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Table of contents
1. SOCIAL MEDIA............................................................................................................................................

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Document 1 of 1

SOCIAL MEDIA
Author: Careless, James
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Abstract: [...] building up an online resume of material is useful for students when it comes time to apply to
college. "In this sense, social media can be a very positive way for young people to make 'digital footprints,'
which is a big part of what living in the 21st century is about," David Jakes comments.
Full text: Headnote
It Does Have a Place in the Classroom
Social media is the latest cultural "bad boy." Like rock'n roll before it, social media is being blamed by critics for
corrupting the youth of America. These same critics say that social media has no place in the nation's
classrooms. Educators such as Dean Shareski, David Jakes, and Carolyn Foote disagree. They say that social
media belongs in school, and that social media can improve the quality of education being given to students and
make them more engaged in the process.
This said, you have to understand that social media is much more than just Facebook and Twitter," says Dean
Shareski, a former Digital Learning Consultant with the Prairie South School Division in Moose Jaw,
Saskatchewan. He was also the keynote speaker at Tech &Learning's Tech Forum Texas in November, 2011.
"In reality, social media is any kind of media where there is the opportunity for people to interact online,"
Shareski notes. "That's how all-encompassing it truly is."
"Anything that lets people interact online is effectively social," agrees David Jakes. He is a Coordinator of
Instructional Technology in Glenbrook South, Illinois, and a recent speaker at T&L's Tech Forum Chicago.
"Blogs qualify, as do chat rooms, interactive sites, and even bookmarks."
Carolyn Foote is a tech-centric librarian at Westlake High School in Austin, Texas (and another recent Tech
Forum Texas speaker). She writes about her school's iPad 1:1 rollout and its impact on library services on her
blog at www.futura. edublogs.org. Foote has seen firsthand how much students can learn using social media,
and how many options they have for doing so.
"When students write something and post it on a blog for the world to comment onand people do- that is social
media in action," Foote says. "Students can also use the Web to collaborate on projects with peers in other
schools, both locally and around the world. They can create videos that they post on YouTube, or discuss the
ongoing lesson with other students in the same class using a chat screen. And make no mistake: Using chat in
this way can really engage students more actively in the lesson than just having them sit there while someone
talks at them."
Posting materials online also helps students become accustomed to dealing with the outside world. "It means
something to a teenager when a complete stranger takes the time to read their work online and comment on it,"
Shareski says. "It proves to them that there is a world out there where they can have an impact, and that what
they do can elicit a positive response."
Moreover, building up an online resume of material is useful for students when it comes time to apply to college.
"In this sense, social media can be a very positive way for young people to make 'digital footprints,' which is a
big part of what living in the 21st century is about," David Jakes comments. "This is why teachers need to find
ways to use social media in the classroom, to help their students along in this process."
What about kids abusing Web access in order to play on Facebook or perhaps surf to unsavory sites? "There
have always been kids who read what they're supposed to in class, and others who whide a motorcycle
magazine in their textbook and read that instead," Foote replies. "I'm not trivializing this problem, but I am
pointing out that it existed long before social media arrived. In either instance, it is up to teachers to look out for
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these issues and deal with them- and to get more training to deal with them more effectively, if need be."
This said, neither Foote, Jakes, nor Shareski are advocating a "wide open" approach to social media at school.
All three of them see a need for some level of control by teachers and school over Web access.
A case in point: "We don't want the kids to tie up our network accessing Facebook," says Jakes. "We also have
the expectation that our teachers keep an eye on where students are surfing toand we can check their pathway
in a number of ways- but otherwise we have a fairly open access policy. However, we do advise against
teachers 'friending' students on Facebook While this is just a recommendation, we do not feel this is a wise
idea, because we do not want to encourage a practice where some students may or may not be friended. What
message does that send?"
As for the dangers of students interacting with strangers over the Web? "There is a risk but we have to keep this
in context," says Shareski. "Most of the time strangers who comment on students' work have no ill intent in
mind. Those who do, we can watch out for. But we shouldn't cut our students off from the positive feedback they
can get out of fear."
In truth, the appropriate use of social media in schools goes much further than creating 'rules of where you can
surf.' It comes down to educators grasping social media as a new form of learning- both for researching and
collaborating more effectively.
To do this, educators themselves have to become personally familiar with social media, just as they had to
personally embrace computers not so long ago. The reason is that social media is a paradigm shift, just as the
move to computer-based learning was a paradigm shift. And just as computers can no longer be dismissed as
toys for playing shoot'em-up games, social media can no longer be marginalized as just wasting time on
Facebook and Twitter. Social media represents a whole new way of doing things not just for educators and their
students, but society as a whole.
It is for this fundamental reason that Foote, Jakes and Shareski advocate schools embracing social media. Like
those who understood rock'n roll as a rebellion against the conformist 1950s, these educators know that social
media is truly the wave of the future. Schools can either choose to get on top of the wave and surf with it, or be
washed away as it crashes through the sea of society.
Sidebar
AS FOR THE DANGERS OF STUDENTS INTERACTING WITH STRANGERS OVER THE WEB? "THERE IS
A RISK, BUT WE HAVE TO KEEP THIS IN CONTEXT," SAYS SHARESKI. "MOST OF THE TIME
STRANGERS WHO COMMENT ON STUDENTS' WORK HAVE NO ILL INTENTIN MIND."
Sidebar
IN TRUTH, THE APPROPRIATE USE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN SCHOOLS GOES MUCH FURTHER THAN
CREATING 'RULES OF WHERE YOU CAN SURF.' IT COMES DOWN TO EDUCATORS GRASPING SOCIAL
MEDIA AS A NEW FORM OF LEARNING.
Subject: Social networks; Students; Learning; Schools;
Publication title: Tech & Learning
Volume: 32
Issue: 7
Pages: 42-44,46
Number of pages: 4
Publication year: 2012
Publication date: Feb 2012

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Year: 2012
Publisher: New Bay Media LLC
Place of publication: San Bruno
Country of publication: United States
Publication subject: Education--Teaching Methods And Curriculum, Education--Computer Applications,
Computers--Computer Assisted Instruction
Source type: Trade Journals
Language of publication: English
Document type: Feature
Document feature: Photographs Illustrations
ProQuest document ID: 920319530
Document URL: http://search.proquest.com/docview/920319530?accountid=25704
Copyright: Copyright New Bay Media LLC Feb 2012
Last updated: 2015-04-11
Database: ProQuest Professional Education

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Bibliography
Citation style: APA 6th - American Psychological Association, 6th Edition
Careless, J. (2012). SOCIAL MEDIA. Tech & Learning, 32(7), 42-44,46. Retrieved from
http://search.proquest.com/docview/920319530?accountid=25704

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