Activity 7 : Social Media in teaching and professional development

Create a blog post where you discuss your views on social media use in teaching and in professional development.

In Teaching 

Social media can be a powerful tool when integrated effectively into English classroom practice. Individual or class blogging; group Facebook accounts; video blogs; class Youtube channels; moderated twitter conversations and such, provide authentic purposes and audience for the creation of texts. My MEd was based around my own use of blogs with a Year 12 English class. Positive experiences, especially feedback, student reflection and ongoing teacher -student dialogue were the most interesting of my findings. Keeping up with the digital natives - integrating Web 2.0 technologies into classroom practice can be accessed here.

Since then, smartphones have made technology and social media tools such as these, even more accessible to all students. The benefits of such tools come at a cost.

Misuse of technology, in the main via social media, takes up an inordinate amount of almost every week. As Deputy Principal with oversight of 600+ students I am frequently dealing with issues caused by Facebook and the like, often putting out fires initiated by out of school activities. However this will be dealt with in the next posting!

I have always been of the belief that any reading and any writing are beneficial - as reading and writing mileage. Reading online media and blogging fit the criteria. students having an authentic audiences creates an authentic purpose for their work. I remember the first time a student in my Yr 12 English class had a complete stranger, from around the globe, post a comment a blog post she had made about Romeo and Juliet. 

One of the key challenges that I have found around the use of social media as a learning tool, is that I can be 'on duty' as such 24-7. Seniors especially, who are completing writing for high stakes assessment, understandably want instant feedback. They live in an instant world of instagram and snapchat. Finding a balance between responding to student posts and myself 'powering down' is something that I am still working on.

In Professional Development 

Social media has enabled me, as a teacher, to have access to a huge range of recent and relevant readings and viewings. I read widely, view widely and listen widely. My twitter PLN includes regular discussion groups such as engchatnz, edchatnz and digichatnz. I use 'Tweetdeck' to manage the conversations and groups that I follow.  

https://tweetdeck.twitter.com/

These discussion threads are gathered and captured using 'Storify' that collects the conversations in chronological order, creating a reusable archive of the professional conversation. They can be found,reviewed and shared and referenced more easily in this format.

My professional learning blog (not this one) Facilitating Learning in the 21st Century can be found here  and is a record of my professional learning journey over the last 2 and a half years. I follow an number of NZ and overseas educators, including Claire Amos, Karen Melhuish, Maurie Abraham and Steve Saville. I know them all personally and I respect their educational experience and the innovative schools and practices that they are involved in. 


The benefits if being a connected educator are clearly stated in many professional learning forums and readings such as EdTechReview below, the challenges may be more personal.

• Increased exposure to more diverse ideas, learning experiences and techniques.
• Increased networking which helps educators to know other educators and their practices across the world.
• It provides educators with opportunities to collaborate on a variety of research, projects, techniques for teaching and more.
• It allows educators to stay up to date with all the current things happening in educational organizations all over the world.
• Educators can easily learn about the best practices for teaching globally and share them with others.
• It keeps their literacy flowing and evolving on the tools of 21st century .
• Educators can make their students experience high-quality virtual classes (with MOOCs) and blended classes where learning occurs even outside the schools.
• Through this educators can make masses of people understand the relevance of education that students are receiving presently and how they can make positive amends to it. 

As part of my DP portfolio, try to filter and share relevant readings that I come across. One of the dangers or challenges of this is, I have found, is that not all staff are appreciative of being bombarded with such material. In fact this may not be there preferred method of seeing being exposed to professional learning ideas. After some negative feedback in a 360 degree appraisal process in 2015, I adapted the way in which I disseminate such readings. I filter and collate a 'weekly reads/views' email which I send out at the start of each week. 

Karen Melhuish (2016) talks about the need for transformative change, including in professional learning. Social Media certainly an enabler for such change.

Sources 

Cleary, A. (2008). Keeping up with the'digital natives': Integrating Web 2.0 technologies into classroom practice.

Benefits of Being a Connected Educator. (n.d.). Retrieved February26, 2016, from http://edtechreview.in/news/756-benefits-of-being-a-connected-educator

Melhuish-Spencer, K. (2016), Transforming learning. (2016, February 22). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from http://karenmelhuishspencer.com/2016/02/23/transforming-learning/

Steve Saville. (n.d.). Retrieved March 03, 2016, from https://stevesaville.wordpress.com/