According to Wikipedia (come on, let's face it, teachers talk bad about it, but we ALL use it!), Social Media is the use of web and mobile technologies to turn communication into an interactive dialogue. Social Media allows the creation and exchange of user-generated content.
Social Media has many forms; social networks, blogging, discussion forums, podcasts, wikis, video sharing (YouTube), social bookmarking, and more. Examples include Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia, Blogger, and so on.
Social Media is widely known for it's personal use, for connecting with friends (social networks), joining groups with similar interests and hobbies (discussion forums), sharing interesting links (social bookmarking), and more.
Businesses have taken advantage of Social Media to help spread their message. Coka-Cola advertisements appear on YouTube next to videos that have beverages appear in them, Target has "Like" buttons for their Facebook page in their commercials, Home Depot has a Twitter account you can follow to get coupons on their merchandise, and AT&T will pay you to put their logo on your blog!
Social Media is everywhere. If it's not in commercials and on billboards, it's in our hands through our cellphones. There are few places you can go that Social Media does not extend.
EXCEPT, classrooms! There are schools out there that promote Social Media inside their walls, but too many that don't. Typical reasons for banning it include fear cyberbullying, being found online and attached in the real world, teachers having too much access to students personal lives, sensitive information accidentally shared, photos and videos of a private nature passed around, and so on.
Our goal is to help alleviate some of the fears of Social Media and convince as many teachers and administrators that it's a useful and beneficial educational tool. Gone are the days that young people gather in a schoolhouse anxiously waiting for the teacher to give them lessons that will better their lives.
Information is available at a rate and convenience never seen before. Students have the opportunity to learn more about a subject in 15 minutes on the Internet than some teachers share all year. Teachers are no longer the gatekeepers of information. Instead, teachers should be the guide or coach for learning in the classroom. Social Media can be a tool to share ideas with the world, communicate with experts in the field, visit places virtually that cannot be visited physically, become part of conversations that go beyond the four walls of the classroom, and learn how to connect with others of the same age but different cultures and backgrounds.
Just like many things in life and education, Social Media is a tool. It can be used to evil, or it can used to do good. Just like a brick can be used to smash a window, it can also be used to build a hospital. How we use what is available to us, is up to the beholder.
This week we'll talk about Social Media in hopes of giving you more tools in your toolbox and reasons to use them.
