Article reflection: "How
We Use and Are Used by Social Media in Education"
The use of
social media in our lives has exploded since its inception. This article and the topic of social media in
education is truly fascinating. We are
living in an incredible time where information is at our fingertips 24/7 and
anywhere. This access can be met with peril
as technology remains a double edge sword.
In other words, there remains good and bad to the advent of social
media. This concept is what Burbules
(2016) explores in his article. First
let us explore the good.
Social
media like Facebook and Twitter has brought the world together in a unique collaborative
manner that could not have been imagined just a few short decades ago. “People create, share, vet, organize, are
entertained” (Burbules, 2016, p. 554).
Its possible implications are boundless.
Todays youth are consumed by social media, so educators are attempting
to find ways to harness this enthrallment of social media for academic pursuits
(Burbules, 2016).
As educators grapple to find interesting ways to incorporate social
media into their classroom, manufacturers are creating apps to facilitate
learning and physical activity. Pokémon
Go is one such popular app that increases physical activity of the user for
achievement (Roblyer & Hughes, 2019).
Parents and educators also utilize social media to “check-in” for safety
and monitoring educational activities (Roblyer & Hughes, 2019). Social media can provide a direct teaching
resource and “content is user‐generated or reposted from elsewhere; it is shared
with others within a peer‐to‐peer community; and there is typically a
crowdsourced process of curation, evaluation, and commentary” (Burbules, 2016,
p. 554). Clearly, social media could be utilized
for posting of assignments; although, its collaborative affect in real time makes
it beneficial for stimulating creativity among peers. This is could replace traditional face to
face time in the classroom when necessary.
Similar to forum or message boards.
Burbules (2016) explained that social media does more than supplement
academic activity it can “build community, improve engagement, open up
discussions, share resources, encourage student–student interaction, and
project a certain online presence themselves” (p. 562).
As a
digital immigrant, most of my social media experiences have been through my
personal educational journey. Now, I
attempt to incorporate the positive elements of technology and social media
into my classroom. Most of my colleagues
tend to utilize social media to collaborate with other educators; however, some
are entertaining the thought of incorporating it into the classroom. To this point it is mostly for communication
with families through a newsletter and the posting of assignments or upcoming
events.
With the
good typically comes the bad and social media in education is no
exception. A negative aspect which most
would realize is the privacy issue. Educators
must provide percussions for their students that utilize social media within
the classroom. This would include
protections against bullying or other forms of harassment. Some postings are sarcastic, hyperjudgmental,
or just plain rude (Burbules, 2016). Another
point to remember regarding the use of social media for educational purposes is
that it could contain bias (Roblyer & Hughes, 2019). One should be aware of and on the lookout for
bias. Burbules (2016) is no fan of
Twitter. Explaining that it is full of
bias with dismissive and rude comments. Twitter
allows for so few written characters that context and nuance can be missed or
worse misconstrued. On the other hand,
some educators prefer Twitter as Roblyer and Hughes (2019) stated regarding its
use in professional development for social studies teachers to “communicate
with colleagues and community members, to be active in social issues or social
justice, and to facilitate in-and out-of-class learning activities with
students” (p. 444). It is all just a
matter of opinion and how one utilizes the tools and resources. The importance is knowing the good and bad of
social media to be able to more effectively utilize it in education.
References
Burbules, N. C.
(2016). How we use and are used by social media in education. Educational
Theory, 66(4), 551-565. doi:10.1111/edth.12188
Roblyer, M. D., & Hughes, J. E.
(2019). Integrating
educational technology into teaching: Transforming learning across disciplines.
New York: Pearson Education, Inc.
