How can/Should social media be used to help you develop/collaborate/communicate as a professional? What are the critical issues to consider? When I first began teaching one of the Go-To resources for teachers was Harry Wong’s First Days of School. I still keep my copy and believe most of what he proposes is valuable for classroom and education practices. I’ve read the book several times, watched the video series and its spin-offs, listened to the audio, and attended several workshops around the content of this book. One of my favorite catch phrases cemented in my mind from this experience is that when it comes to developing as a professional, teachers “beg, borrow, and steal” the best ideas from one another. All my best tools, lessons, and classroom management strategies have come from other teachers. A 35 year veteran teacher I know volunteers his time to serve on a WASC team, just so, he says, he can stay fresh (after 35 years) and get into other teachers’ classrooms to get some good ideas. Getting around physically to see other teachers in action is, needless to say, a challenging proposition. After all, we’re all in class at the same time! Finding time to attend professional development workshops, conferences, even a coffee date with a fellow teacher - that’s not always in the schedule. So how do we experience one another’s little microcosms? We use social media. Student aren’t the only ones who can benefit from the use of social media. In Steven Anderson’s Blog on Three Untapped Social Media Resources for Students, he cites a Pew Internet Research Study from 2016 showing that of all U.S adults,
I have no hesitation in using social media to connect professionally with colleagues. I do think it wise practice to create separate accounts that are used for purely professional reasons and are never intermingled with personal accounts. One critical issue I think we need to consider is the “unfiltered” aspect of using social media for sharing ideas. In Darrell West’s article How Blogs, Social Media, and Video Games Improve Education, he points out that social media can tap into the expertise of the general population. He calls it democratizing the flow of information. “There is no longer any need to wait on professionals to share material and report on new developments. Today, people communicate directly in an unmediated and unfiltered manner.” West does not state it directly, but implies that it is a positive shift that we do not any longer have to rely upon experts to inform us, we can all just weigh in our thoughts without any mediation nor filter. But we must keep in mind when wading through the vast array of ideas available through social media that mediation can provide judgements of accuracy. Peer reviewed articles are more reliable than unfiltered thoughts. Increased, expedient participation via social media is certainly a good thing, but not at the expense of quality. Not all participation is equal in merit. Just as we are trying to teach our students digital literacy skills, such as how to weigh the credibility of an internet source and how to apply critical thinking to what they read, we as professionals must be savvy about applying these same digital literacy skills to using social media for communicating, collaborating, and developing as educators. What would you do if you were to come across an inappropriate post made by one of your students outside of the school. Currently, I wouldn’t probably come across an inappropriate post made by a current student because I very purposefully do not follow, connect with, snap, chat, or gram any of my current students. My understanding of the school district email and social media policy is that teachers are supposed to conduct all communication with students using NVUSD email addresses. Appropriate communication with students and parents by teachers is absolutely essential in this litigious age. Aside from directives from our superiors, it is simply wise to be prudent in how deeply we interconnect our professional and personal lives when we’re role models, mentors, and sometimes a highly scrutinized adult presence. We are teachers… it’s our calling to instruct our students, and that does involve caring about who they are as people. Yes, we need to know their interests and maintain a warm, inviting, safe emotional space for them. Yet we still need to draw a boundary between being a caring mentor and being friends, buddies, or...social contacts on social media. Once students are graduated or I have changed schools, I do occasionally connect with them or their parents over social media. The day will come when I will stumble upon a comment on social media by one of my own students that is inappropriate or harmful to another student. Especially in the latter case, I would feel it my responsibility to speak with the student and the parents. If necessary, I would involve the principal to mediate any restorative steps. In Patrick Larkin’s example (What do you do when you see inappropriate social media posts?) the comment is not directed at another student, so he advocates taking the approach of a teaching moment rather than disciplinary steps. I agree that showing a student WHY not to be so careless with his digital footprint is more valuable than an extrinsic negative consequence. Show the student the natural consequences that may arise from public consumption of what might have been a thoughtless, impulsive social media post that doesn’t show him in the best light.
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Nancy,
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Patrick
6/26/2017 11:06:38 am
I agree with what you say about inappropriate social media posts being learning opportunities and teachable moments. Of course, some social media use requires discipline and consequences, cyber bullying is always unacceptable. However, if we take a discipline only approach to social media, we will close students off. Then they will just find some social media that we aren't monitoring and use that instead. There are adults on twitter and instagram, but far fewer on kik or snapchat. Mostly though, punishment is rarely (maybe even never) the best way to bring about change .If a student can understand their digital footprint and be self-motivated to make change because they have internalized the possible effects of social media use, then that change will be meaningful and long lasting.
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