Merging Education With Social Media

As social media is becoming a universal part of life, schools must jump on the bandwagon. I think it is safe for one to say, social media is here to stay. As Hicks (2013) states, "If we simply have students sign up with a social media service and then use it in the same way we use other web-based tools-distribute assignments, have students randomly reply to each other in discussion posts- we are not inviting them to think deeply and creatively about how to craft social media texts (p.140)." Setting a purpose for using social media is just as importance as its integration into our classrooms. So, how do we begin? Before we can start using social media in our classrooms, we need to determine what our intentions are for its users. Social media should be used to engage students and help them dive into the lessons that teachers create to help build better students.

Twitter is a popular platform that many teachers have discovered. In my opinion, it is one of the easiest to use regarding social media integration. There are many ways to use Twitter to enhance educational practices. Let's take a look at a Twitter Chat feed that I chose to analyze. This chat has the hashtag #tntechchat. It is dedicated to Tennessee teachers, but open to others.

These teachers are chatting about anything EdTech. They often feature Guest Moderators from across the county. In this particular snapshot that I have chosen, teachers are discussing topics and responding to other peoples questions. Hashtags are used when they are making statements or asking questions to ensure that their responses stay inside of the chat. When they want to respond directly to someone, they use the @ symbol to ensure their response gets directed to the correct person. As noted in Hicks (2013) intention matters and this group of teachers understands the importance of the hashtag and @ symbol in order to move the conversations forward.

Let's take a closer look at the snapshots on the left using the MAPS heuristic. Regarding purpose, I believe that this Twitter chat is designed to inspire and enlighten dedicated teachers. It takes some genuine dedication to log onto a computer and converse about your job after hours. The intended audience is dedicated teachers interested in discussing educational technology topics for professional growth. Furthermore, when looking at the situation, tweeters within this chat were able to deliver their message through pictures, videos, photos, links, and up to 140 characters of text. This particular chat had chats further down the feed, dedicated strictly to GIF only replies.

Analyzing my chosen text for possible digital enhancements, I established the only media allowed by Twitter that was not used, were videos. Perhaps video clips demonstrating support for their responses could have been used to digitally enhance the chats. I am pro-social media inside of the classroom, as well as my school district. Neither Facebook nor Twitter are blocked. Teachers have the freedom to use these platforms at their discretion.

In conclusion, as commercial pressure on other districts continues to limit the potential for social media truly having its place inside of the classroom, we as 21st Century teachers must rise to the occasion of proving them wrong (Friesen & Lowe, 2011).

I am including the link to the entire #tntechchat for your viewing.
 https://twitter.com/search?src=typd&q=%23tntechchat

                                                                 References

Friesen, N., & Lowe, S. (2011). The questionable promise of social media for education: Connective learning and the commercial imperative. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 28(3), 183-194. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2729.2011.00426.x

Hicks, T (2013). Crafting digital writing. Portsmouth, New Hampshire: Heinemann.