The Benefits of Social Networking
Social networking is a very current topic in the field of Education. Social networking websites, when integrated appropriately, can be a great motivation tool for engaging students in learning. These sites are very user-friendly and students are already using many of them for socializing outside of school. Because of this, they are easy to implement for social learning in the classroom. Social media tools provide opportunities for students to practice writing and can help them formulate more concise arguments or ideas. They also can provide students with real-world collaboration experiences and can be used to teach students about acceptable-use policies. Here are a few examples of ways to use popular social networking sites as learning tools in the classroom:
Twitter
Twitter can be an integral part of a teacher’s professional learning community. There are many educators and Education professionals to follow for teaching ideas, tips and technology integration advice. Teachers can create a class Twitter page and post class notes, reminders, announcements, activities, celebrations, polls, etc. Students can create their own content-related twitter pages that the teacher and other students follow to further content exploration and analysis. You can create a unique hashtag for a particular topic or assignment and have students contribute to a class discussion or you can have a class hashtag where students can post general announcements, feedback, positive comments about each other or other items for their teacher and classmates to see.
Facebook
Teachers can make an education-friendly Facebook page for their class. This can enhance classroom communication, collaboration and socialization. It is easier for students to talk to each other because of the “wall” feature on Facebook that Twitter does not have. This is a great forum for celebrating student success. I know of many teachers who have a class Facebook page that they invite parents to join so they can share classroom updates and photos.
Edmodo
This is a safer alternative to Facebook in the classroom. It is more controlled and the content is better monitored. Some kids do not think it is as exciting as Facebook, but they generally seem motivated to use this tool, in my experience. It is a very useful tool for posting class announcements, documents, reminders and discussions. You can also have students turn in their assignments or take quizzes through Edmodo. The best feature is parents can sign up through their student’s page and they can monitor content and view teacher and student announcements. Edmodo is also great for student collaborations because the teacher can create and assign students to Edmodo groups and then monitor the group discussions.
Instagram
Teachers can have students take photos and share to a class location using Instagram. These photos can relate to the content or vocabulary in any subject area. Students can visually represent abstract concepts or ideas with their pictures. This is great for actively engaging students in the review of key academic concepts and showing them useful ways to use this social media tool.
The Cons of Social Networking
There are several concerns when implementing social networking in the classroom. Fortunately, many of these can be ameliorated with proper planning and monitoring. Here are just a few of the considerations for integrating social media:
Informal Language: I know that I get frustrated when students turn in essays with “texting” language interwoven in their formal writing. I teach my students that there is a time and place for abbreviated discussion. I allow students to use “text talk” in Edmodo when replying to an assignment post or when talking to a classmate, but I do not allow it on any assignments within Edmodo or any other social media sites. This is just an expectation that students need to be made aware of, according to the teacher’s discretion.
Inappropriate Items: The teacher needs to take the time to filter posts and plan for integrating each specific tool before allowing students to use it. With the widespread access to almost anything available on the Internet, it is very difficult to avoid all inappropriate content, but it is the job of the teacher to be as careful and attentive as possible when planning these activities and they need to continuously monitor student use of these tools. It is also important to have procedures that students are aware of for dealing with any inappropriate content and to make sure students understand your online posting expectations and rules.
Limited Monitoring: This is similar to the previous concern. Teachers need to carefully structure social networking activities and preview all materials before implementing them in the classroom.
The article here, “How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School”, provides some useful tips for planning the integration of social media: http://www.edutopia.org/how-to-create-social-media-guidelines-school
Cyber bullying: This is a major concern in the K-12 online learning environment. It is vital that educators teach digital citizenship before implementing these tools in the classroom. Students need to have strict guidelines for acceptable behavior online and need to be taught how to interact positively in an online environment.
Constant Changes: It can be very difficult for teachers to keep up with all of the emerging social media sites and the constantly changing nature of social media. To ensure that social media is integrated effectively and appropriately, it is imperative that teachers make their best effort to maintain currency on the social media tools they implement.
Although these and other concerns have to be considered, there are so many benefits to social networking that make it worthwhile to implement. If you are new to social networking in the classroom, start with just one major social networking tool, like Twitter, and then once you feel comfortable with using social media appropriately, you can start to integrate more.
Social networking is a very current topic in the field of Education. Social networking websites, when integrated appropriately, can be a great motivation tool for engaging students in learning. These sites are very user-friendly and students are already using many of them for socializing outside of school. Because of this, they are easy to implement for social learning in the classroom. Social media tools provide opportunities for students to practice writing and can help them formulate more concise arguments or ideas. They also can provide students with real-world collaboration experiences and can be used to teach students about acceptable-use policies. Here are a few examples of ways to use popular social networking sites as learning tools in the classroom:
Twitter can be an integral part of a teacher’s professional learning community. There are many educators and Education professionals to follow for teaching ideas, tips and technology integration advice. Teachers can create a class Twitter page and post class notes, reminders, announcements, activities, celebrations, polls, etc. Students can create their own content-related twitter pages that the teacher and other students follow to further content exploration and analysis. You can create a unique hashtag for a particular topic or assignment and have students contribute to a class discussion or you can have a class hashtag where students can post general announcements, feedback, positive comments about each other or other items for their teacher and classmates to see.
Teachers can make an education-friendly Facebook page for their class. This can enhance classroom communication, collaboration and socialization. It is easier for students to talk to each other because of the “wall” feature on Facebook that Twitter does not have. This is a great forum for celebrating student success. I know of many teachers who have a class Facebook page that they invite parents to join so they can share classroom updates and photos.
Edmodo
This is a safer alternative to Facebook in the classroom. It is more controlled and the content is better monitored. Some kids do not think it is as exciting as Facebook, but they generally seem motivated to use this tool, in my experience. It is a very useful tool for posting class announcements, documents, reminders and discussions. You can also have students turn in their assignments or take quizzes through Edmodo. The best feature is parents can sign up through their student’s page and they can monitor content and view teacher and student announcements. Edmodo is also great for student collaborations because the teacher can create and assign students to Edmodo groups and then monitor the group discussions.
Teachers can have students take photos and share to a class location using Instagram. These photos can relate to the content or vocabulary in any subject area. Students can visually represent abstract concepts or ideas with their pictures. This is great for actively engaging students in the review of key academic concepts and showing them useful ways to use this social media tool.
The Cons of Social Networking
There are several concerns when implementing social networking in the classroom. Fortunately, many of these can be ameliorated with proper planning and monitoring. Here are just a few of the considerations for integrating social media:
Informal Language: I know that I get frustrated when students turn in essays with “texting” language interwoven in their formal writing. I teach my students that there is a time and place for abbreviated discussion. I allow students to use “text talk” in Edmodo when replying to an assignment post or when talking to a classmate, but I do not allow it on any assignments within Edmodo or any other social media sites. This is just an expectation that students need to be made aware of, according to the teacher’s discretion.
Inappropriate Items: The teacher needs to take the time to filter posts and plan for integrating each specific tool before allowing students to use it. With the widespread access to almost anything available on the Internet, it is very difficult to avoid all inappropriate content, but it is the job of the teacher to be as careful and attentive as possible when planning these activities and they need to continuously monitor student use of these tools. It is also important to have procedures that students are aware of for dealing with any inappropriate content and to make sure students understand your online posting expectations and rules.
Limited Monitoring: This is similar to the previous concern. Teachers need to carefully structure social networking activities and preview all materials before implementing them in the classroom.
The article here, “How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School”, provides some useful tips for planning the integration of social media: http://www.edutopia.org/how-to-create-social-media-guidelines-school
Cyber bullying: This is a major concern in the K-12 online learning environment. It is vital that educators teach digital citizenship before implementing these tools in the classroom. Students need to have strict guidelines for acceptable behavior online and need to be taught how to interact positively in an online environment.
Constant Changes: It can be very difficult for teachers to keep up with all of the emerging social media sites and the constantly changing nature of social media. To ensure that social media is integrated effectively and appropriately, it is imperative that teachers make their best effort to maintain currency on the social media tools they implement.
Although these and other concerns have to be considered, there are so many benefits to social networking that make it worthwhile to implement. If you are new to social networking in the classroom, start with just one major social networking tool, like Twitter, and then once you feel comfortable with using social media appropriately, you can start to integrate more.