Social Media in the Classroom

I believe that it is important to introduce social media by discussing the power of social media. I think that I would introduce the power of social media by speaking about an article I recently read. The article said “there is one form of media that can arguably get someone fired, hired, or force to retire faster than any other form of writing. one form that will most likely be read by college admissions offices, and one form that will prevent people from running for political office and get others elected.” The form of media was not writing a letter, nor was it sending an email. It was social media.  

I would then provide the students with examples of “social media gone wrong,” examples of which could include the following:

1)      Laraine Cook, High School Coach, Fired Over Facebook Photo

2)      Special Ed Teacher Placed on Leave After Comments About a Student

3)      High School Student Arrested over Tweet

By providing students with context in which social media has caused problems, it can open dialogue about the possible pitfalls of social media. This could also springboard into conversations about what are appropriate and inappropriate uses of social media.

A worry that many teachers have is that social media will result in students socializing rather than using it as an educational tool. I think I would get students started using something like Fakebook or Edmodo as our social media tool, rather than Facebook or Twitter, so that students can be accustomed to the protocols expected of them using social media.

Another worry when using social media is the idea of oversharing – neither students nor teachers should disclose information that would be harmful to them, their friends, or their colleagues. If students and teachers have personal twitter/facebook accounts, they could create a second, ‘professional’ account that can be used for connecting with classmates and teachers. Classroom tips, homework help, and formative assessment can all be performed from these professional accounts. To protect student privacy, student accounts could be created using just first names, if names are used at all, parents could sign a release form about social media uses, and students could be engaged in a conversation about the importance of protecting their own privacy and the privacy of others.

The benefits of social media (engaging students in real, relevant acitivies far outweigh the negative aspects. So long as students are informed, then the use of social media makes a lot of sense in the modern classroom.