The Use of Social Media in School

In public schools these days, teachers are constantly looking for ways to engage their students. They are constantly looking for new and fresh ways to keep students interested and involved in the class and the course material. The 21st century ushers in a new era of teaching in which passively relaying information to students no longer cuts it. With standardized testing and common core, the pressure on teachers is ever increasing. Gone are the days of work sheets upon work sheets as the new expectations are borne onto teachers of today. To keep up with this rapidly changing technological world, the modern teachers must utilize all the tools at their disposal. One method that is garnering popularity is the responsible use of social media inside the classroom.

My own high school attempted to implement this trend inside its own classrooms as well. West Chester East High School is one of three schools inside of the West Chester Area School District in Pennsylvania. A closely tied sister school to the other two, all of the schools abide by a similar rule system. Among these are the guidelines by which teachers were allowed to use social media. 

In the early days of my high school career teachers were not permitted to use social media to connect with students in anyway. Any teacher found to have a twitter that they gave out to students for academic purposes, such as tweeting about homework assignments, was asked to shut it down. I had always found this frustrating seeing how this type of thing was incredibly useful for me and my fellow students. Even youtube was blocked inside the school so teachers were unable to show us educational videos on it. The most they could do was suggest the students make a Facebook group dedicated to the class. I found this to be a serious impediment to our learning community and the ability to experiment with new and possibly more effective teaching methods. 

Fortunately, by my senior year much of this had changed. The school had unblocked youtube and allowed teachers to have educational twitters that were allowed to follow at our own leisure. My senior English teacher had a twitter that he frequently updated with changes to the homework assignments, articles he found relevant, and (because we got to choose our books and he read them along with us) he thoughts on a chapter he might have just read. These articles are his personal musings often helped spur on conversation in class, an element that might have been lost had he not been permitted to use a twitter.  

The guidelines for West Chest Area School District's policy for the acceptable use of social media are quite clear. Along with listing acceptable and unacceptable uses, they include what they call a "TAP" test. The TAP test provides three guidelines for whether or not a specific form of social media could be considered acceptable if it is not listed under either category. Moreover it includes rules for the personal use of social media and how to interact with currently enrolled students over social media. They clearly state that it is not permitted to "friend" a current student on Facebook or share a personal twitter or blog. On top of the typical social media, the district reminds teachers that the use of school e-mail, our online grade book PowerSchool, and our TurnItIn equivalent, Moodle, are all pre-approved by the district.

In the video posted below, we are shown the way in which one teacher, Mr. Cassidy, uses twitter in his Advanced Literature class. In one way is was very similar to how my professor used it, but also took it a step further. Depicted in the video we see the way students can engage with the teacher and other students in class through the use of twitter.

The lively use of twitter in the classroom to allow the students to engage in the debate and also communicate with the teacher without interrupting other students is modern and effective. It takes the use of social media I grew accustomed to a step further. I think it is incredibly important to use social media in the classroom to help engage students, otherwise they will use it to distract themselves from what they might feel is a dull lesson. It is possible that even when they are allowed to use social media in the classroom that students will still use it to roam the internet and disengage from class. This article by Susan Cumberland concisely lays out the pros and cons of using social media in the classroom. Though she claims that it will be a distraction, and may not benefit the classroom but I disagree. The video above shows just one example where using social media is a success. Though it is true that these events may occur, I believe that if a student is properly engaged and interested in the class, which is more likely to happen if social media is integrated into the course, they will not feel tempted to stray to inappropriate use of technology in the classroom.

All in all, using social media in the classroom comes with risks. However, from what I've experienced first hand, it can be a great tool to deepen the students connection and learning. If utilized properly it can be a powerful teaching tool. I don't think school systems and teachers should shy away from this new possibility and rather should embrace it.

References:

Cumberland, S. (2014, February 21). 5 pros and cons of social media in the classroom. Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://www.schooliseasy.com/2014/02/social-media-in-the-classroom/

Expectations for Communicating Electronically with Students. (n.d.). Retrieved September 17, 2014, from http://documents.wcasd.k12.pa.us/dsweb/Get/Document-150774/District+Guidelines+for+Electronic+Communications+with+Students_FINAL.pdf

Waterloo Schools. (2012, November 6). Social Media and Technology in the Classroom [Video file]. retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaYIvdv4jFs