Recently a journalist from Spain interviewed me for an educational newspaper that he writes for. I thought his questions were very similar to ones I frequently hear from teachers, parents and administrators...
#1. What is the potential of social networks in education?
#2. How do you think social networks help to the process of teaching and learning in the classroom?
When students and teachers use social media in learning they:
#3. How old would be appropriate to include social networks in the classroom?
If the social networks are moderated in the back-end by adults, modeled by teachers, discussed and part of authentic learning experiences, social media can be used as young as kindergarten. Of course, just as any learning, we would gradually release responsibility to the children over their entire lives at school.
We wouldn’t give children the keys to a car at five years of age and expect them to drive; we show them, model good driving practice, talk about the parts of a car, help them with a learner’s permit and finally they get to have the car to drive alone. In this gradual way, we unpack social media for children so that they will be able to ‘drive’ their digital lives safely and responsibly.
#4. What are the main difficulties faced by teachers using social networks in class?
If teachers are unfamiliar with a specific tool (Twitter, Snapchat, YikYak etc…) they are often fearful of it, and unwilling to incorporate it into their teaching and learning cycle. However, becoming a learner along side your students and admitting, “I don’t know, yet.” sets a positive precedent for life-long learning. Creating essential agreements in the classroom creates a healthy relationship between the learning community and technology.
#5. What risks should be avoided?
#6. Do you think it’s necessary for teachers to have more training to make good use of social networks in class?
Developing a strong Personal Learning Network for Professional Development is an important part of being a teacher in the 21st Century. Keeping practice fresh and innovative is part of our responsibility as educators. But training doesn’t have to be costly and time consuming! Parents and teachers can learn more about how to develop a program of digital citizenship and tech skills by visiting the free online resources such as:
NIST Social Media for Schools
EdTechFramework for Schools
Digital Citizenship for Parents
Your Digital Life
Perhaps most importantly, if your school has a Digital Coach, reach out to that person for one-to-one support as you make use of social networks.
#7. Are there better or worse social networks for education?
#8. Can you give an example of an educational methodology using social networks?
You can discover how we implemented Twitter at a large international school in Thailand by visiting this link. If you would like to discover how kids are using social media to share learning visit the hashtag #nistmakerspace #elemakerspace #nistpypx to see real examples of social media learning in action.
#9. What advice would you give to those teachers who feel apprehensive about starting with social media?
The truth is, all teachers want empowered learners who make a difference in the world around them, and who will be successful, happy people in their lives ahead. Teachers teach the academic and character skills needed for kids to do just that each and every day- and each of those skills are transferable to a digital environment. That is why coaches, like me, are pushing away from the idea of “digital citizenship” towards just, “citizenship”. This is our life; we live part of it in the digital realm. Let’s be awesome people: on-line and off-line. Kids are already using social media in their extracurricular lives, it is our duty of care as teachers to ensure they have the skills, attitudes and aptitudes to be safe and learn in that space.
Get started with a low-risk high pay-off tool like Twitter. Not sure how? Hatch here.
#10. What future do you see for social networks in education?
We are at a golden moment right now in education. We can choose to go the way of a litigation culture like the United States and block or limit student access to social media, or we can be champions for our learners. Education is changing, whether we like it or not.
One day, we will have virtual rooms for learning; the Internet of things will become part of our everyday lives, learning will become more and more individualized and personalized, and the globe will become more connected. We will use design thinking to collaborate across continents and develop real empathy and international mindedness for all cultures around the world. Our students will own their learning and understand they are socially connected to others in digital and physical ways.
OR we can keep the four walls of our classrooms, have knowledge controlled in text-books, we can become more fearful and cut off from others, more polarized and insular in our thinking. Our students can keep preparing for a world that will be fundamentally different by the time they graduate. We can own the content that they consume, the products that they create, and the ways in which they share their ideas.
It’s up to us to make the choice of what learning will look like for our students. How will you choose?