Teachers and Social Media: Policies and Use

In Connecticut, teachers who work for Simsbury Public School systems are allowed, under the First Amendment, to have accounts on social media sites and speak out on them. But the policies of Simsbury Public School systems do of course have some regulations. For example, an employee can never use social media to discuss the school district in a harmful manner that would damage its reputation or disrupt work. Also, no employees of the school district are allowed to "friend" or "add" any students (nor their parents) on personal social media sites unrelated to school. Simsbury Public School systems have the right to monitor district computers, including teachers' social media sites. If a teacher wishes to use a social media site for school (classroom or extracurricular activity club) purposes they must get permission and follow a series of regulations. All employees are responsible for their own social media posts; any violations can result in termination of employment and/or being sued. Without a doubt, I agree completely with all of the regulations Simsbury Public School systems has for their teachers and other related employees. It is a teacher's right to still be able to engage in social media sites in their personal leisure. But because teachers are working with children or adolescents and for an educational system, of course it is necessary to place restrictions on what they can say about that educational system and who they can "add" or be "friends" with on their personal social media sites. I completely agree that work matters should stay completely separate from personal matters. Only for educational purposes should a teacher set up a social media site for student use and interaction with the teacher.

"Should Teachers Be Using Social Media in the Classroom" from pbs.org is one article that discusses two teachers' opinions on the matter of social media use for educational purposes. According to broadcast and media teacher, Don Goble, social media has developed into a tremendous educational tool yet it often goes untaught. Since students are already using social media, I agree with Mr. Goble that they should be taught how to make the most use out of the social media sites that are available to them. Mr. Goble is a strong proponent of using social media sites in the classroom to supplement instruction, he treats his students like professsionals, trusts them, and has high expectations for them. Mr. Goble has found that the quietest students are actually the ones who speak the loudest on social media. One of his most reserved students, Nadia, approached Mr. Goble one day to express how excited she was to receive a comment on her blog from someone who lives half way around the globe in Australia, agreeing with an argument she made on her blog. Moreover, there is no doubting that when a student gets excited about learning that they are more motivated in the classroom (and thus perform better!). On the other hand, eighth grade language arts and literature teacher, Gail Leicht, disagrees with Mr. Goble on the use of social media in the classroom. Mrs. Leicht says that school should be the one place that students come where they can unplug and actually be "present." Too many people, she states, have become addicted to social media and sites such as Facebook have created an "all about me" mind-set and is turning her students into self-absorbed individuals. Simply put, Mrs. Leicht would like to "keep social media social" (Leicht and Goble). While, yes, Mrs. Leicht can be correct that social media appears to set off an "all about me" vibe, that is merely because social media is a place to express yourself. In my opinion, social media should be used in the classroom because teachers could show students how to express themselves in more ways than just personal ways; for instance, there are ways in which students can use the internet, such as for collaboration, and expressing major policies and ideas going on in the world. In doing so, they are stepping outside of their own town and into the broader world.

In the article, "My Favorite Teachers Use Social Media: A Student Perspective," one high school freshman, Katie, offers her viewpoints on teachers using social media for classroom purposes. Katie points out that nine out of ten students use social media, and once students are let out of class they are glued to their phones in the hallway, browsing Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and other sites. With students constantly using social media, Katie suggests strongly that teachers should be open to utilizing social media related sites in order to enhance learning. Considering how often students are using social media, I agree with Katie that teachers should incorporate social media into the classroom because it is a fabulous way to hook them on topics; keep them engaged in the new form of learning; and simply supplement curriculum. Katie says that she even has one teacher who has a class Instagram account in which the teacher posts all homework assignments and reminders there, so that when students are scrolling through their usual Instagram feeds they will see homework reminders pop up, as well. I think that this is a superb idea to help out the students who most often get distracted on certain social media sites; as they browse through their friends' posts, seeing a homework reminder appear while they are currently using the site is a great way to re-direct their attention to get started on upcoming class assignments. Katie has also appreciated it when she had teachers who set up Facebook groups for class or group projects. She also enjoyed it when one teacher would host planned, online book discussions to replace book reports. Katie could not count how many book reports she had written in her school career so far, so an online book discussion was great for her to intellectually stimulate her in a new way. "The best teachers I've ever had have used technology to enhance learning" she writes. I completely agree with all of Katie's points, because in today's 21st century classrooms, it is imperative to modify the ways in which we teach students to befit the society in which they grow up in and to modify existing teaching methods for maximizing student learning and growth.

While Katie Benmar explains how her teacher uses Instagram to post class assignments and reminders, there are other teachers who use this social media tool in more interactive ways. Some teachers will post prompts that require students to find something specific to capture a photo of and then caption it. Other times students will need to respond to a certain image. Whether teachers use Instagram just to post information or use it in a way that requires students to respond and post back, there are a variety of ways to incorporate it into learning. Below is a video in which one teacher describes his use of Instagram in the classroom.





Whether it is Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, or blogs, there is a wide variety of social media sites that exist out in the web for teachers to be able to utilize in the classroom. While there are certainly pros and cons of teachers using social media, the benefits will certainly outweigh the risks when done appropriately. All that teachers need to do is simply be responsible in their use of social media sites. They need to keep their personal social media separate from classroom social media to avoid trouble. Educators who wisely integrate the right social media sites into the right lesson plans (and in an appropriate manner), will enhance their students' knowledge in a whole new way.

References

Leicht, Gail, & Doblin, Don (2014). Should teachers be using social media in the classoom. PBS Newshour. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/social-media-valuable-tool-teachers/

Benmar, Katie (2015). My favorite teachers use social media: a student perspective. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2015/04/22/my-favorite-teachers-use-social-media-a.html

Instagram for teachers. (2013). Retrieved from http://cleverclassroomblog.blogspot.com/2015/03/do-you-instagram-instagram-for-teachers.html

ablairzis. (2015, April 14). Using Instagram in the classroom- zis interview 2 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wSSHCwk8ao