Using social online networks in
teaching and/or professional development
To be honest, I don’t participate in
online social networks. I am a member of
several closed groups on Facebook which I use personally for my teaching practice
and as part of professional learning with The Mind Lab. Generally, this is a place for me to find
answers to questions, clarify my understanding of things, share resources and
teaching ideas. But I must confess that am
not ofay with social networking. I
opened a twitter account during a class earlier in the year and while it was
fun in class, I have not used it again – Facebook is as far as it goes for me
thus far.
Currently my professional development through
my school includes the use of digital technology, but it does not include any
interactions on social online networks. The
only social online interaction I have ever used for my professional learning is
this – The Mind Lab. I am now feeling
left behind after reading through the class notes and particularly listening to
Tom Whitby, the founder of Ed Chat, and Steve Hargadon, the founder of
Classroom 2.0, (2013, Sept 18) speaking about being a “connected educator” and
using social media as a platform to enhance those informal teaching conversations
and gather other educator’s thoughts and ideas from across the world.
The scenario is the same with my students
and classroom teaching. I was lucky
enough to be teaching in a digital classroom in my last position, where all
students had a device and they participated in some social networking online. However, it was very limited and oh so brief! This was the reason I initially started the
Post Graduate Certificate through the Mind Lab.
I had big ambitions of using online social networks to connect students
with their peers, parents and students from further afield. The reality was a little different
though. We spent months being guided
with a facilitator who took the students step by very slow step through what
was appropriate to share online, who could see the posts online and how to
respond to others online – all very important of course, but students were
limited to using learning blogs owned by the school. These blogs were a small step into the world
of social media - they had a prescribed formula to follow and limited the
interactions of students.
I think the complications or challenges
that ensue with just the suggestion of students being involved in social
networking can potentially be off – putting.
Particularly being in a school that is not digitally inclined and being
a teacher of 6 and 7 year olds. What is
the purpose? What are the dangers? How will this improve their learning? What will they gain from being on social
media? What are the effects to student behaviour? There are so many aspects to consider when
introducing social media as a learning tool into a classroom and the affects
that it may have on students. Kaya &
Bicen (2016, pg.378) state that Facebook alone is an important communication
tool for the “digital natives”. Using
this medium they can reflect their mood, share their interests and follow
friends with the same interests, identify bad behaviour online and gain
confidence through positive comments of others.
So, I am making a start by re-joining twitter
and following educators. I am going to
step onto the platform and I am going to become connected. As Sandy Hayes (2013, Sept 18) says, being
connected is about “collaboration and
communication across not just disciplines but philosophies and even practical
projects. It is so crucial to our growth
as educators.”
References
Kaya, T. & Bicen, H. (2016).
The effects of social media on
students’ behaviors; Facebook as a case study. Computers in Human Behavior 59 (2016) 374-379. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com.libproxy.unitec.ac.nz/science/article/pii/S0747563216300887
Office of Ed Tech. (2013, Sep 18). Connected Educators. [video file].
Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=216&v=K4Vd4JP_DB8
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