User:Rosenbergerb/Social media in education

In this breakdown article 1 by Vicki Davis, it shows how social media can help in the classroom, but also can be a negative thing and isn't always a bad thing. We see this when it says "
☑ There's one form of writing that can arguably get someone fired, hired or forced to retire faster than any other form of writing. (If you don't believe me, read "How One Stupid Tweet Blew Up Justine Sacco's Life" in the New York Times.)

☑ There's one form that will most likely be read by college admissions offices and teams of student "stalkers" hired to vet students before they receive scholarships.

☑ There's one form that will prevent some people from running for political office and get others elected.

One form of writing is that powerful.

If you guessed social media, you're right.

In article 2 by Beth Holland we see a breakdown of introducing younger students to social media.

However, I also agree that social media pervades all aspects of modern society, and it has become an imperative for us as educators -- and parents -- to model appropriate digital citizenship to even our youngest learners. Do I really believe that toddlers should have Twitter handles? Not really. But we do need to introduce children to the virtual, social world around them in appropriate and meaningful ways? Definitely.

As I said, I agree. However, if used effectively, social media can transform a student's learning experience. Here are three examples from classrooms that also agree, but who also leverage social media to extend the learning context, model effective communication, and empower young students to develop their voice.

1. Extend the Classroom
Lately, the grade 1/2 students in Kristen Wideen's class have been studying tadpoles and frogs. I know this because I've seen their Padlet wall of questions, witnessed the delivery of tadpoles, and watched a young boy read to his amphibian friend -- all through Twitter. Following is an excerpt from this teacher's blog post about "How My Learning Environment Has Evolved":

Through this article many positive points on why social media should be used in the classroom are portrayed.

In article 3 by Betty Ray we see many more positives about social media in the classroom
1. Jump in

It's tough to teach empowerment without being empowered. Here are some useful tips to get started on Twitter.

2. Find the others

Are there people in your school community who are already on social media? Brainstorm how you might be able to bring parents, administrators and students online in non-threatening ways.

3. Start small

If your administrators are really adverse to social media, start by proposing a short one-class pilot project to help everyone put a toe in the water. (If you've done a project like this, please share in the comments below!)

4. Get parent buy-in early

Some teachers talked of the benefit of reaching parents at the beginning of the year by letting them know their kids will be participating in online projects. One teacher told a cautionary tale of having to put the kibosh on a project that had been months in the making, due to a parent rejection.

5. Be smart about your identity

It's always a good idea to keep your personal and professional accounts separate. On Edmodo you don't have to worry about personal and professional overlap. On Facebook and Twitter you can create two accounts -- though Facebook lets you set up your personal profile and create a "Page" or "Group" for your class that keeps the two worlds separate.

6. Stay with it

I know we've been banging this drum at Edutopia for a while now but social media isn't going away and the sooner education leadership embraces it, the sooner we can benefit from its ubiquity, power, and attractive price point (free with cost of a computer and internet).

In article 4 by Paige Alfonzo it presents:

Formative assessment through social media is similar to EMS because it allows teachers to make frictionless assessments of students’ thinking and feelings about academic concept and skill mastery.

In article 5 by David Guyman:

Increasingly, educators are acknowledging and welcoming the relative advantages of social media into the teaching and learning process. From creating school Facebook pages to connecting students with experts via Twitter, social media has taken root as a legitimate classroom learning and communication tool. The highly linguistic nature of social media allows us to create and consume ideas and information unlike ever before.

Article Draft
=== Lead. This body of the article talks about how social media in the classroom isn't always negative and needs to be used more in the classroom. Above I've attached information to back up these points and why the wikipedia article was correct in what it presented. ===

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Article body. Social media allows for the classroom to extend outside of the school and gives the students time to collaborate in a different medium. Kids can be sidetracked by social media, but with self-determination and self-direction, it can be used as a powerful tool. There are many new avenues to learning thanks to social media, and to reach them adequately, one study suggests breaking learning with social media into informal and formal learning through academics ======

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References. Social media in education ======