Exposing students to the power of social media in the classroom is an important part of preparing them to be active and positive digital citizens in a 21st century world. In the last two years, my own students have rapidly been drawn to Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, and many other social networking platforms. They upload, share, and connect with others often without any regard to how their digital footprints may reflect them as individuals. Having continuous conversations with students about the choices that they make can lead to positive results. Students don't realize how powerful social media platforms can be in terms of networking, researching, and engaging in academic conversations. It makes me laugh every time I hear them whisper about my colleague Heather's or my Twitter feed. First of all kids, I can hear you. Second of all, yes, social media can be an amazing way to give and exchanged knowledge.
This past semester, I have tried to incorporate a variety of small learning activities that either use social media platforms or mimic the act of sharing on social media to expose students to what is possible when they choose to use social media platforms for educational and professional purposes. As I continue to expand how I use the Chromebooks more next semester, I only hope to utilize these tools more. Students need to be exposed to strong models of digital citizenship, and these activities can open up a dialogue about what that means. Also, many of the skills that they use with technology align with new Common Core State Standards.
TodaysMeet
TodaysMeet functions a lot like Twitter or a live chat. It is a backchannel that allows a group of people to connect for a selected period of time. Teachers can na...
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... as well as my speech class. I also use the #CGMedia with my Media class to encourage them to post projects or even to encourage them to check additional resources that I post. During the Gender Unit for both my Media and Speech classes (which are very research focused, I've used these hashtags to share out resources that they might find helpful. I have not overused Twitter directly with students, but I do encourage them to browse because it is a platform with so many amazing resources available, in addition to celebrity gossip and social postings. As our world continues to evolve it is definitely a platform that they should be utilizing.
Here are few other resources that mimic social media interaction and can be very useful for the classroom:
Fakebook
Twister (Like Twitter)
Fake Tweet Builder
Edmodoand Schoology can also provide strong LMS systems, too!
By generating innovative ways students can interact with their family and peers via different networks, social media has gained incredible popularity amongst students of all grade-levels. While students have come to embrace these alternative methods of communication with great delight, teachers have not welcomed these social networks as warmly. From a teacher’s perspective, social media plays the role of the ultimate student distraction. The distraction has played out from sidetracking students away from homework outside of the classroom, to averting their attention to their gadgets in the classroom. In “Social Media Can Be Your Ally” by Nicholas Provenzano, he reasons that social media is not a teacher’s enemy.
Today’s generation in America is widely affected by social media, but the real question that millions want the answer to is what is the real impact? “76% of American adults online use social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest, as of July 2015, up from 26% in 2008. On social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more. ” Social media has been the cause of countless problems, but also the solution to numerous issues which is why it is so hard to decide if it is more helpful than it is a burden or vise versa.
In the year 2016 almost everyone applying to a school or business has a social media account. College admission offices and businesses have the ability to check applicant’s social media before they accept them into their school or business. But they should not be looking at social media because it does not give an accurate portrayal of the person applying.
The student’s engagement increases through the use of social media. Students are more willing to connect through the use of technology in order to research information, share ideas and produce final products. It increases thie enthusiasm for the topic and allows for them to learn how to solve problems themselves thus making it an engaging environment for them to
Michael J. Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication at Iowa State University and author of“Facing the Facebook” in The Chronicle of Higher Education, states that the initial purpose of having access to the Internet in the classroom was to give students the opportunity to conduct research. However, this privilege is rapidly being used as a means for students to not pay attention during class. A poll was taken at Iowa State University where 20,247 out of the 25,741 enrollees were registered on Facebook (Bugeja 1). Social networking sites such as Facebook have had some negative effects in academia such as “institutions seeking to build enrollment learn that ‘technology’ rates higher than ‘rigor’ or ‘reputation’” (2), that there has been improper use of the freedom to use technology in the classroom, that employers and parents check Facebook to see what users have been doing, and that technology is an overall distraction in the classroom.
As technology increases and develops in this century, the use of social media increases as well. Schools have begun adapting it, using it as their tool to inform students of any school related news. However, using it as a tool for learning is a different story. By using it as a tool, it can push you off your course with classes. Social media is something that is not needed at school grounds. Schools should not require social media use in classes.
The web is no longer a read only product, it now has the ability to be interactive and particpatory. Users are able to interact over the internet with each other with instant messaging and emails and use social networks to share news, videos, and photos with others, bringing people with common interest, opinions, and experiences together and closer. Some of the most popular social networks include Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn. Currently social networks are mostly used to keep in touch with friends, colleagues, peers and family, there are far more benefits, that the social media platform can provide. This paper explores the topic of social media in modern education. There are benefits and disadvantages to social media being used in the classroom setting, and they are discussed in detail through the paper.
Social Media has become a very essential tool in the society; in addition, it has a huge impact on communication and learning process. Social media is defined as websites and applications used for social networking. “As of September 2013, seventy-one percent of online adult use Facebook, eighteen percent use Twitter and seventeen percent use Instagram, twenty-two percent use PInterest, and another twenty-two percent use LinkedIn. (PewReasearch, 2013). In addition, "Between February 2005 and August 2006, the use of social networking sites among young adult internet user ages eighteen and twenty-nine jumped from nine percent to forty-nine percent. The usage of social media had grown drastically.” On social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more” (Socialnetworking.procon,2012). Social media has impacted everyone in several different ways. In this present time, majority of college student use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Social media has a bold impact college student's grades, social interactions, and the teaching and learning process.
We live in a world that has become addicted and dedicated toward social media and it is driving America’s youth into the ground. Teenagers and adults are so wrapped up in social media that is runs their lives every day. Constantly people are checking their phones for the latest on social networks. They have to see pictures, tweets, statuses, comments, likes, and the list goes on and on. Social media is becoming the focus point in the modern American society that it is beginning to control people’s social skills, communication skills, and their livelihood.
Today’s students have never known a time when computers weren’t fast or when your connection to the internet wasn’t instant. The sound of a dialing modem is something kids today will not recognize. Technology and social media are things they are very comfortable with and are not intimidated by. After exploring various viewpoints, my opinion has changed: I now believe social media deserves more respect as a
The correlation between the development of youth and social media has become blatant. Although few of the consequences are favorable, the majority have displayed a negative impact. The drive social media can implement on youth is exceptional. The pressure and strain social media can place on our youth is an enduring force which leads individuals to question themselves as a person and feel inclined to fit a norm expressed in media and social media of our society. The underlying force social media can play in the lives of the youth is astonishing and is a force that must be dealt with and controlled, for it not only holds the power to give an individual strength, but also to break them down.
Social media is a controversy topic in today’s society. Some people think that social media destroys human interaction and real life human relationships. While others think that social media is a bless to humanity. Social media makes human interaction much more convenient and much faster than real life human interaction, it makes globalization a reality, it gives a chance for introverted people to express themselves, and it also benefit develop international relationships whether its business or social.
The popularity of social media is rapidly increasing in the last few decades. This may be due to the students of colleges and universities as well as youth is widely used for global access. Social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook have become a craze for everyone nowadays. In these cases, some students are more concerned about social media or social networks than on teaching by lecturers and will cause affected their academic performance.
Social media, a quickly growing and popular knowledge outlet, can become dangerously addictive if the user lacks self-control. There are so many wonderful outcomes from the invention of social media. The biggest being how quickly news can spread. Anyone can share the news that they desire with a few taps on a screen. The fault in this action though, is that false testimonies can be spread just as quickly as true ones. The question is, does the positive outweigh the negative enough for a person to proceed with using social media? Without this innovative creation, though, communication would be dull and boring, so by all means, social media should be used.
Some believe social networks are a waste of time; slacking in school or in jobs and can sometimes be dangerous. Facebook, Snapchat, or Twitter can be one of these problems with some teenagers. “Students who use social media had an average GPA of 3.06 while nonusers had