Lynnsey Patterson
April 25, 2014
Social Media in the Classroom
To receive e-rate discounts the Federal Communications Division (2011) under the Children’s Internet Protection Act states that both schools and libraries must prove to have a policy in place that protects minors from obscene or harmful content on the Internet. Material that is obscene, contains child pornography, or is harmful to minors must be blocked of filtered. In addition, the policy must monitor the online activities of minors as well as offer a program which educates minors on proper online behaviors including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response (Federal Communications Division, 2011).
Pornography, predators, and bullying; these are three very loaded words and three very good reasons to keep social media out of the classroom. However, in the 1990’s a similar debate arose about integrating the Internet into schools (Kessler, 2010). Today, it is hard to imagine a school that does not have Internet access. Schools started to recognize the Internet was not going anywhere and in the best interest of the students to integrate it into the classroom and educate students on its many uses (Kessler, 2010).
According to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation three-fourths of 7th-12th-grade students, have at least one social media profile and use it more than they play online games or watch online videos (Kessler, 2010). The same statement that was uttered in the 1990’s holds true today for social media: it is not going anywhere. Social media is becoming a more integral part of student’s everyday lives. It is better not to fight a losing battle (Kessler, 2010). It is time to consider integrating social media into education.
Blogs
Grading is hard. Grading art is even more of a challenge with the physical limitations involved with carting around, sorting, and trying to get a proper look at student artwork of all shapes and sizes (Sands, 2012). Art Educator Ian Sands (2012) started to us blogs in his classroom to simplify the process. Using the site Blogger, Sands’ students maintain blogs outlining their artistic process from project to project. They post pictures, write about their progress, and conduct critiques (Sands, 2012).
Digital grading goes far beyond eliminating stacks of projects to sift through. With the addition of student’s comments and insights, Sands gets a better picture of each student’s project as a whole. Without the use of blogs this additional point of view would not be possible (Sands, 2012).
Webcasts
Through Vimeo and her personal website, Tricia Fuglestad (2012) of Illinois has been using videos made by her and her students to solve classroom problems and increase student engagement. What started as a simple classroom video project created to help students understand how to care for paintbrushes has blossomed into an integral part of Fuglestad’s classroom culture (Profile, 2011). Students volunteer their recess to write scripts and create characters to be used for classroom instruction. Soon after the creation of their first film, Young Sloppy Brush, Fluglestad’s students entered and won at a local film festival. In 2010, Fuglestad’s collection of student videos, known as Fugleflicks, were nominated for an Edublog award (Profile, 2011).
Social Networks
Many Universities have used group message boards to engage online students in academic discussion. Despite educators best efforts online discussions are still not the best substitute for genuine intellectual curiosity that takes place in a physical classroom setting (Ferenstein, 2012). To boost student engagement The University of Leicester in the UK had employed the social network, Twitter, as an alternative. Each student was given an iPod Touch, classroom materials, and instructed to make a least two academic tweets per day (Ferenstein, 2012). Through this experiment a thriving online community of engaged students, tutors, and members outside the program grew. The study has also served as an unexpected marketing tool for the institution. A simple Twitter search of the university will reveal conversations between current, former, and potential students commenting on the university (Ferenstein, 2012).
Elizabeth Delmatoff, a seventh-grade teacher in Portland Oregon, used her school’s pilot social networking site to post additional after-school assignments on a class forum. Students received no credit for these assignments but through this study Delmatoff determined that participants spent at least 5 fewer hours on other social networking sites, as a result (Kessler, 2010). Social networking, in this case, proved to be a successful alternative social environment where students could discuss topics and complete assignments with their friends (Kessler, 2010).
Video Calling
Learning a new language can be challenging, especially when a native speaker is not on hand to practice language skills. Language teachers can only do so much when 1-on-1 attention is hard to give in traditional classroom settings (Ferenstein, 2012). Through Skype, Spanish students at Marquette University speak with their English language learning pen-pals in South America. Having a native speaker to practice with increased student motivation dramatically as students learn to communicate with their new friends and tutors (Ferenstein, 2010).
Conclusion
Social Media is a free alternative to traditional education (Fernstein, 2010). While many schools are fighting against the use of this widely used technology others across the nation are successfully integrating social media into their curriculum. Social media increases student motivation, gives teacher additional insight into student work, solves common classroom problems, and promotes education. Social media has the power to take education into the future opening up our classrooms and our ideas to the world. Schools need social media.
References
Federal Communications Commission. (2011). Children's Internet Protection Act Guide. Retrieved 2014, from FCC: http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act
Fernstein, G. (2010, January 10). 3 ways educators are embracing social technology.[Essay on Mashable Web site]. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/01/10/educators-social-technology/
Fuglestad, T. (2012). Strive for artistry. School Arts, 111(9), 12-12. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&Auth,uid&db=aph&AN=74480407&site=ehost-live
Kessler, S. (2010, September 29). The case for social media in schools. [Essay on the Mashable Web site]. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/
Profile. (2011). T H E Journal, 38(9), 9-9. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&Auth,uid&db=aph&AN=67121296&site=ehost-live
Sands,I.,& Ian Sands. (2012). Digital grading. School Arts, 112(2), 14.
April 25, 2014
Social Media in the Classroom
To receive e-rate discounts the Federal Communications Division (2011) under the Children’s Internet Protection Act states that both schools and libraries must prove to have a policy in place that protects minors from obscene or harmful content on the Internet. Material that is obscene, contains child pornography, or is harmful to minors must be blocked of filtered. In addition, the policy must monitor the online activities of minors as well as offer a program which educates minors on proper online behaviors including interacting with other individuals on social networking websites and in chat rooms, and cyberbullying awareness and response (Federal Communications Division, 2011).
Pornography, predators, and bullying; these are three very loaded words and three very good reasons to keep social media out of the classroom. However, in the 1990’s a similar debate arose about integrating the Internet into schools (Kessler, 2010). Today, it is hard to imagine a school that does not have Internet access. Schools started to recognize the Internet was not going anywhere and in the best interest of the students to integrate it into the classroom and educate students on its many uses (Kessler, 2010).
According to a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation three-fourths of 7th-12th-grade students, have at least one social media profile and use it more than they play online games or watch online videos (Kessler, 2010). The same statement that was uttered in the 1990’s holds true today for social media: it is not going anywhere. Social media is becoming a more integral part of student’s everyday lives. It is better not to fight a losing battle (Kessler, 2010). It is time to consider integrating social media into education.
Blogs
Grading is hard. Grading art is even more of a challenge with the physical limitations involved with carting around, sorting, and trying to get a proper look at student artwork of all shapes and sizes (Sands, 2012). Art Educator Ian Sands (2012) started to us blogs in his classroom to simplify the process. Using the site Blogger, Sands’ students maintain blogs outlining their artistic process from project to project. They post pictures, write about their progress, and conduct critiques (Sands, 2012).
Digital grading goes far beyond eliminating stacks of projects to sift through. With the addition of student’s comments and insights, Sands gets a better picture of each student’s project as a whole. Without the use of blogs this additional point of view would not be possible (Sands, 2012).
Webcasts
Through Vimeo and her personal website, Tricia Fuglestad (2012) of Illinois has been using videos made by her and her students to solve classroom problems and increase student engagement. What started as a simple classroom video project created to help students understand how to care for paintbrushes has blossomed into an integral part of Fuglestad’s classroom culture (Profile, 2011). Students volunteer their recess to write scripts and create characters to be used for classroom instruction. Soon after the creation of their first film, Young Sloppy Brush, Fluglestad’s students entered and won at a local film festival. In 2010, Fuglestad’s collection of student videos, known as Fugleflicks, were nominated for an Edublog award (Profile, 2011).
Social Networks
Many Universities have used group message boards to engage online students in academic discussion. Despite educators best efforts online discussions are still not the best substitute for genuine intellectual curiosity that takes place in a physical classroom setting (Ferenstein, 2012). To boost student engagement The University of Leicester in the UK had employed the social network, Twitter, as an alternative. Each student was given an iPod Touch, classroom materials, and instructed to make a least two academic tweets per day (Ferenstein, 2012). Through this experiment a thriving online community of engaged students, tutors, and members outside the program grew. The study has also served as an unexpected marketing tool for the institution. A simple Twitter search of the university will reveal conversations between current, former, and potential students commenting on the university (Ferenstein, 2012).
Elizabeth Delmatoff, a seventh-grade teacher in Portland Oregon, used her school’s pilot social networking site to post additional after-school assignments on a class forum. Students received no credit for these assignments but through this study Delmatoff determined that participants spent at least 5 fewer hours on other social networking sites, as a result (Kessler, 2010). Social networking, in this case, proved to be a successful alternative social environment where students could discuss topics and complete assignments with their friends (Kessler, 2010).
Video Calling
Learning a new language can be challenging, especially when a native speaker is not on hand to practice language skills. Language teachers can only do so much when 1-on-1 attention is hard to give in traditional classroom settings (Ferenstein, 2012). Through Skype, Spanish students at Marquette University speak with their English language learning pen-pals in South America. Having a native speaker to practice with increased student motivation dramatically as students learn to communicate with their new friends and tutors (Ferenstein, 2010).
Conclusion
Social Media is a free alternative to traditional education (Fernstein, 2010). While many schools are fighting against the use of this widely used technology others across the nation are successfully integrating social media into their curriculum. Social media increases student motivation, gives teacher additional insight into student work, solves common classroom problems, and promotes education. Social media has the power to take education into the future opening up our classrooms and our ideas to the world. Schools need social media.
References
Federal Communications Commission. (2011). Children's Internet Protection Act Guide. Retrieved 2014, from FCC: http://www.fcc.gov/guides/childrens-internet-protection-act
Fernstein, G. (2010, January 10). 3 ways educators are embracing social technology.[Essay on Mashable Web site]. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/01/10/educators-social-technology/
Fuglestad, T. (2012). Strive for artistry. School Arts, 111(9), 12-12. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&Auth,uid&db=aph&AN=74480407&site=ehost-live
Kessler, S. (2010, September 29). The case for social media in schools. [Essay on the Mashable Web site]. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/
Profile. (2011). T H E Journal, 38(9), 9-9. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&Auth,uid&db=aph&AN=67121296&site=ehost-live
Sands,I.,& Ian Sands. (2012). Digital grading. School Arts, 112(2), 14.