Social Media in the Classroom

         The use of social media has taken society by storm, and the percentage of the population that participates in social networking increases more and more each year. At this point it is hard to imagine a world where it did not exist. According to the Pew Research Center, 88% of 18-29 year olds use some form of social media, and the same is true for 78% of people falling between the ages 30-49. It is how people many young adults have connected with more than just the people they see in person, and the same is true for students. Facebook and Twitter continue to be power houses of social networking, and Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube are becoming increasingly popular, especially amongst young people. Social media can be good in some cases, but it definitely can be a burden as well. Cyber bullying, the spread of false information, and lack of face-to-face communication are all

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examples of how social media can be a threat to society. So where does the use of social media fall into education? It is inevitable that most students are going to participate in social networking at some point in their education, so it is important that schools teach students how to use the sites appropriately. If teachers are able to incorporate social media into their classroom, they can model how to use the sites professionally. I read the article titled "8 Social Media Strategies For Your Classroom" by Adam Renfro to look for some advice on how to best utilize social network sites with students.

      Renfro shared advice for using specific sites. One idea he presented for using Twitter was to create a class hashtag so that students and teachers can communicate with each other. You could hold a class discussion on the site outside of school hours, or students could ask questions about an assignment to each other using the hash tag. I like the idea of a teacher holding their own Twitter chat and having students post using the hash tag. This would be a great way to hold a discussion on a forum that many young people are comfortable with. He also mentioned creating a class Facebook page, which might be good to share out with parents as well as students. This would be especially helpful if the school did not already have a learning management system they were using. I like to post updates on Schoology for parents and students to see, which you could also do using Twitter or Facebook. He also brings up using Google Plus to create a PLN, which I had not considered because I do not know anyone that uses it, but I will have to look into it. Renfro mentions using "SchoolTube" as a tool for flipping the classroom. This is a safe place where you can upload your own videos, or find ones that were created by other teachers. Sometimes YouTube is hard to find the best videos since there are so many, so it seems like SchoolTube would be a good way to narrow the search.

In the article, Renfro states "Catch them where they are," meaning use a site that students are already using. The article was written in 2011, so I would imagine he would include Instagram,YouTube, Pinterest and Snapchat if it were written today. I have seen a lot of teachers use the sites in their classrooms to engage students. Some of the tools mentioned in the article are outdated, but the ideas on using them hold true today. The point is that whatever platforms are popular now probably will be taken over by new sites within ten year, which means it important for educators to figure out what their students are using, and they should not get discouraged if a site they have used for years is suddenly a drag for students. All you can ask is for teachers to continue trying to connect and engage their students in as many ways as possible.