Social Media - What is it?

Social media.  What does it mean?

If you ask a student this question, their response may mention apps and sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and many others that seem to get added all the time.  (As adults start catching on to the teenage social environment, it seems that the students shift their focus so us "meddling adults" won't be paying as much attention to what they are posting...  See this post for a teen's take on several different forms of social media.)  Students will likely consider social media from a purely viewpoint and may not consider its use for any sort of educational purpose.

If you ask a parent, their response may be similar to their teen, but the big difference is most likely that they are not fully aware of all of the sites that their child uses on a regular basis (and may not realize the sheer magnitude of posts that get made daily by some students).

If you ask a teacher what social media means, the responses can vary greatly.  The teachers that are hesitant with technology may view social media as purely social.  The tech savvy educators, however, can open one's eyes up to a whole new world.  The traditional view of social media as the networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can be blown wide open by implementing assignments and activities within these sites and integrating a plethora of other sites as well.  The options for teaching and learning are limitless.

How does a teacher decide how to implement technology and social media in their classroom?  The best way to get ideas is by reading blogs.  Like so many other aspects in education, there are experts out there somewhere that are willing to share what they have tried, what has worked for them, what has not worked for them, and what advice they would give to help another teacher.  Blogs, tweetchats, Pinterest boards, and Facebook groups (see this post for ideas on using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest) are a great place to start when trying to implement social media in your classroom.  And the very best part about it is that once you start digging around to find the great ideas, your mind starts brainstorming what you could try!

The uses of social media will provide opportunities for teachers to network with others, to display information for students and parents to view, and to allow students to showcase their work and their knowledge on a particular subject.  I am only just beginning my journey in using social media in my classroom, but I am excited to try out some new ideas, particularly for assessing student understanding.

As much as I am excited, I must admit I am also more than a little bit nervous.  I don't want to just jump in and require students to use a particular site for the sake of using technology.  There need to be guidelines in place (there are several articles and blogs that already exist outlining some of these), and I need to seriously consider the reasons why I am asking the students to make a tweet, create a Pinterest board, or post a video on YouTube.  As is mentioned in Social Media for Educators by Tanya Joosten, teachers need to consider what the pedagogical need is and how a particular form of social media will help to meet that need.  There should be some aspect of teaching, learning, or assessing students that is improved through this use in order to consider implementing it.

So much to consider.  So many opportunities to learn from others and try something new.

Let the fun begin!