What are some key features of social media that are beneficial for teaching and learning? Why?
Every year I face the same issue with my year 7 & 8 students (primarily the year 8 students who have already had me as a teacher for a year) when they tell me they are going to find me on facebook and add me as a friend. I explain to them that I am happy to be in contact with them outside school hours but that my facebook is for me to connect with my friends and it's not an appropriate forum for us to stay in touch. However, I can understand where they are coming from - they want to share what is going on and for them, facebook is an important way they keep people updated on what is happening in their lives. I have eventually caved and made a separate facebook account that is purely for students and their parents which the kids seem pretty happy with (although they constantly berate me for not updating it enough!). It's not just facebook - if I'd let them, they'd follow me on instagram, snapchat me daily and comment on every tweet I ever posted (I think they may draw the line at this blog though - far too wordy!). Part of it is nosiness - they love to know what is going on but students like that they can get a quick response to questions or issues and don't have to spend ages contacting different people - I'm always fascinated to see what goes up on facebook around the time their science fair project is due or the night before a mufti day. They also have a genuine desire to connect with each other and me and share their interests and what is important to them. Social media allows students and teachers to access a wealth of ideas, knowledge and opinions in a short space of time and is easily accessible - they can get involved whenever and wherever. Although I'm not keen to share everything with them, I do understand that they spend 5 days a week, 40 weeks a year for two years with me and it's important that I know about them and them about me.
In terms of teaching and learning it would be fantastic to use social media not only to connect with others in the class but also to become more globally connected. I've lived all over the world and have friends in numerous different countries but I am continually surprised at how little my students know about the world and how isolated they are from what is happening beyond New Zealand. There is real potential to use social media to connect with others further away and start developing a great sense of what is going on in the world. There is also the potential for connecting with experts to get information about areas that interest the students. I get really excited about the idea of students connecting with people who can get them fired up about a topic and that students can see that these issues or subjects aren't just something they do at school but are part of the world beyond - I haven't yet been able to integrate this into my classroom programme but that is definitely something I want to work on next term. I also think that using social media for this would be engaging for students as it is something that they use and are familiar with.
How do/would you use social media to enhance your professional development? Why?
I have used social media for a lot of professional development already. Currently my cluster is involved in an online mentoring programme which is helping us develop our programme for our modern learning environment. We've been using social media to share ideas with others about what we've been doing and what ideas others have, as well as receiving support from our mentor. The huge advantage for us is that we can contact people who are in a similar situation to us who aren't necessarily local. Using social media has enabled us to work with schools all over the country rather than just in our local area. Similarly for this course, being able to communicate with others when you aren't able to meet face-to-face is fantastic for busy teachers!
At the moment I get a lot of ideas from twitter and facebook on various groups and forums for teachers but I don't yet feel like I'm at a stage where I have much to contribute (which I think is down to lack of confidence at the moment). I am starting to contribute more, mostly in the form of asking questions, but at the moment I'm definitely more of a lurker!
I also find it incredibly useful to use social media to keep track of what is going on in other countries in terms of education. It gives you an idea of what others are trying and what is working and what isn't. I'm fascinated by stories of others working in different places, seeing what experiences they are having and working out what I can take from that.
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