Week 30  Practice – Professional Online Social Networks

Facilitating learning in the 21^st Century is a time where change is inevitable and in order to provide for learners who have grown up using digital devices educators must find innovative and more flexible ways of learning.  Educators must be lifelong learners and continue learning throughout their careers in order to prepare students to become independent learners capable of working collaboratively using social networks effectively. (Melhuish, K. (2013) Therefore I believe there is an expectation for educators to access material, resources and collaborative learning opportunities that will support their students learning and raise achievement.  

New Zealand Teachers Council (2012) states that it is important when using social networking that thought is given as to the reason for its use in the classroom.  Questions need to be asked as to how it will support and benefit both educators and students.  Discuss your intentions with significant others and keep the community informed of the benefits the social networks will have in the communication between the school and the community.

I teach a junior class and I am very aware of the confidence the students have using the technology available to them.  They are able to find educational sites and manoeuvre their way through different learning areas, understand and play games, take photos, record each other reading or discussing their learning and publish their writing.  I was thrilled to view the video on Using Social Media in the Classroom (Cassidy K., 2013) as this is the first time I have ever blogged and it’s not that difficult.  What a fabulous idea to start student’s blogs at the beginning of the year to show their learning progression throughout the year.  I have a writing wall where a collection of students writing throughout the year is on display but it would also be wonderful to share these with their whanau via a blog.  With the support of colleagues this can be made safe for everyone to use and in time we could share our learning with students in other schools and countries. 

To date I don’t enter into any social networking at all. I prefer to balance my life with real life experiences when I’m not at school.  So with no knowledge of Facebook or Twitter I thought I would ask friends and family what involvement if any they had on these social networks.  My partner teacher is a regular member of a teachers Facebook site and he gathers lots of resources from there. He speaks highly of it although he admits he can be on it for hours.  At mindlab a colleague shared with us an ongoing situation with her 11 year old daughter who was introduced to Facebook through school and it had taken over her life with disastrous results that proved to be extremely emotional for all involved especially her parents.  Sadly this was not the only incident I heard of. Others were happy to share the fact that being on Facebook became very addictive and they no longer use it.  This was no solid research I have to admit but it has not encouraged me to rush in and join up because I must be missing something.  I’m aware of how important it is to collaborate with others but I prefer to have conversations with real people where relationships are built and deeper conversations can be had. 

I have made a goal to find out the most effective way to start my class blogs for next year and at least view the Teachers Facebook site with my colleague in order to see for myself the usefulness of the site to my practice.

References:

Melhuish, K. (2013) Online Social Networking and its Impact on New Zealand educators professional learning p. 36-44 in Chapter 3. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato.    

New Zealand Teachers Council. (2012). Establishing safeguards. [video file]. Retrived from https://vimeo.com/49216520

 Cassidy, K., Source: Tvoparents. (2013, May 21). Using Social Media in the Classroom [video file].  Retrived from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riZStaz8Rno