Responsible Use of Social Media in Education

In recent years the use of social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, has increased drastically. In attempt to get students more engaged in the classroom and lessons, teachers have recently begun using these websites as another teaching tool. While this has proven to be an effective strategy, it also allows students and teachers to interact on a more informal and personal level.

At Highland Park Independent School District in Dallas, Texas, a set of criterion regarding the use of technology and social media rule over the classroom. While teachers are not allowed to text message students or use the technology at their disposal for personal use of social media, they are allowed to create accounts on websites such as Facebook and Twitter to interact with students for educational purposes. During my time in HPISD, I had various teachers who took advantage of this option and created class Facebook groups. There they could make announcements and we could ask each other questions about assignments in an informal setting.

While this was excellent in a high school classroom, it would not be possible to create a Facebook page for elementary age children due to the fact that one must be at least thirteen years old to create an account. However, Twitter apparently does not have an age limit. Tech savvy elementary school teachers have begun to take advantage of this. Kristen Wideen, a 2/3 grade teacher, has been teaching her students how to use social media effectively and responsibly as well as connecting them with students around the world. Wideen and her class have been swapping stories and data with other classrooms in Iowa and Singapore. The young kids also blog, tweet, and use tablets which can be seen in greater depth in the video.

With technology becoming such an essential staple in our everyday life, I personally believe exposing elementary grade children to a variety of different social media websites will be extremely beneficial to their careers and lives. By teaching them early, they will know the proper online etiquette and what to post and what not to post online. Recently there has been a dramatic increase in the amount of companies that screen the profiles of prospective employees for professionalism. By establishing a good understanding of the importance of being cautious about what to post on the Internet, we a preparing the kids for success in our technology savvy society.

Resources

Highland Park ISD Employee Agreement for Responsible Use of Technology Resources (2013). Retrieved from http://www.hpisd.org/Portals/0/docs/technology/Responsible_Use_Policy.pdf

Holland, Beth. (2013) Teaching Toddlers to Tweet? Introducing Social Media to Elementary Students. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/introducing-social-media-lower-elementary-beth-holland.

[Image of social media ages]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.examiner.com/article/social-media-s-footprint-elementary-classrooms-an-educator-s-perspective

Kristen Wideen (2013, January 14). Mrs. Wideen, 2013 ADE Apple Distinguished Educator application Video. Retrieved January 28, 2014. from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC8Rk0uJlSE