Social Media is a continually growing means of informational exchange and worldwide social interaction. It is something that younger generations are continually being exposed to and interacting with, thus it is imperative that teachers also become just as familiar with different forms of Social Media so that they become comfortable enough to include the use of these mediums into their daily teaching routine. I believe that Social Media should be used to create a fun, and engaging classroom that is responsive to the needs and interest of the student’s. For example, I have read, on the internet, of classrooms creating Facebook pages for characters in a book that they are studying. I think this is a great way for students to demonstrate their understanding of the complexities of the characters in a book and to be able to do it in a way to exposes them to the web 2.0. Social Media is also an excellent tool to keep students connected to the global community around them. Sites like Twitter allow people to stay informed on a variety of issues from all around the world. A teacher could use Twitter to follow famous people (The Prime Minister for example), or news outlets and, as class, review some their tweets and have a classroom discussion about the ways in which a recent global, or local event may impact them. I think this a great way to develop a sense of agency in students at young age as well as demonstrating how the world is becoming more interconnected.
Here is a link to a website with more great ideas on how to incorporate Social Media into the daily learning environment: http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/05/100-inspiring-ways-to-use-social-media-in-the-classroom/
Authored by: Jon
Fantastic Post. You give many examples of how social media is a reality for our learners and by bringing this into the classroom we can steer them on how to use it effectively, and safely. Have you had the opportunity to use these tools within a lesson? As learner or teacher?
ReplyDeleteThank you Zoe,
ReplyDeleteI have not had the opportunity to use the Web 2.0 in any of my experiences at either a learner or educator. I would really like to use some of these tools in my teaching, however, the technology available in our school does not have the technological infrastructure to support such learning.