Reasons social media should be in schools
Social media use is still on the rise. Did anyone else notice the Twitter commercials during the Olympics? It is become a normalcy in our media landscape, but some schools are still skeptical about incorporating the tool into schools and classrooms. There is a lot of fear surrounding social media in schools, a fear of the unknown. Here are some resources to help make the potential of social media in the classroom known.
- A poignant video about today’s active learner. A principal, Eric Sheninger, who is an advocate of social media use in schools, posted this. His website is a great resource as well.
- For this school every Tuesday is known as “Twitter Tuesday.” Every Tuesday from 7-9 p.m. a teacher moderates a Tweetchat over a topic announced and the end of the school day.
- A middle school teacher in Pennsylvania was watching a Tweetchat in her classroom by the author of a book they were reading. The students decided to chime in and talk to the author through the class Twitter account. Later she had students tweet 140 character book blurbs trying to capture the essence of the book. They used the author’s Twitter handle, and after the weekend, the class found a response from the author herself.
- This post explains 4 core reasons why schools should be using and teaching social media.
If you want to do some more reading on this topic here are some Google Keywords to help start your search:
- social media in education
- Social media in the classroom
- 21st century learning
