Less than two decades ago, the use of computers and technology in a classroom was pretty much limited to a calculator in order to help solve math problems. Today's high school seniors most likely started their K-12 schooling in the "age of technology," the 21st century. With the rapid advancement in technology over the past 10 years, it is inevitable that a student will encounter some form of technology within his/her classroom. Technology allows teachers to form lessons that can be more interactive and inviting to these tech-savvy students. The use of social media sites can be extremely beneficial, but they can also be disastrous. An inappropriate comment, poorly chosen privacy settings, or an embarrassing/unprofessional photo can be the end of a teacher's career. Teachers must learn ways to utilize technology in the classroom and how to interact with their students safely.
In the video below, a teacher from Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan talks about the advantages of using technology. She explains that kids in schools these days "have grown up with the internet," and that "to come to school and power down" would be confusing for them because that would make school seem like a place that was not in touch with reality. Ms. Cassidy uses twitter and blogs to keep track of the students progress. When the students looks back on their work from the previous months, there are videos and posts as evidence of the progress each one of them has made. This is a perfect example of how to safely and successfully integrate social media into a classroom.
Recording progress in a blog as a type of portfolio is one of the five ways Darrell M. West and Joshua Bleiberg write that teachers can use technology to help students. While paper portfolios are still valuable, they argue that an online portfolio allows for students to include other forms of media such as "video, music or other interactive features." They also suggest that teachers can use social media sites like Twitter or Facebook to communicate with students [in a professional matter of course].
Just as Ms. Cassidy uses twitter with her primary students, twitter could be used in a high school setting as well. In this article by David Parry, Assistant Professor of Emerging Media and Communications at the University of Texas at Dallas, gives advice on how to use twitter successfully within a classroom. For example, an account could be created by a teacher for students to tweet news articles or videos that relate to the current topic. Students could do this outside of the classroom as well in order to continue the conversation and further the learning process through discussion with peers. As Parry suggests, students could even follow a professional figure such as an NBC reporter that would be tweeting new articles that would show up directly on that students Twitter feed. This type of classroom engagement is a fine line however as proper privacy, appropriate conversation, and parental permission are imperative.
There have been numerous occasions where teachers have overstepped the teacher-student professional boundary and lost their jobs. Teachers must remain professional at all times and remember that the purpose of being on the website is to further the students education. They should not be sending friend requests, "like-ing" or "favorite-ing" pictures, or writing unprofessional comments or messages to the students.
References
Bleiberg, J and West, D. (2013, May 7). Five ways teachers can use technology to help students. The Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/darrell-west/five-ways-teachers-can-us_b_3228851.html
Cassidy, K [tvoparents]. (2013, May 21). Using social media in the classroom. [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZStaz8Rno
Gottsman, D. (2012, January 3). [Image of students with laptops]. Retrieved from http://dianegottsman.com/2012/01/college-classroom-etiquette-university-etiquette-for-2012/
Herb, J. (2012, April 4). [Image of a class on twitter]. Retrieved from http://instructionaltechtalk.com/using-twitter-in-the-classroom/
Parry, D. (2008, January 23). Twitter for academia. Retrieved from http://academhack.outsidethetext.com/home/2008/twitter-for-academia/
