Until now, my use of social media tools has been reluctant and limited
to professional development. Why? The answer is a four letter word: fear.
In 2011/12, on a scholarship to Belgium I shared a blog with friends, colleagues
and family but not my students. I now see that as somewhat bizarre as I am sure
my students would have engaged in my journey and had lots of question to
ask. I have used excerpts from that blog
with them but they lack the relative immediacy and excitement of connecting
with someone in a different time and place. In April 2017, through professional
development, I reluctantly joined Facebook. I have rarely used it since. Why
not? Once again – fear - of someone mining my data.
Nevertheless, I belong to the English online forum, Secondary Literacy
and nzaft websites. On these I have lurked: I have read most posts and
occasionally participated in the discussion. Although Melhuish (2013) states
‘it would be a mistake to suggest [lurking] is non-learning’, she sees it as a
challenge to determine the impact of professional development. However, links
and ideas in others’ posts have given me resources and strategies that I may never
have had otherwise.
Moreover, on this course, I have joined Google+ and participated in
discussion – mostly because it was required as part of the course.
The main characteristics that I
have harnessed are synchronous and asynchronous engagement – the latter
allowing for reflection before posting.
So, have I been disadvantaging my students by avoiding social media
tools in my teaching?
The Constructivist theory of Vygotsky (1978) fits with social media in
the opportunity it provides for creating knowledge. Many teachers also support the use of social
media. Teachers in the ‘Connected Educators’ video promoted the use of social
media which they claimed was ‘transformative and powerful’. This is a claim
borne out by Kathy Cassidy in her ‘Using social media in the classroom’ video. She
has used blogging with her classes for the past three years: individual blogs
become digital learning records; they also enable students to be connected to
other classrooms, to compare and contrast ideas. Cassidy claims these
connections have given her students a greater world view and developed their empathy.
Social media tools can also personalise learning and put the learner in the
driver’s seat (Melhuish, 2013) which therefore increases student agency.
Yet there is still some debate: Silius et al found that their research
the student’s motivation for social media ca enhance their learning (2010). On
the other hand, 56% respondent believe social media is more distracting than
helpful (Seaman,Tinti-Kane 2013) Potential problems also include: a lack of
quality control, privacy/identity issues
and management of information (Greenhouse 2011).
As Melhuish notes, further research needs to be done in this area (2013).
She sees the challenge as ‘harnessing their [social media’s] power in authentic
learning experiences’. (Melhuish 2013 p36).
Now what?
Through reflecting on these readings and my
learning through the Mindlab course, my fear has been somewhat assuaged.
Although I am still wary of sites such as facebook, not only for privacy
concerns but also because of the superficiality, I understand more of the
benefits; for example, the connectivity and the ability to create knowledge. I better
comprehend how to deal with privacy issues. Of most benefit to my students, is
the potential of blogs both individual and collaborative, where they will have
access to an authentic audience and diverse opinions. As part of the process,
we will discuss netiquette and appropriate commenting.
For my own PD, I will join the VLN and challenge
myself to interact more and keep my head above the parapet.
References
Melhuish,
K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand
educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of
Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/han…
NZ Education
Council. (n.d.). What is social media . Retrieved June 16,
2017 from http://teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/what-social-me...
Seaman, J., &
Tinti-Kane, H. (2013). Social media for teaching and learning.
Babson Survey Research Group. Retrieved from http://www.onlinelearningsurvey.com/reports/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-2013-report.pdf
Silius, K.,
Miilumäki, T.,Huhtamäki, J.,Tebest, T., Meriläinen, J., & Pohjolainen,
S.(2010) ‘Students’ motivations for social media enhanced studying and
learning.’ Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An International
Journal, 2, (1). Retrieved on 7th May,2015 from http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-p.
Tvo parents, Using social media in the classroom EdTED.com
retrieved from: https://ed.ted.com/on/LY83ADUs
