Education and Social Media

Activity 7: Social media in teaching and professional development.

Social media has engulfed the life of most people for the last 10-15 years, first we were all on Myspace and Wikispaces before the blast of Facebook came into our lives. The skeptic said these wouldn't last, and Myspace certainly didn't, but the multi billion dollar industry of Facebook shows no signs of slowing down. I have to say because of moving from the UK I found I became more engaged in Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends but as I have grown in my teaching capacity I have found it to be beneficial for not only a professional interaction but also as the best way of reaching my students and the teams that I coach. Whilst there are the problems of privacy as a teacher that needs to be addressed, if done correctly, this does not become an issue. I have become a bit of a social media junkie in the last couple of years and look to social media for a way of finding out information for my profession. The use of Twitter, Snapchat and Instagram has become my 'go to' place for information where I can collaborate with like-minded colleagues all over the world. 

• What are some key features of social media that you have identified as beneficial for teaching and learning?

The key features of all social media for me is the fact that our learners are connected to it 24/7 so why wouldn't we use this platform to provide information to our students? From readings that would be beneficial to their learning block to announcements on where to meet for the next lesson I have found the likes of Facebook invaluable as a practitioner. In Tanya Joosten's Social Media for Teaching and Learning (2013, slide 18) she stated that learners reported a 90% frequency of communication with their instructors. Whilst this survey was conducted with tertiary students, from my observations, the amount of college age students that are on Facebook everyday would make this an ideal platform for educational purposes. One of the deep learning competencies that I discussed within my last post was collaboration and by incorporating social media into our classes whether it be for homework purposes or within the context of the lesson we are giving our students an avenue to collaborate with their peers whilst providing ongoing learning to happen.

• What are potential challenges that teachers need to be aware of when integrating social networking platforms into teaching activities?

One of the potential challenges that teachers face are the non-engaged learner that takes the opportunity to be off task when social media is integrated into learning. There are always a few students who do not complete homework and will this be any different because it is on social media? Junco (2010) suggested that by incorporating technology into our lesson plans then the engagement of our learners will be increased due to the 21st century learners need to be on technological interfaces. Whether this is true or not, most people do not go many hours without being attached to a device some way or other. We as a digital school have already integrated technology focused lessons into our units and incorporate high amount of self regulated learning in our classrooms. I do often have to remind some students that this is not a time to play their online games but a time to be engaged with the learning tasks. 

Other potential challenges that today's educators face are that of the increase of Cyber safety of our students. With all our students bringing devices into the classroom the avenue for the school 'bully' has become bigger. Gone are the days where the 'bully' would wait on the playground but now they can enter your classroom through social media. Netsafe (2015) discuss the Harmful Digital Communications Act with regards to this and other potentially dangerous online activities which we as educators have to be fully aware of each time devices are being used as part of our lessons.  

• What social media platform do you feel best supports engagement with your professional development? Why?

As discussed before I do use Facebook as part of my collaboration with colleagues and students but for professional development purposes my main platform would be Twitter. Why? I have built up a network of like minded practitioners from around the world that fills my news feed up on a daily basis with interesting articles that they are sharing. I have found this by far the best place to learn new techniques in teaching, new research and what other professionals are doing in their classroom. PENZ (Physical Education New Zealand) often have 'drop in' sessions on Sunday evenings with a topic of interest to spark discussions via Twitter which I find extremely useful. Lately I have begun to see articles of interest popping onto my Facebook news feed which have also been 'saved' for later reading. Other professional development sites I have begun to use are the Mindlab Google+ community, Pond and YouTube. 

• How do/would you use social media to enhance your professional development?

I have no doubt that the best professional development is actually attending seminars/courses but as we live in a demanding time constricting world this isn't always possible. Research is always being completed and trends in education are always changing so the need  to stay up to date with what is happening both in New Zealand and internationally is extremely important to both ourselves as educators but for our learners too. Social media has closed this gap and ensured a quick and easy availability for information or collaboration to be utilized. 

References:

Joosten, T.( 2013. October 22). Pearson: Social Media for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved from http://www.slideshare.net/tjoosten/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-27456257?ref=http://professorjoosten.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/pearson-social-media-for-teaching-and.html.

Junco, R. (2010, September). Using emerging technologies to engage students and enhance their success. Academic Advising Today, 33(3). Retrieved from https://www.nacada.ksu.edu/Resources/Academic-Advising-Today/View-Articles/Using-Emerging-Technologies-to-Engage-Students-and-Enhance-Their-Success.aspx.

Netsafe (2015, September). Cyberbullying and online harassment: Harmful digital communication can take many forms. Learn more about the new act and how to deal with online harassment. Retrieved from htts://www.netsafe.org.nz.