Social Media in Teaching and Professional Development
In this blog post I will share my views on social media and its use in teaching and in professional development.
Global Connectivity
Our classroom walls or the school gate are no longer the boundaries for access to professional development or support. Technology has opened the school gates; enabling connectivity with anyone around the world. The ability to connect with other educators is not limited to within New Zealand, but also internationally and this has played a huge part in who I am and what I do within my practice.
I can create my own PD and tailor it to meet my needs and interests which is not always fulfilled through my school's professional learning journey. Through the internet, I can connect with other educators around the world; sharing ideas and join in with discussions. This has enabled me to ask questions and support others with their own wonderings. It has also brought about challenges - ideas that conflict with my own beliefs and encourage me to question my own practice.
I can create my own PD and tailor it to meet my needs and interests which is not always fulfilled through my school's professional learning journey. Through the internet, I can connect with other educators around the world; sharing ideas and join in with discussions. This has enabled me to ask questions and support others with their own wonderings. It has also brought about challenges - ideas that conflict with my own beliefs and encourage me to question my own practice.
More recently, I have joined several groups on Facebook that are connected to education, e.g. NZ Teachers (Primary), Learning Through Play and NZ Teachers - New Entrant to Year 2. I have found these groups to be invaluable for ideas and information about what other teachers are achieving within their learning environments.
Another online community that has supported my own personal growth has been the Virtual Learning Network (VLN). I can select the groups that I would like to join - follow current discussions, look back on previous discussions and start-up a new discussion. I have also had the opportunity to participate in webinars about BYOD, 21st Century Libraries and Modern Learning Environments.
Connected Learning
As Kathy Cassidy mentioned, children today are born into a digital world and their learning becomes authentic when they are connecting with others. What could be better than real life reading and writing on a blog or Twitter? I feel that as an educator, it is important that we support these young people to be savvy online users - aware of the implications when the tools are used inappropriately, but also aware of the positive benefits from learning online, e.g. current global issues, connecting with experts and instant feedback (gaming programmes).
In the past five years, I have used a range of social media within my class and I have found that it has provided my students with opportunities that they could not have attained without connecting online. Through Twitter, we have participated in Kidsedchatnz (http://kidsedchatnz.blogspot.co.nz/) - an online chat session held fortnightly where students can answer set questions and respond to each other's answers. Involvement in these chat sessions has enabled me to support my students with online behaviour in a safe and positive environment. It has also provided us with an authentic geography learning opportunity to learn where the 'tweets' are coming from.
Due to the age of my learners, we have not used Facebook as a medium for online connectivity. However, I can see its benefits within secondary-aged students. The ability to form closed groups where discussions can take place and media uploaded could be a fantastic online learning environment.
Social Media - Yes or No?
I feel that social media has provided myself and my students with a range of learning opportunities that would not have been available through any other context. Like most things, social media does have it's negative points, and can be damaging if not used correctly. But we are in the profession of education and as educators, it is our role to coach and support our learners to use the tools correctly so that they can obtain the best results possible.
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