Post #5: Social Media in Education

Question (summarized): In the article, the researchers recommend parents to give children limited access to social media.  In what ways can social media benefit academic performance?

Over the course of the semester, I have become very interested in studying the influence of social media on education, so my answer to this question has very much evolved over the past few months.  Prior to this semester, I hadn't strongly considered social media on education, so my answer to this question has very much evolved over the past few months.  Prior to this semester, I hadn't strongly considered social media use on learning, so I'm not sure I would have supported its use in the classroom. I have experienced 1:1 device initiatives in schools, both in elementary, middle, and high schools, with students using a variety of technology (chromebooks, ipads, laptops, etc.) and due to a variety of factors, I've seen these devices often become more of a distraction.  As a technology specialist, I work on combating this distraction by helping teachers use technology in specific and purposeful ways, but again, prior to this semester I would say I had written social media off as a potential hindrance.  On one hand, I could easily see students, especially high school students, becoming incredibly off task when allowed to log-on to their social media accounts in class.  However, I think it can be beneficial and when utilized correctly, it can be a great resource to develop digital citizenship and digital literacy skills.  Students are very familiar with social media and use it on a daily basis, so why not take something students have extensive knowledge of and experience with and use it to teach academic topics? 

I just submitted a midterm project last week where we designed a learning experience for high school students around the use of social media to support students' ability to question the source and credibility of information.  This is a great way of how social media can be used in the classroom, especially in high school and higher education classrooms.  The goal of our learning experience was to make students aware of the consequences of accepting unverified information as truth, and to become more interested in vetting the sources of information before sharing it.  The idea of "fake news" has taken prominence in the past several years, thanks in large part to the current president, so citing scholarly sources is no longer the only area where students will need to learn how to evaluate information and its credibility.  Since social media has become many people's sole source for news, it is important that students are taught to realize that this is an opportunity for evaluating information and questioning where information is coming from, and that those are skills that don't only apply to formal research.

In the study I read, the authors did not make their recommendations specific and so they are open to interpretation.  They suggest that parents allow, but limit, their children to use social media which can improve academic performance.  I assume that this means parents can allow their children to browse the internet, interact with their peers, and play games via social media.  However, there are more educational applications for social media that can be incorporated into classrooms.  In addition to using it to develop children's ability to question information and cite sources, it is also beneficial to teaching digital citizenship and how to interact appropriately with others.  

My research project for this class seeks to answer the question: How do students' social media accounts impact private high school admissions?  While I suggest possible benefits to social media above, the reality is that children need to be taught how to use it correctly, which is something they may not be getting from teachers and parents. As a result, they don't fully understand the consequence and permanence of posting online, and while we often remind older students in high school and college to "be careful" about what they post because it can affect their future employment, we don't always focus on this concept with younger students. There are pros and cons to social media in education, so I do agree with the researchers' recommendations to limit its use, but when integrated appropriately, I now believe social media can be a major learning tool for middle and high school students.  

The storyboard linked here is a visual representation I created to depict the learning experience discussed above about using social media to teach source credibility.