Basic Practices: Combatting Apprehension
Incorporating Social Media: The Traditional Way
As mentioned in the Apprehension section of this website, many schools and school administrators are apprehensive when considering integrating technology and social media into a typical K-12 Language Arts classroom. While many different valid concerns were offered, there are just as many valid suggestions to combat these concerns available for use by any and all schools and communities, regardless of socioeconomic status and technology experience.
First, to deal with issues of accessibility and equality, schools with limited access to computers and Internet connections should set up a schedule for lab access. For example, sixth grade Language Arts students could have a "Tech Tuesday" in which that day every week is devoted specifically to work in the lab. Each grade level could have a specific day assigned to them during their Language Arts period, providing access to every student, every week. When it comes to assigning homework that relates to or requires an Internet connection or technology, provide students with time to begin the assignment in class, and be willing to make exceptions for students who do not have accessibilities at home. Offer to allow them to stay late or come early to school one day to complete their assignment, or give them an extra day so that they can make it to the public library or another location with computers and Internet capabilities to do their work.
Social media implementation in the classroom is one of the most controversial technology movements in pedagogy occurring currently. Most students already have Facebook and Twitter accounts, so why not utilize these tools to create educational resources for students in and outside of class? This can be a little tricky to breech, especially when students have massive amounts of private information on Facebook they would rather not share with people in their class or their teacher. One suggestion would be to have students create a "school" Facebook account, which would only be used for activities and interactions for your class. Students would not be able to use this account for personal uses. While this idea seems feasible, it might not produce the amount of interaction you desire, because students will be more likely to check their personal accounts than their school accounts. To solve this problem, you can create a Facebook Group or Page for your students to join. If all of your students join, they will be able to interact with you and with each other without ever having to "friend" anyone. This provides the utilities of Facebook while keeping a professional, school environment. If you are still apprehensive, you can take some of the key features and aspects of Facebook and apply them into your physical classroom make-up. The "Facebook Wall" in the picture above, for example, could serve as a dry-erase wall in which students write comments about the day's readings and discussions.
When it comes to appropriateness, incorporating social media, blogging, and online videos/research materials into the classroom will inevitably be a learning process for both students and teachers. When starting out, teachers should set clear and specific usage rules for these technologies with specific boundaries for what is deemed as appropriate versus inappropriate use and clear punishments for inappropriate use. Teachers will have to not only trust their students to follow guidelines, but also carefully police interactions and occurrences via Internet and technology through use of a monitoring software or through basic awareness. If problems consistently arise, firewalls and banning of certain websites can be implemented, but this should only be used as a last resort.
First, to deal with issues of accessibility and equality, schools with limited access to computers and Internet connections should set up a schedule for lab access. For example, sixth grade Language Arts students could have a "Tech Tuesday" in which that day every week is devoted specifically to work in the lab. Each grade level could have a specific day assigned to them during their Language Arts period, providing access to every student, every week. When it comes to assigning homework that relates to or requires an Internet connection or technology, provide students with time to begin the assignment in class, and be willing to make exceptions for students who do not have accessibilities at home. Offer to allow them to stay late or come early to school one day to complete their assignment, or give them an extra day so that they can make it to the public library or another location with computers and Internet capabilities to do their work.
Social media implementation in the classroom is one of the most controversial technology movements in pedagogy occurring currently. Most students already have Facebook and Twitter accounts, so why not utilize these tools to create educational resources for students in and outside of class? This can be a little tricky to breech, especially when students have massive amounts of private information on Facebook they would rather not share with people in their class or their teacher. One suggestion would be to have students create a "school" Facebook account, which would only be used for activities and interactions for your class. Students would not be able to use this account for personal uses. While this idea seems feasible, it might not produce the amount of interaction you desire, because students will be more likely to check their personal accounts than their school accounts. To solve this problem, you can create a Facebook Group or Page for your students to join. If all of your students join, they will be able to interact with you and with each other without ever having to "friend" anyone. This provides the utilities of Facebook while keeping a professional, school environment. If you are still apprehensive, you can take some of the key features and aspects of Facebook and apply them into your physical classroom make-up. The "Facebook Wall" in the picture above, for example, could serve as a dry-erase wall in which students write comments about the day's readings and discussions.
When it comes to appropriateness, incorporating social media, blogging, and online videos/research materials into the classroom will inevitably be a learning process for both students and teachers. When starting out, teachers should set clear and specific usage rules for these technologies with specific boundaries for what is deemed as appropriate versus inappropriate use and clear punishments for inappropriate use. Teachers will have to not only trust their students to follow guidelines, but also carefully police interactions and occurrences via Internet and technology through use of a monitoring software or through basic awareness. If problems consistently arise, firewalls and banning of certain websites can be implemented, but this should only be used as a last resort.
Basic Practices: Incorporating Strategies
When incorporating technology in the classroom, there are basic strategies and principles that you should follow. These are suggestions that can be applied to any classroom, any grade level, and any content area. They involve both strategies for deciding when and how to implement technology. These include:
1. Introduce technology in context- Too many times, teachers will haphazardly ask students to use Google to research a particular topic or write a blog post on the fly. Instead, plan ahead and make sure technology is truly appropriate for the lesson at hand.
2. Be willing to become the learner- In today's society, students in the classroom will most likely know more about technologies than you as the classroom teacher. Be willing to reverse roles and learn from their knowledge and experience. Model good listening and learning behaviors, and be willing to take risks and try new programs you have never used before with your students.
3. Integrate a wide variety of technologies- Instead of just focusing solely on blogging, on research methods, or on social media, you should try to incorporate as many different technologies and programs as possible in your curriculum. Allow students to create their own websites via free online programs such as Weebly, participate in online discussions with students from all around the world about a text in a supervised chat room, or create a pen-pal program with a class from another state or country. Branch out and try new things. This will keep your students motivated and engaged.
4. Provide students with an opportunity to become a part of something greater- Traditionally, all work created by students was only viewed by and written for one intended audience: the classroom teacher. Today, materials can be produced for a larger audience and can contribute to an existing knowledge community and body of work. Allow your students to produce for more than just you by allowing them to create websites, post on blogs, etc. They will produce their best work if they know it will be read by many people.
1. Introduce technology in context- Too many times, teachers will haphazardly ask students to use Google to research a particular topic or write a blog post on the fly. Instead, plan ahead and make sure technology is truly appropriate for the lesson at hand.
2. Be willing to become the learner- In today's society, students in the classroom will most likely know more about technologies than you as the classroom teacher. Be willing to reverse roles and learn from their knowledge and experience. Model good listening and learning behaviors, and be willing to take risks and try new programs you have never used before with your students.
3. Integrate a wide variety of technologies- Instead of just focusing solely on blogging, on research methods, or on social media, you should try to incorporate as many different technologies and programs as possible in your curriculum. Allow students to create their own websites via free online programs such as Weebly, participate in online discussions with students from all around the world about a text in a supervised chat room, or create a pen-pal program with a class from another state or country. Branch out and try new things. This will keep your students motivated and engaged.
4. Provide students with an opportunity to become a part of something greater- Traditionally, all work created by students was only viewed by and written for one intended audience: the classroom teacher. Today, materials can be produced for a larger audience and can contribute to an existing knowledge community and body of work. Allow your students to produce for more than just you by allowing them to create websites, post on blogs, etc. They will produce their best work if they know it will be read by many people.