Journal 3: Social Media in Schools

Kessler, S. (2010, September 29). The Case for Social Media in Schools. Retrieved October 14, 2014, from http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/

In the article “The Case for Social Media in Schools,” Sarah Kessler teamed up with a middle school teacher from Oregon—who has made social media a part of her curriculum, to come up with six reasons why educators should embrace social media in the classroom. Those reasons being: social media isn't going anywhere anytime soon, student engagement leads to better learning, there are safe and free social media tools available, decrease online distractions and increase social education, student collaboration, and cell phones can be useful tools. I could not agree more with this list. Social media is part of many people’s daily routines, updating their status, checking their newsfeed, and using hashtags to describe their days. So when schools ban social media and cell phones that usually results in students craving to go on those sites and using their phones even more. Rather than refusing access, teachers should embrace it by incorporating it into lessons. Blogging sites, such as edublog and Edmodo, are a great way for students to collaborate inside and outside the classroom. As stated in the first reason “social media is not going away,” schools were apprehensive about allowing internet usage and look at where we are now. The internet is used almost every day in the classroom and engages students in a positive way. If we can learn to do the same with social media and embrace it, I believe it will be a powerful learning tool for teachers.

Q: How can teachers use blogging sites effectively in the classroom?

A: Blogs can be used as student journals for writing prompts, answering assigned reading questions, or writing narratives. In the article, it’s said that students feel empowered when writing on their blog because they’re writing for more than just their teacher, they’re writing for the internet. By changing the way students are writing, they are producing better pieces of work.

Q: How can teachers make sure students use blogs appropriately?

A: Before allowing students to create their blogs, there should be a class contract on agreed upon behavior and expectations of their personal blogs and interacting with their peers’ blogs. Having a student-generated contract means everyone knows what is and isn’t appropriate. If someone breaks a rule, they will lose all privileges.