How should social media be used to help you develop/collaborate/communicate as a professional? As a teacher in the innovative masters program I am pushed to use "new" social media tools to help connect with other educators. I get to share ideas with teachers that may be across the country through tweeter or other social media tools. I use social media to expand my learning find new ways to help my students all while staying in the comfort of my own classroom or my own living room. If I am being honest I had not used social media as a professional before signing up for this masters program. I had used email and text with colleagues but that was about it. Last week when we were assigned to sign up for a tweeter account, I was very nervous because I tend to need a lot of practice with new tools before I feel confident. When I don't get it right the first time I get frustrated and stressed out because I can't figure it out. Going through this program has made me feel that it's ok to slow down and ask questions when it comes to using new tools. Social media is a great tool if used correctly and professionally to achieve a common goal and for me that is improve my teaching and help my students succeed.
Some critical issues to consider when using social media is to be aware or the professional norms when we use it. Just like we tell our students to be safe and responsible when using social media, as professionals we must also follow the same criteria. We have to be mindful of who our audience is, other professionals that may or may not share our same values and believes. When we post or comment we have to be aware of the digital foot print we leave behind. Being careful of what we share online or what comments we leave behind is very important when it comes to using social media to grow as a professional. If I were to come across an inappropriate post made by one of my students outside of the school I would have to consider the severity of the post. If the post was the use of foul language or sharing of personal information I would probably do a lesson in class where I would use a similar scenario and explain to students the digital foot print the internet leaves behind. Reminding students that anything they post online will stay online forever. I would let my students know that as the get older and start applying for universities they have to be careful and mindful of what they post online. What ever the post on the internet is never private and anyone can acceess it. A lot of university admisions personel look into students social media to see if there are any red flags they should be aware of. If posts are severe they reject applicants. When students understand that this is not a joke that professionals take posts seriously they might think twice before posting something offensive online. If the post I come across has to do with a student bullying another student or a student threatening to hurt someone I would contact administration, parents, or even the police. Now in days we can not let any threat even if it's a joke go. We have to protect ourselves and our students and take any threat seriously and contact the authorities and the parents or guardians.
5 Comments
Shawn
3/2/2018 11:56:09 am
Using social media as an educational tool is defiantly a mind shift, and just like with anything there are pros/cons to its use. I love using twitter to see what other teachers are doing in their classrooms. It is a nice way to get ideas to use in your class. I also found it to be powerful to use with students as well. In the third grade my students do not have access to typical social media in my classroom, but we will tweet together, comment on our flip grids and in google classroom. I think this more guided form of social media is a great way to show student safe and appropriate ways to use social media.
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Christina Schreiber
3/3/2018 02:38:54 pm
I agree with you that a student posting something inappropriate on social media can be a perfect learning opportunity to discuss their digital footprint. If things like that are caught early and we can teach students at a young age about their digital footprint then they can carry that knowledge with them into middle school and high school. Social media is not going anywhere and it will take the whole village of educators to help teach students about how to properly use it.
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Scott Marsden
3/4/2018 03:06:31 pm
Thank you for being so honest, Mayra, about your learning curve with Twitter. I do think it is a powerful tool for professional development for teachers. I encourage you to try it out, realizing that there is a learning curve and you will make mistakes along the way, but ultimately figure it out.
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helen
3/4/2018 05:35:50 pm
I too get very frustrated when I cannot get a technology tool to work the way others are discussing. I find that patience dwindles quickly and I want to give up. I do like the idea of doing professional development from my living room. It might be helpful if we paired with others who are familiar with the tool. Also I really liked your idea of teaching a citizenship lesson when we have behavior difficulties, both virtual and real.
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Teresa Barron
3/6/2018 10:18:42 pm
Cindy, I agree that using social media is a different way of networking and I was also a bit skeptical about Twitter because I had not used it before. Yet, I feel like I am beginning to be more open to using social media to network with other educators. There are many educators doing awesome things in their own classrooms and are willing to share! :)
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