Blog 3: Article reflection: "How We Use and Are Used by Social Media in Education"

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.