Journal 3 - The Case for Social Media in School
This article made a bunch of great points about the pro's for social media use in the classroom. I haven't been in public education since high school so my knowledge of CIPA is limited, so when I read this, "Many mainstream social media sites like Facebook and MySpace are blocked in schools that receive federal funding because of the Children’s Internet Protection Act, which states that these schools can’t expose their students to potential harm on the Internet" (1). I finally understood why we had so many restrictions on our computers! The use of intranet or at least non-public blogs for education is definitely the way to go, just to avoid all of the issues with the law. "Delmatoff managed her social media class without a budget by using free tools like Edmodo and Edublogs" (1). I really like how these are free, but what is especially interesting to me is how they both allow an entire school to sign up and be centrally controlled by a IT, Educational Technology department or single entity. Being centrally controlled allows the institution to streamline the process for each semester, and allows teachers to focus on the content instead of the setup.
"One day she had students comment on one of President Obama’s speeches; another day she had them make two-minute videos of something on their walk home that was a bad example of sustainability." This is something I would have loved to do as a student and provides an excellent point for using social media tools in the classroom. Activities like making short videos or taking pictures of what students perceive as poor environmental etiquette and having the ability to share it instantly on the class blog may inspire them to post it on their personal social media account. Awareness of environmental and sustainability issues are going to be a huge issue in the near future and getting children aware and active early is going to be essential to the survival of our species. A bit of topic, but I was very inspired and excited to read that.
This article was written in 2010 and in the three years since cell (smart) phones and tablets have become even more prominent in children's lives. The sixth bullet in Mashable's article, "Cell phones aren't the Enemy", is exactly right. Even more to the point is they are not going to go away, so acceptance of them being in the classroom is a good start. I see a couple of problems with this though, "Delmatoff would send text messages to wake chronically absent kids up before school or send messages like, “I see you at the mini-mart” when they were running late (there’s a mini-mart visible from the school). She called the program “Texts on Time,” and it improved chronic absenteeism by about 35% without costing the school a dime."
Q: With internet access and free unlimited text messaging available with most cell phones being so prominent do we still have to worry about those without?
A:
I ask this mostly because of the quote in the previous paragraph where the teacher texted her students to improve truancy, but who payed for the cell contract? We all know times are extremely tough for teachers, this NPR article describes the situation Lancaster Pennsylvania school district find themselves in, $5.5 million in the red (2). Plus what I heard this morning on NPR (can't find source) that teachers have had only a %0.75 raise in salary in the last 5-10 years. Is it safe for us to assume the teacher paying for unlimited text messaging and assuming the child has that as well? What about children and parents who can't afford it? I feel like there may be some issues by assuming every child will be able to have access to a cell phone, or a smart phone with the service plan to have the internet. I do understand the statistics show that an overwhelming amount of students have access to something they can get on the internet with or have a cell phone, but there is a significant percentage that are not that well off.
Q: How do we address these students?
A: That is the big question facing educators and lawmakers right now! According to a recent University of Michigan study, "76 percent of U.S. children have computers and access to the Internet in their homes, and those between 12 and 17 years of age log in approximately five hours a week to use them" (3) . Over three quarters of the children they studied had access to the internet, which leaves 1 in 4 without access. This is especially true in poorer and rural areas. The most interesting experiment going on right now in California. The Los Angeles Unified School District is in the pilot phase of a plan which will see each child in the district have their own iPad, though the project is extremely pricey and is expected to cost $1 billion (4). Even in the pilot program there have been problems, from lost and broken iPads, to children breaking built in security measures, to the entire network infrastructure needing upgrading (4).
Sources:
1. Kessler, S. (2010, September 10). "The Case For Social Media in Schools." Mashable. Retrieved October 19, 2013, from http://mashable.com/2010/09/29/social-media-in-school/
2. Sanchez, C. (2013, September 7). "New School Year Brings Sequestration Pain For Many Districts" NPR : National Public Radio : News & Analysis, World, US, Music & Arts : NPR. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013 from http://www.npr.org/2013/09/07/219870250/new-school-year-brings-sequestration-pain-for-many-districts
3. Heller, K. (2012). Do Children Really Spend Too Much Time in Front of Screens?. Psych Central. Retrieved on October 20, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/do-children-really-spend-too-much-time-in-front-of-screens/00010535
4. Gilbertson, A. (2013, October 11). "LA Unified’s iPads pilot phase continues on bumpy road: schools back out, suffer technical glitches" | Pass / Fail | 89.3 KPCC. 89.3 KPCC - Southern California Public Radio. Retrieved October 19, 2013, from http://www.scpr.org/blogs/education/2013/10/11/14956/la-unified-s-ipads-pilot-phase-continues-on-bumpy/
I agree with you. I would have also loved to be involved in something like what you stated above, where students take video of something or take pictures for an assignment(maybe dealing with the environment) and upload it. Posting about things that inspire us is a great way to get us involved in our environments and in using technology!
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I would have also loved to be involved in something like what you stated above, where students take video of something or take pictures for an assignment(maybe dealing with the environment) and upload it. Posting about things that inspire us is a great way to get us involved in our environments and in using technology!
ReplyDeleteI agree with both you and Erika. My first grade team and I were discussing how we can incorporate more PBL or project based learning in the classroom. How you mentioned the walk and creating a video and uploading it was something we were trying to hash out as well. I think it would be so much fun for both my students and myself to create and listen to a lesson from our peers and not just the teacher.
ReplyDeleteAs for your other point with not all students having phones with internet or texting. I think you are right with so many resources other than texting and internet. As we heard in the video clip in class, there are so many other ways students find to be connected with their friends that they sometimes don't need to have their own. Doesn't google have something where you can have your own google phone number?
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ReplyDeleteI would agree with all of you that I would have loved to be involved with technology as a child and teen. Since I was reading about the impact that social sites have on the learners of the web, it seams like the educational based sites you mentioned allow the teacher to have the control of the content that is presented to students. This is great for students because their learning is planned by a trusted individual that wants a positive outcome. Do you guys know if there are a variety of ads on these sites? I have only heard of them, but do not have active accounts for either of the sites. I ask the question because the article I had to read described the impact of ads on social sites.
ReplyDeleteI have personal experience with students who so not have technology at home. I was subbing in a Tustin High School class where the students were suppose to get on the computers in the classroom. About 1/3 of the students refused. When I asked why, they informed me bitterly that they did not have technology at home even let alone the smart phones and iPads that their fellow classmates had. When I asked if students could help students, the ones without technology refused the help.
ReplyDeleteYou bring up an interesting point: access. One of the many goals of public education is providing an EQUITABLE education, and, as you mention, how can schools assure that every student is provide with identical materials for learning? I am all for technology in the classroom, but then again, I look at life from a solidly middle class perspective where every child I know has an smart phone or tablet at their disposal. However, this is not reality for many students across the country.
ReplyDeleteIn order to provide a truly equitable education, districts will need to go further than providing iPads, for example offering in-home internet access for students who need it, or troubleshooting courses for parents. While in theory the solution of providing every student a tablet seems to even the playing field, it introduces an entirely new set of considerations.
You bring up a good point, not everyone has access to technology at home. Even though technology students are familiar with smart phones and mobile devices not all can afford data packages and internet access at home.
ReplyDeleteOn Rebecca Hill's comment above, I am curious to know why the students without technology refused the help. Was it because they were ashamed of not affording/not having access to interent and smart phone access or did they not want to inconvenience the other students?