I chose the above title because it really jumped out at me from the end of the Bates (2014) reading. While I agree that it’s important for us as social media users to be discerning in our selection of resources, the statement to me reads as just another attempt at pithy fear-mongering. Oh no, the internet is here, any yahoo will get to have a public opinion now, the academic world is ending. Yes, the amount of chaff to sift through has grown exponentially, but what social media also does is lift up voices that would have previously been silenced for not meeting elite criteria. The Black Lives Matter protests that first unfolded in Ferguson a few years ago would have been censored had it not been for ‘guerilla’ journalists at the scene, taking photos and or videos and uploading them along with tweets or instagram posts. Social media is the ultimate media democratizer, and some would say it’s for worse, but I’m of the belief it will prove to be for the better. That said, this TVO documentary titled ‘the Thread’ explores how social media rose as a news outlet, it’s an interesting watch: http://tvo.org/video/documentaries/the-thread It shows both the incredible power to do good, and the incredible potential for social media to feed into mob-like behaviour online which can lead to tragedy.
I’ve as of yet struggled to use Twitter in an academic context, as November lays out in his article, in part because of my own lacking expertise with it, but in part because almost none of my students were acquainted with it either – I’m not sure if that is because of the generational disparity in who uses it, or if was due to the fact that many of them were from overseas, but as such I didn’t find it motivating. I have experimented with it as a PLN tool, participating in a number of #edchats and haven striven to keep it a solely professional space. November’s article shed more light on how it could be integrated into classes in the future however, especially those that want to track cultural events as they are taking place. I have used current events to spark student interest in the past, for example encouraging anybody interested to follow the Umbrella Protests in Hong Kong a couple of years ago in our Challenge and Change (HSB4M) course, but hadn’t fully taken advantage of twitter as a united action. Still, many students were exposed to content and ideas that had previously been censored in their home countries, and I could tell they were waking up to the possibilities of social media and connectivity.
Bates’ statement that “social media can make the learning of how to learn much more effective but still only in most cases within an initially structured environment” is a sound one, but I think a key point is around ‘initially’. Especially with older students, but also hopefully with younger secondary students, there should be a scaffolding of ability with how to use social media for academic purposes so that they can carry on those skills outside of the class setting. If we look at social media as just another tool for students to receive training in, our roles may become as clear as they would be in teaching them how to write. The difference here is that we can reach out, as can they, for assistance – as long as we are all wary of the ‘idiots’ that some seem to be so worried about.
The second question regarding whether or not a course should be re-designed around social media is an interesting one, and at this point if I’m honest, I don’t have a clear answer. My first impulse is to say ‘no’, but I can understand the intent behind the question as well. Perhaps it’s just the last threads of my ‘traditional’ upbringing in education, but I don’t know that structuring a course around social media is wise – but maybe that is just because I’m not sure it would be wise to design a course after ANY one source. I’ll be interested to see what my classmates say about this question this week!
References
Bates, T. (2014). Pedagogical differences between media: Social media. In Teaching in digital age.Retrieved from http://opentextbc.ca/teachinginadigitalage/chapter/9-5-5-social-media/(Chapter 7, point 6)
November, A. (2012). How Twitter can be used as a powerful educational tool. November Learning [Weblog] Retrieved from http://novemberlearning.com/educational-resources-for-educators/teaching-and-learning-articles/how-twitter-can-be-used-as-a-powerful-educational-tool/
Hey Kate,
I think it sounds like you are using your sense of voice for wise reasons, and appreciate when it is being used effectively.
Today, I was reading how the insurance corporation of BC is using social media to investigate those who make fraudulent claims. The link is here if you are interested (http://www.news1130.com/2016/02/14/icbc-using-social-media-to-crack-down-on-insurance-fraudsters/)
After reading your post I wondered how much of the success of teachers who use twitter (such as the one who was posting pictures of “how much soda in the cup” etc.) comes from the novelty of the fact (that, “Hey our teacher is using twitter!”)? Does the novelty wear off? OK lady enough of the cup equations! Or is it just part of the mix?
Keri
Hi Keri – I’d heard about that, how a lot of insurance ‘sleuthing’ these days happens online, and about how much more easy it is to track down fraudsters because of how loose ‘lipped’ they are online. Durp.
You raise a good point! I imagine part of it is the novelty, for sure, and I know that’s a big reason for why many educators haven’t bothered to learn new ways of teaching. In part that is why I’m something of a slow-adopter (I don’t think I’m a ‘late’ adopter, but I’m definitely not an early one) – I like to sit back and see what sticks around. Twitter definitely seems like one of those things, which is why I would like to look more into it, as it may indeed be a ‘skill’ to know how to navigate Twitter effectively for many of our students. The ‘fun’ aspect doesn’t hurt, but I think it’s proven it has legs.
Hi Kate,
The beginning of your post that discusses Ferguson reminds me of the book #TellEveryone – Why We Share and Why it Matters by Alfred Hermida. He tells several stories about how media has enlarged voices that might have otherwise been muffled by the dominant social order.
As for your point about structuring social media for students, there are some considerations as to when students have their first social-media-as-a-learning-tool experience. Secondary students (as I mentioned to a comment to you on my own post) will already have conceived a notion of what SM is and isn’t and it could be harder to break that notion. Elementary students, on the other hand, may not have consolidated as large of an understanding of what media is for and can be more impressionable for using SM as a learning tool. At least, that is what I’m hoping for them moving forward.
Best of luck with your continued work in creating and nurturing your PLN!
Victoria
Hi Victoria,
I’ll have to look into that book, it sounds interesting!
I imagine you’re right, that secondary students will likely know SM as an ‘entertainment-first’ type tool, whereas elementary students would take to its various uses with less transitional discomfort. Perhaps a trick for older students will be to show them out it’s used by professionals in the fields of their interest, so that even if they don’t ‘care’ about how it’s used in schools, they can see the outside relevance for their futures.
Thanks for your thoughts!
– Kate
Hi Kate, your title could well be used by any newspaper in the States this morning after Super Tuesday too!
I had the notion of fun vs. work on social media on my mind before reading “to keep it a solely professional space” in your post. I went to Teacher’s College around the same time as Facebook started and I opened my new account. Our profs there encouraged us to use fake names on FB and to never friend students or their parents, and to use discretion even with colleagues. I’ve worked at 5 different schools since, and it’s interesting how at some schools all the teachers are FB friends and some teachers with students, whereas at other schools even mentioning social media will get you disdainful looks.
I only use Facebook for my personal life, though I am friends with teachers I worked or went to school with. But when I’m working on MET, and I remember something useful I saw on FB and go back to retrieve it, I find an hour goes by indulging in music, comedy, intellect and stupidity, and I soon can’t remember what MET work I was working on. This is the real danger of social media and education. If social media is used for education, like Victoria’s class’s Twitter page, it should be used exclusively for education. And now I’ve found the topic for my post!
Hi Randy – I have to agree with you, I think it’s going to take assigning specific roles to different digital spaces, just as we treat a home-office differently than a corporate one, or a classroom differently than the dining room table. If we understand, and teach, that online personae are a) public, but also b) cultivated through our choices, we can treat different platforms with different standards of content sharing. Like you, FB is personal for me but on TIGHT lock-down, and I have no students as friends. My instagram is the same. My twitter on the other hand is public, and therefore I’m much more careful with what I post.
That said, I’m confident in knowing that who I am as a person is quite unified across the different spaces I inhabit – sure I swear more on facebook or instagram, and yeah I post selfies with a drink to private spaces – but I feel confident that were any of that somehow get into the ‘light’, I wouldn’t be fired for it, as I’ve taken what precautions I can with the security settings that are made available to me. So I think it’s about treating digital space like physical space, to a certain extent, AND asking yourself, no matter what – “Is this kosher behaviour for a grown adult/teacher? If it was made public, would I be in hot water?” If the answer is yes (and I’m not talking about things done within the private confines of personal spaces), that might be a totally different conversation.