LEARNING THROUGH SOCIAL MEDIA- Take a new perspective
Stephanie Satonick
"We live in a world where any human with a device can record events and share their story wide and far (Jenkins 2006)." - Read the world: rethinking literacy for empathy and action in a digital age
Remember when we didn't get our first phones till middle school or high school? Or when we used to get in trouble for looking at our phones underneath our desks as our teacher was trying so hard to keep us awake? Oohh Ohh or remember when we used to have to turn our phones into our teacher to count as attendance in high school because everybody was just CONSTANTLY using them??
Well now that there are countless online platforms and digital resources online and on our phones, let's use them to our advantage! Students already love being on their phones and the use of technology so why not use that to help them learn in school? Giving students an opportunity to use and share their voices will open up new pathways for their learning. It also gives students a sense of pride and confidence in their writing. Students can also relate to other content that is being created online, whether it be Facebook, Tiktok, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, etc. Creating social media posts allows students to communicate and express their thinking with others. The increase of technology advancements should be something that we take advantage of in the classroom and I'm going to show you a few ways how you can in your own classroom.
1. Facebook- Click to see 100 ways you should be using Facebook in your classroom
Facebook isn't just a place to post family gatherings, special occasions, and finding long-lost friends. It is also a great platform for students to use to follow news stories, take a new perspective on a current event, participate in a challenge, or bring literature to life.
Websites to use in your class:
👤 Simitator- Creates fake Facebook posts and walls.
👤 Fakebook- Fakebook page can include character bio, posts, and interactions with other users.
2. Twitter- click to read Sharon Davison's "Ten Guidelines for using Twitter with Elementary Students." Sharon discusses how her daily use of Twitter with her Kindergarten students helps them to experience what it means to be a safe, kind, and responsible digital citizen.
I am interning in a Kindergarten class right now so I really liked the example she gave for how Sharon Davison introduced Twitter into her Kindergarten class. She said, "I took my students outside with my laptop and as we sat under a tree I asked them to listen quietly to what they heard. After a moment my students shared a variety of sounds, one of which was a birdcall. I highlighted this and stated that birds have calls and tweets that they use to say hello. I shared that we were about to communicate using tweets like a bird makes calls, but we would do so using Twitter as our platform like a bird uses a tree as their platform."
Websites to use in your class for fake Twitters:
3. Instagram- Use this FREE Instagram template with Google Slides to bring the student's world into the classroom. Instagram is all about a person and their story. Students can create profiles for a protagonist and an antagonist. By using pictures, comments, captions, and hashtags, students can create an all-around character on Instagram. Students can also post based on the timeline of their character and what they are doing. You can also have students comment or follow other Instagram accounts from students in the classroom based on their characters.
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| Blank Instagram template to use in your class |
4. Snapchat - Instead of Snapchat it's called #booksnaps! Create a Snapchat and add your friends (classmates). To use Snapchat to encourage reading, ask students to use Snapchat to document their reactions, thoughts, and feeling of what they are reading. save those posts and then add them to their snap story for a full summary! Using Snapchat allows the reader to connect an idea or thought by creating a visual representation. Students can also highlight figurative language and imagery, point out the main ideas or supporting arguments, and it also helps them personally connect to a text.
Hi Steph! I love how you connected the modern day life of students to their every day school life, in a way that would allow them to do both/what they really want to be doing - be on social media! I didn’t realize how many ways not only one social media platform could be used in the classroom but all of the main ones, and in various ways that allow students to have the opportunity to succeed in a way a lot of them are already familiar with and know how to use. I can’t believe Kindergarteners were able to use Twitter! This shows though how capable and able even the younger students can be when given the opportunity and proper guidance. The Instagram templates are a great way too to integrate social media if actual access to the sites aren’t obtainable, and still allows them to do the same thing - I would have loved this task option as one of my assignments!
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post Stephanie! I had no idea these mock-account creators existed. In my blog post, I included a link to a template I made for my students to do Facebook page biographies. Now I feel like I was reinventing the wheel in a very primitive way. These are great. I love that these ideas take writing, which many students find daunting, and turn it into something students have fun creating. They also help teach important technological literacy skills. On social media, it is important to be clear and concise. People want to scroll through posts quickly. I find that people are more interested in quick snippets than lengthy paragraphs. So many school settings give students a minimum word count or page count. It is probably much more rare for students to be faced with a maximum word count! That is a challenge that social media, especially Twitter, presents. Teachers also often give more weight to written words than pictures. However, on social media, images and video are much more powerful and eye-catching. The words might not be read at all if the picture does not pull someone in. There are so many skills involved in expressing oneself online. It's great to help students learn these so they can take part in the global conversations the internet presents us with. This is a very useful post!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie, the beginning of your blog was very engaging. I remember all those moments so clearly and i'm sure they are still taking place in high school settings! I am very grateful my students do not have devices, or at least ones they bring to school. I do know that they love using them at home to play Roblox, Amoung Us, and other games. I have mentioned many of the social media platforms that you mentioned above, they seem to be aware of what they are and how they are used. I really liked how you included ways to use these but also the templates that replicate what they would see! I would like to explore these with my students as I believe it would heighten their engagement knowing they are replicating something digital or seen on their device. It is really important for us to expose them to what we see/ use on our devices because it's a way that we gather information and learn. It can be a tool for them as well. Thank you for sharing your input and the other sources you linked, I can't wait to try one of these out!
ReplyDeleteStephanie, you presented some really great ideas in this post! This came at the perfect time because I was just asking my group members and Professor Rainville about whether or not Twitter could be used in an elementary school. I will definitely be using your resources to learn more! Your ideas support the creation and consumption structure that Ziemke and Muhtaris discuss on page 27. They state, "So we now advocate for thoughtful consumption--consumption as a means to interact with the world -- in addition to ongoing creation." The digital platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram are the perfect place to marry creation and consumption in a way that kids can relate to and have fun with. I think this applies to all grade levels from Kindergarten up through high school. I loved the story of the Sharon Davison's kindergarten class and how she presented Twitter to them. I might borrow that for my 3rd graders!
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post! I had no idea that these templates and websites were available. I think you gave some great resources on how to implement social media into the elementary classroom. I think Ziemke and Muhtaris had an interesting idea of how technology used to be used as a tool, not for entertainment. These resources combine the two in such a great way- utilizing technology as a tool for assessment, while the students are engaged and entertained!
ReplyDeleteHi Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteGreat job with this blog post on incorporating social media into classroom learning. I mentioned this while reading another blog post: technology is so interwoven into modern student's lives, we should really use this to our advantage as educators. I think its fascinating that young kids were able to use Twitter, but I am not surprised. I've never used social media specifically in a classroom, but I look forward to trying out some of these strategies in my own classroom next year. Great job!
-Shawna Zeisner
I love this idea, Steph. Over the past few years, social media has really continued to sky rocket and grow. It is a part of all our lives all the time. We are constantly getting notified by all the apps we have and connecting with friends. I've personally never even considered using it for elementary school at all. The first time I remember using social media in school was back in high school where we would create Facebook pages for our classes so we could keep up with homework and communicate with each other. I love the creative ideas you provided and great resources to use alongside when starting to use social media more in the classroom. Most specifically, I was really fascinated by the Twitter section and suggestions. I never would have thought to use Twitter as a resource, especially in the younger grades. You've shared some great points and resources and it'll definitely be something that I will use in future classes.
ReplyDeleteHi Steph!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post and your take on this topic. I don't think that I've really ever looked at social media through this lens which is weird considering that I use it every single day. i know social media usually has a negative connotation however I personally have been able to find ways to use it for good so I know that there must be a way to use it in the classroom. I use twitter to get my news, it is the quickest way to figure out what is happening in the community, country, and world in real time. I check it every morning like most people would watch the news or read the paper. I also think that there is no sense in completely sheltering kids from this world because they're growing up in the thick of the social media age. I think the tips and resources that you provided us in this post can be used in such meaningful ways in the classroom. Thanks for sharing!
- Grace
Stephanie,
ReplyDeleteYour post definitely made me think about utilizing technology in the classroom in a different way. I have heard of teachers integrating different social media platforms into their lessons, such as the Facebook profile autobiography template Kate shared with us on her blog post. However, I have not seen teachers actually have students posting on social media platforms for their assignments. I found the booksnap idea to be very interesting, and I can see students being very engaged with that activity. One concern of mine is the management piece. How would teachers be able to make sure students are using these social media platforms strictly for learning? How would you be able to tell if students are just sending silly snapchats to each other, rather than sending booksnaps? I fear that without effective management, social media use in the classroom could potentially be very distracting. However, this is something I would like to look into more, as I know these activities would be relevant and engaging for students!
-Colleen Konkol
Wow, thank you Stephanie for sharing so many social media platforms I didn't even know existed! I really like your ideas on how to connect student's digital social media interests into learning opportunities. I am definitely going to try some of these ideas and see where it could lead. I did not have a phone in High School which makes me think it was probably a good thing because smart phones were not out to the general public yet. It was when we didn't have a smart phone distraction and when we talked to each other face to face without looking into a screen. However, now of course I can't leave my phone more than a few feet away from my side. Thank you for sharing your story and for sharing your plethora of ideas on how to turn a "distraction" into a learning experience. -
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