According to Kathy Cassidy, a teacher in Canada who uses blogs and Twitter with her Grade 1 and 2 learners, digital is where they kids are at now. Asking them to come to school and power down would seem out of touch with what their real lives are like. When talking to my Year 6 learners about their connectivity, almost all communicate with each other and the world using social media. Whether it be through blogs, Facebook or chatting on games like Clash of Clans, it seems crazy that we are not utilising this aspect of our learner's lives and using it to extend learning opportunities outside of school hours.
Using Social Media for Professional Development
Elana Leoni believes that being connected is the most impactful thing you can do as an educator. In fact it is the most important aspect of being a 21st century educator.
Gone are the days when interacting with a digital device during a conference was considered rude or taboo. I use social media to enhance my professional development on a daily basis. Here are some examples:
Blogs and Twitter
This year I was unable to attend the Ulearn Conference in Auckland. However, I was able to follow #ulearn15 on Twitter and follow everything as it was happening, including links to the keynotes.
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| Link to Keynote |
While following #ulearn15, I saw this tweet:
Which lead me to this awesome blog post by Marnel van der Spuy which outlines the conference day-by-day. It includes notes from all of the keynotes and the breakouts. Connecting with this post through social media made me feel like I didn't miss out on anything.
Google+ Communities
Being a part of the Mindlab community on Google+ has been invaluable during the second part of the course. The ability to interact with my colleagues, share assessment examples and ask and answer questions is a great example of how my own learners could be communicating about their learning in their own time. In particular I have found this community helpful in its hosting of the Q&A sessions regarding the assignments.
My RTC portfolio is now accessible to anyone who wants to view it. Kathy Cassidy believes one of the values of using social media to share learning is that it is a digital record that is always there. I am now able to use videos, photos and other media as evidence of meeting the registered teacher criteria.
Using Social Media for Teaching and Learning
There is not a week that goes by when I do not use some form of social media for teaching and learning. Richard Wells argues that the possibilities of social media are challenging the purpose and need for the classroom. Furthermore he believes that learners need to stretch beyond the four walls of the classroom in order to become connected to a world they could become key players in.
Here are some examples of how I am currently using social media with my learners:
- I publish all of the videos that my learners create on My Youtube Channel
- The 100 Word Challenge - a website where a prompt for writing is set each week and children from all over world use the prompt to write 100 words. The stories are then posted onto the website and comments are left from all contributors
- Blogging and Quadblogging - not only posting their own work but commenting on others work
- Kahoot to create and share quizzes, discussions and surveys
Challenges of Social Networking in Teaching Activities
- The sharing of personal information
- Age restrictions on social networking sites - This article by Diana Graber for the Huffington Post blog outlines why social media age restrictions matter
- Distractions - Toshalis and Nakkula believe that today's constant digital distractions can disrupt productivity and deeper cognition in learning
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