Just Another Resource

Having been to secondary school (no social media) and 3 years at university (with social media) I have a fairly good understanding of both the use of social media as a tool and the lack there of. To be frank it’s helped me out on more than one occasion, although aware of the concerns raised by Vicki Davis, I have to agree with the premise of Social Media Myth.

There are so many dangers associated with social media these days it’s ridiculous we have hacking, predators, sending letters to the wrong person, generating enemies through inaccurate or inappropriate posts and comments online and generating “ammunition” that could be used against you in whichever career you choose (politics, teaching, cooperate….). This begs the questions that Vicki Davis used in her blog “Should we teach letter-writing in the classroom?”, “Should we teach email in the classroom?” and “Should we teach social media in the classroom?”.  It is precisely because of the dangers that I would encourage the use and education about email and social media in the classroom.

Social networking is ever growing (diary sites, blogs, and chat sites) which provides places for teens to stay in touch, communicate about recent events or meet new and interesting people. This turns a single edged knife to a double edged sword, as often students post and young children share personal information like full names, addresses (home and schools) and photos (binge drinking and revealing) that in effect provides a virtual shopping ground for predators. Educating students on the appropriate use of social media will help them to not only recognize these dangers and protect themselves (and their freedom on the internet), but also how to communicate with people in a professional capacity, which is useful throughout their lives.

Teachers and parents are afraid though that the students will become distracted and therefore lose out on their education (Social Media Myth). Personally when one is in varsity there is no time to social network in class besides the odd “Happy birthday!!!!” on Facebook. Teachers are now using social networking to better engage the students in the theme of the subject content, through email/ discussions, asking questions, connecting class rooms, keeping students and parents updated to school events. The networking is not limited to tearcher-students but also provides a format for student-students interaction, like group chats on whatsapp, where students can support each other through inspirational messages or the ever popular “Guys the projects due tomorrow! or Please can you send me your notes?”. Personally I find Google Docs share application a very useful application that allows many students, busy on a project, to access and edit a shared document from anywhere at anytime (especially useful to those groups that find it difficult to get together at a specific time and place). Social media and networking like Twitter, Blogs and Instagram are all useful in that it allows students to share thoughts and ideas, helping each other to understand different concepts and engage in academic and cultural matters.