User:Amoquin11/sandbox

Integration of Social Media
Integrating social media into education has been a controversial topic in which people have continued to debate on whether or not these types of medias have a place in the classroom. According to a 2010 report, almost 75% of students use social media for educational purposes. Social media is becoming more accessible and easier to use, meaning that the age of students who are able to understand and use social media are getting younger and younger. The idea of learning being able to take place anywhere is the reason that social media has become so popular in the education system. Social media is supposed to help students to learn better communication skills not only in the school but in life by expanding the classroom to the outside world. Although its original aim is to help rather than hurt the question of its use in a school setting is still up in the air.

Benefits
Social media can help to aid teachers in communicating with students even when they are outside of the classroom. Use of social media platforms can provide students with unlimited resources and texts from credible sources that they can utilize to their advantage in essays, projects, and presentations. They can also be used as a means of giving and receiving feedback at any time. This way students can easily access comments made by teachers and peers with a click of a button instead of rifling through pages and pages of notes and handouts. Social media can be seen as a sort of an archive of ideas and other medias that can be retrieved by their users day or night. Because feedback can be submitted so quickly over social media it has bridged a gap in communication between students and teachers that is unmatched. Since students are able to view and respond almost immediately it has been seen that this increase in communication has lead to deeper understanding of class material.

Disadvantages
It is important to be cautious when using social media especially in the classroom. Although we shouldn't ignore social media all together we should still have an understanding of the negative impacts it can have on society. Critics are unsure about how social media will affect the teacher student relationship and commonly express concern about how attention keeping this type of learning is. It is a fear that students will become caught up in the chaos of social media instead of focusing on their school work. With this comes the idea that one day our intelligence might depend on these social medias instead of using them to help aid our foundations of thought. The overuse of this technology, while convenient, can also harm our expression of critical thought going forward. Putting young students onto social media sites for the purpose of education can also be detrimental to their mental health. According to a survey taken of teens and young adults increased use of social media can lead to anxiety, depression, and lack of self esteem.

Laws Placed on Social Media in the Classroom
Although there was some backlash from state educators, Missouri passed a law that prohibited teachers from communicating privately with students over social media platforms in 2011. Legislators who helped pass this were worried that online communication between underage students and faculty would lead to inappropriate relationships that would cause issues in the classroom. Missouri is not the only state that has taken strides toward limiting social media usage however, and while communication is an important tool teachers utilize certain situations can be misconstrued by outside sources if said communication reaches a more personal level. Due to this stigma teachers are forced to keep all communication with students professional regardless the platform it takes place upon.

Snapchat?

 * eliminate "we" and "our" statements
 * add more to YouTube (Khan Academy) (Crash Course)


 * Add more about Benefits and Disadvantages. Search through sources to find more examples.


 * Add more examples of restrictions placed on social media in the classroom. Maybe look for more sources? to find this information.