engaged with media for 9 hours a day.2 As of September 5, 2017, the most popular social media sites include Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram,3 and according to my students, Snapchat. All of these sites allow teenagers to share text, video, and pictures with each other. When these items are posted, kids look for the number of "likes" and comments they get or how many people are following them. Many kids have reported checking this 100-200 times per day.4
As educators, it is important for us to know how our students use this technology, the impact it has on them, and what engages them with it. When we understand this, it gives us insight to their psyche allowing us to understand ways to get get and keep their attention in the classroom.
Reasons to Use Social Media in the classroom
Keeping students engaged in the classroom allows learning to take place. What better way to get and keep their attention than meeting them on their turf by creating class pages on social media sites like Twitter or Facebook? This provides many opportunities for students that were not possible before the advent of the internet. For example, it gives you way to get students who are otherwise not interested in class excited about what you are teaching. Providing discussion topics that students can respond to gives students who are not very vocal in class an opportunity to have their voice heard .
Other ways you can use social media in the classroom? You can make your lessons more authentic by encouraging students to "follow" institutions relating to your subject matter. For example, Government teachers can have students follow political institutions; science teachers can have students follow National Air and Space Administration or the Centers for Disease Control. You can begin a dialogue with parents through the page. All these reasons make a social media account for classroom purposes very attractive.
Review this diagram from Amanda Ronan for 6 great ways to include social media in you classroom.
Reasons to Avoid Social Media in the Classroom
Probationary teachers are at most risk because they can be fired or asked to resign for any post that "doesn’t address broader social/political issues of the day, or if the speech might disturb the workplace." (Simpson, 2010) With this in mind, it is easy to see why inviting students to be part of a social media account, professional or otherwise, can be dangerous. Even in the most innocent circumstance, posts can be misunderstood, considered inappropriate, and make you subject to disciplinary action.
While we teachers have an opportunity to participate in the social media environment, we must be careful with how we represent ourselves. There are many nightmare stories of teachers being disciplined and even losing their job over social media posts. We need to realize that are we are seen as role models in and out of the classroom, therefore, we are held to a higher standard than the general public.
We should think twice (if not more times) before we post anything online. Being persecuted regardless of our 1st Amendment Rights happens; we seem to be protected "only if [teachers] speak out as citizens on 'matters of public concern and their speech doesn’t disrupt the school." (Simpson, 2010) This is not specifically defined so it can be arbitrarily enforced.
Guidelines-
Do's
- Know your school/district's policies about social media use.
- Get the permission of your principal and/or school district before you create a professional class page.
- Your professional class page should only be an extension of the school/classroom. Keep it for school/classroom business only.
- Encourage students to "follow" subject matter and school appropriate institutions and make learning more authentic.
- Give students a platform to further communicate their thoughts from class discussions.
Don'ts
- Do not use your personal social media accounts with students in any way.
- Do not "friend" or "follow" students or parents professionally or personally.
- Do not post pictures of yourself where alcohol, smoking, or any other questionable behavior represented.
- Do not discuss discuss questionable matters online- even in your personal accounts. If you wouldn't feel comfortable having your mother see it- don't post it. (Simpson, 2010)
- Do not say or imply negative things about your students, administration, or school district.
- Do not express controversial views on social media pages.
While not guaranteed, following the above guidelines is one way to protect yourself against disciplinary action. For more information, see the additional resources below.
Additional Resources
Edutopia: Social Media Site
Edutopia is an online magazine and community that addresses many topics in education. It provides, videos, articles, chat areas, and lessons regarding many top issues in education today. This is a link to to the social media portion of the site that looks at using social media in the classroom and for professional development.
KQED Education: Guide to Using Twitter in Your Teaching Practice
The site above was created in collaboration with the "Trust and Safety Team at Twitter." It is a storage house of articles that provides links to several articles regarding safety tips, netiquette guidelines, how to use Twitter, resources for parents and administrators, and resources for Twitter.
Share With Your Students
Check out this digital flyer you can share with your students about their use of social media.
YouTube Video Below
The video below is regarding Social Media Guidelines for Teachers presented by Wall Street Journal education reporter Lisa Fleisher and social media expert Chris Dessi.
Sources
1, 4 Haddad, C. (October 13,2015). Why some 13 year olds check social media 100 times per day. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/05/health/being-13-teens-social-media-study/
2 Wallace, K. (November 3, 2015). Teens spend a 'mind-boggling' 9 hours a day using media, report says. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/health/teens-tweens-media-screen-use-report/
3 Kallas, P. (September 5, 2017) Top 15 most popular social networking sites and apps [September 2017]. Retrieved from https://www.dreamgrow.com/top-15-most-popular-social-networking-sites/
5Simpson, M. (2010) Social networking nightmares: cyberspeak no evil. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/home/38324.htm
Google Sites
Report abuse