What Social Media, Again?

Presently, there is no evidence to support or deny the effectiveness of social media on education. There are two views on any given topic, and social media or digital education is no different. For example, many researchers are on  opposition in terms of their views on social media (for or against). Additionally, these researchers (Prensky, 2008; An & Reigeluth, 2011) emphasized the rationale for the slow movement towards incorporating digital learning in their classroom. Prensky (2008) explained some teachers’ inability to imagine an era without rote repetition of basic math skills, whereas Asimov’s (1964) demonstrated digital education at his extreme point, classroom with robot teachers.

In my program, some days I wished I were a robot to help maintain a safe environment. It is becoming difficult to introduce social media to our students for a myriad of reasons. I understand that I may come across as if I am not innovative into the digital world or I am still teaching with the past in mind (Presnky, 2008), but that is the reality of teaching my population. With that being said, when things work out it is a thrill to be in that environment.

Kalin (2012) that the students are “already technical communicators” (p. 1), integrating social networking should be a requirement that facilitate learning. However, many of the students in the alternative program do not know how to use Microsoft office program efficiently, let alone understand what program to choose to complete a project. Lack of computer literacy is one of the biggest challenge in the program. Most importantly, there are only two computers in each classroom in the program, one for the teacher and one for students. The lack of computers makes it difficult to plan for group collaboration, especially when using wiki and google doc (Bonk, 2009). Social network is a challenge in the classroom due to a lack of available and functional computers.

In terms of social media, I like Google hangout for collaboration. My students used it often to look up information for pleasure or academic. Sometimes, the students and I would share the screen on Google hangout in order to explore different game sites that support their learning of a math concept (Regulation, 2012). I shared with my students that I used Google hangout to talk with one of my professors that lived in Germany in order to get help with one of my project. It was one of the most helpful experience I have ever had using technology. I shared with them this is some of the ways we could use social media to support their learning of math concepts (Conole & Culver, 2010).

References

An, Y., & Reigeluth, C. (2011). Creating technology-enhanced, learner-centered classrooms: K-12 teachers' beliefs, perceptions, barriers, and support needs. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 28(2), 54–62.

Asimov, I. (1964, February). The fun they had. Fantasy and Science Fiction, 418–420.

Bonk, C. J. (2009). The world is open: How web technology is revolutionizing education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Conole, G., & Culver, J. (2010). The design of Cloudworks: Applying social networking practice to foster the exchange of learning and teaching ideas and designs. Computers & Education, 54(3), 679–692. 

Kalin, J. (2012). Doing what comes naturally? Student perceptions and use of collaborative technologies. International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning, 6(1), 1.

Prensky, M. (2008). Backup education? Too many teachers see education as preparing kids for the past, not the future. Educational Technology, 48(1), 1–3. Retrieved from http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky-Backup_Education-EdTech-1-08.pdf

Reagle Jr., J. M. (2011). Good faith collaboration: The culture of Wikipedia. Retrieved fromhttp://reagle.org/joseph/2010/gfc/chapter-3.html.

Regulation: User responsibilities for computer systems, electronic Information, and network security (2012). Retrieved July 14 from http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/igtra.pdf