When I reflect on the rapid development of social media I still feel breathless. It's like everyone and everything we know has been swept up in a whirlwind. Like Dorothy (a millennia ago!), sometimes I 'just want to go back home!' It can be scary out there in cyber-space!
CURRENT PRACTICE
I astound myself at the amount of social media I use for my current practice (and yes a good portion of that is attributable to the influence of the Mindlab). It is becoming more and more natural to ask questions of colleagues I will never meet; to share their resources, and learn from tales of their successes and failures in the classroom. I find it interesting and thought-provoking to read threads and articles. I believe it contributes very positively to my own reflective practice.
Twitter, Facebook, TES and the VLN are all 'Favorites' on my computer AND my mobile phone. Melhuish (2013) critiques the VLN and labels it a 'thriving, participatory system'. For thousands of teachers it is the 'go-to' place for answers and discussions around current issues. The anonymity is reassuring and non-threatening for many practitioners. No one likes to appear ignorant in front of others and, unfortunately, some schools still house a non-collaborative culture where practitioners are uneasy asking for help.
POTENTIAL USE
There are many different ways that I want to bring social media into my classroom practice. Learning in schools is traditionally formal, but increasingly teachers are releasing the power to students and acting more as facilitators. Sharples et al (2016, p1) reminds us that learning outside of schools is less formal and that co-operative learning is the way of the future. As I teach Intermediate students, Facebook isn't an option.(Yes, I am aware of Fakebook, but personally feel that is still too close to the real thing, somehow sending a signal that I condone their joining of Facebook). Instead I am keen to use Microsoft 'Yammer' so that students can share work or ideas and gain feedback from their peers. Learning is a social activity and this will allow the students to get to forge relationships with those students who are not actually in their class.
I love the idea of using social media to reach experts - being 'Lifelong Learners in a Connected World' (MoE draft vision for 2025). I love the idea of linking to scientists in Antarctica, to Marine Biologists, or high-profile athletes. I love the idea of students being able to put questions to authors and artists, dairy farmers and clothing manufacturers. The list is endless, and so are the potential opportunities for learning. Social media will connect the students to experts in ways that simply weren't possible before. So although the world can be a scary place, our students will be able to find their own place in that world, and I'm sorry Dorothy, but this isn't 'just a dream!'
REFERENCES:
Ministry of Education 'Lifelong Learners in a Connected World'
Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8482/thesis.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
Sharples, M., de Roock , R., Ferguson, R., Gaved, M., Herodotou, C., Koh, E., Kukulska-Hulme, A., Looi,C-K, McAndrew, P., Rienties, B., Weller, M., Wong, L. H. (2016). Innovating Pedagogy 2016: Open University Innovation Report 5. Milton Keynes: The Open University. Retrieved from http://proxima.iet.open.ac.uk/public/innovating_pedagogy_2016.pdf
Tracey thank you for your post. Your thoughts on anonymity when using online communities caught my attention. Yes it is reassuring and non-threatening for many practitioners, but are we anonymous. So many of our details are added to sites when we join, I just wonder how much we can find out about each other without us knowing it. I do say however that I have started using more social media in the classroom than I ever had so I am not opposed to it. The use of social media sites are used due to there ease of access, networking, and sharing. In this way, it enables students to construct collaboratively and interact in a dialogic way. This does require the diligent and consistent monitoring of posting and sharing within the community though.
ReplyDeleteHi Tracy. Thank you for your blog. Like you I have learnt a lot from Mind Lab and am using TES,TED and other apps. I also dont use Facebook as I want to maintain the distance and not to become close to students. Social Media has made learning more enjoyable and real to students. Students can see visual at the same time. All the best for your course.
ReplyDeleteThank you both for your comments. Speaking to a colleague earlier this week, we were debating the role of teachers in policing students use of social media in class time. She believes the kids are often messaging each other whilst we are roaming. I don't realistically see how we would be able to eradicate this behaviour.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post Tracey. I too can certainly identify with Dorothy - we seem to be caught up in a whirlwind of new innovations and we're not sure where it is taking us. It's tremendously exciting but rather daunting too. It reminds me again of the need to teach our students good digital citizenship to keep themselves safe out there.
ReplyDeleteI have only glanced at VLN, but you have inspired me to delve deeper, thanks you!
A new Code of Ethics from 1/7/17 -
ReplyDelete'do good and minimise harm'. An article in 'The Press' (15/4/17) questions whether teachers should be worried by the changes. Will we lose the ability to be nuturing?
https://educationcouncil.org.nz/sites/default/files/coe-poster-english.pdf