This is an interesting time for me personally to be thinking about using social media either as a tool for myself as an educator, or as a learning tool for my students to use. I say this because I have recently been having conversation with my friends outside the world of education about the potential benefits and harms of social media use. Many of my friends feel like social media use has largely been harmful to the way people interact with each other and can be harmful to users' mental health. I think the harm comes from viewing social media as a lifestyle or something that can replace real, in person, relationships, Social media, like any other tool, should only be used to strengthen something you already do. It can be beneficial if used correctly and harmful if used incorrectly.
For example, as a teacher I want to be able to collaborate with other teachers in my grade level. This helps me to get new great ideas to use in my classroom and to make sure that all the students receive the same education. If I use social media to find even more great strategies for my classroom and discuss those new ideas with my teacher partner and we decide together to try some, then the use of social media has been helpful to me as a professional. If, however, I stop communicating with my teaching partner because I have replaced her with social media, then my teaching partner will feel frustrated, our collaboration will fall apart, and the quality of my own teaching will suffer. The benefits or harms of social media as a professional tool largely depends, I believe on how it is used. It is critical that educators are constantly learning, and it is fantastic that we now all have a platform that enables us to learn from each other. I think this is the main benefit of social media use to teachers as professionals. But I have found it important to remind myself that in the sea of other teachers goals, interests, and dreams for their students, it is important to be strong in your own goals, interests, and dreams for your own students. There are so many incredible ideas just waiting to be found on social media, but trying one new thing every day with now direction or purpose would not improve the quality of the education your students receive. Use of social media should also be deliberate, purposeful, and rooted in your own teaching philosophy, Finally there is the more intimidating topic of students using social media. If I saw that a student of mine had made an inappropriate post outside of school, I would absolutely bring it up with them the next time I saw them. I would ask them about the post, and depending on what it was discuss other more appropriate ways to express themselves. Again, depending on the severity of the post, I would also contact the students' parents just to let them know that I saw it and had some concerns. It is obviously up to the parents of the student how they conduct themselves outside of school, but they deserve to be notified if their child is posting something alarming. I think one crucial think to remember when having an interaction like this with a student is that they did not grow up thinking of the internet as an unsecured and dangerous place like my, or older generations did. For these kids writing a post is as normal as calling your friend's house and having to awkwardly talk to someone's mom before talking to your friend was for us. These kids will shut down and reject us if we treat them like they are crazy for treating the internet as no big deal. To them its not a big deal, and they lack the foresight and the knowledge to really understand the harm they could be doing to themselves. We should teach our students about proper social media use the same way we teach them about anything. Not blaming them for what they don't know by encouraging them to ask questions, and to think critically and independently.
4 Comments
Alicia Martin
3/4/2018 07:02:15 pm
I agree with you that students don't understand the effect their words could have on them when they post. They think it is all fun and games to post on social media. I think it is our job as educators to show them how to use it appropriately but I also feel parents are not very hands on with their children's social media as they should be. So contacting the parent is important to me also (as you mentioned).
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Joseph Williams
3/5/2018 05:24:12 pm
I agree that having a conversation with the student in a first action (unless the post included a threat to someone or something worse). I often think how incredibly difficult it would be to be a kid in this age. Part of growing up is finding your boundaries and limitations and social media allows for that but with a lot less forgivability.
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Scott Marsden
3/6/2018 12:09:33 pm
Madeleine,
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Emily Feil
3/6/2018 10:15:45 pm
I have also been thinking about the ways that social media impacts our face to face relationships. Because it is designed to be addictive, some people have a hard time breaking away to interact with real, live friends they are with. Also, because people only post highlights, spending too much time reading posts about how terrific other people's lives are can lead to discontentment.
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