Social media in schools

Social Media in Schools

In the 1970’s the parking lot would be full of parents ready to see the school play. Or Christmas pageant. Or spelling bee. Students performed, and parents came. The school auditorium was the place where students showed off their work. The halls showed artwork that parents came by to see as they attended events. The school building was the hub of the community. Everyone came. Everyone roamed freely.

A child's bookbag went home, and Mom checked it every day. The notes were read. The artwork went on the refrigerator. Papers were signed and returned. Simple.

Today many families have someone working 24/7. Some parents are out of town. Another does shift work starting at 4 pm.

Families are changing too. Notes don’t get home. Sometimes notes get to one home, but some kids have two. Some book bags don't even go home. Communication can be a challenge.

A new stage emerges. So does a new note home to parents.

Social Media: The New Stage

All the world’s a stage has never been truer. Parents no longer pack parking lots, but they pack Facebook. They tweet. They share pics on Instagram. They look at them. Parents congregate and share online to see what is happening.

There are those who turn up their nose at such newfangled approaches. They long for the old wooden stage with the squelchy mike and wooden seats. “Things were simpler then,” they mumble. And they were.

There were fewer stages. There were less parking lots. And the largest ballroom was the American Legion.

Now, (if I want to) I can pop my cell phone out of my pocket and bring up Periscope and stream a school play to my one hundred and ten thousand Twitter followers. I can take pics of my students and share them with Kid President and everyone following #kpawesomegirls.

When my school had Homecoming last week, thousands of people took to our Facebook page to see the pictures and videos. Everything from the announcement of the Homecoming Queen to the mini-parade was uploaded soon after it happened.

Parent Engagement Matters

The research shows that parent involvement can make as much of a difference as 3/4 to a full grade point of a child’s GPA. That’s a letter grade.

We need to involve parents. We need a new stage.

Social Media: The New Audience

But the world’s not just a stage. It is also a grand meeting place. Social media gives us largest ballroom ever assembled where people from around the world can mix, mingle, and find their clique.

Jacques du Toit and his students can be Tweeting Aztecs and Karen Lineman’s first graders can tweet what they learned today. Kathy Cassidy’s six-year-olds blog for the world. My students can write a blog about their offense at human trafficking and create apps and websites encouraging people to be kind.

Authentic Audience.

A 2008 ASCD article says,

“When student work culminates in a genuine product for an authentic audience, it makes a world of difference.”

We know that audience improves student work. Whether kids write tweets that they audition on a classroom “Tweet Board” and the teacher picks the best, or they connect in a massive Twitter chat about improving education (#stuvoice), students are eager to share. They want an audience.

Staging a Comeback in Education

Students are standing on the stage already in their private lives. So are parents.

Let me tell you who’s not on the stage. Schools. Too many schools fold down the wooden seats, turn on the squelchy mikes, plan events, and wonder why no one comes. Too many schools whine because parents don't show up. Too many teachers complain that kids don’t want to write, or that parents won’t read to their kids anymore.

But complaints are just words. Let's put our words out where they really matter.

We’re ignoring the world stage. We’re ignoring a powerful way to get out the powerful messages that can and will engage parents in the learning of their kids. We’re ignoring a powerful platform that will help kids want to write again: social media. Yes. Social Media!

Why aren't more schools using social media?

Because we want to “protect kids”. We want to keep them safe. From what? Their parents actually knowing what is happening in the classroom for a change?

In reality, kids are in more danger from the person they jump into the car with after school than some invisible bogeyman who lurks on the Internet. (We teach kids how to cross the street, but how any schools talk about the risks of geotagging pics on social media? But I digress.)

Using social media in schools isn’t about trite “make progress” sayings. It isn’t even about accepting what is new or leaving behind what is old. Using social media is actually about three good old traditional values that can make a country great:

  • encouraging strong families,
  • loving kids, and
  • pursuing excellence.

What We Do Because We Love Children

When you love kids, you do what is right for them. When you love kids, you want them to be well educated. When you love kids, you empower and encourage their parents to be the best parents possible.

When you love kids, you change even when it makes you uncomfortable.

You change for kids because you love them. Social media in schools.

Powerful allies. 

We must be a generation of educators who builds a new stage. We must welcome a new way to communicate with parents, show student work, and educate for student success.

If a school building constructed 50 years ago had never been maintained or improved, we would complain. It is time to update our communications methods too.

For, we cannot let generations future look back upon the watchers on the wall and see a band of educators and parents who saw only a frozen north. Social media and schools need not wed in a blood-red wedding.

Social media and schools make powerful allies, not sworn enemies.

[callout]More work I've created on social media in schools

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Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis

Vicki Davis is a full-time classroom teacher and IT Director in Georgia, USA. She is Mom of three, wife of one, and loves talking about the wise, transformational use of technology for teaching and doing good in the world. She hosts the 10 Minute Teacher Podcast which interviews teachers around the world about remarkable classroom practices to inspire and help teachers. Vicki focuses on what unites us -- a quest for truly remarkable life-changing teaching and learning. The goal of her work is to provide actionable, encouraging, relevant ideas for teachers that are grounded in the truth and shared with love. Vicki has been teaching since 2002 and blogging since 2005. Vicki has spoken around the world to inspire and help teachers reach their students. She is passionate about helping every child find purpose, passion, and meaning in life with a lifelong commitment to the joy and responsibility of learning. If you talk to Vicki for very long, she will encourage you to "Relate to Educate" or "innovate like a turtle" or to be "a remarkable teacher." She loves to talk to teachers who love their students and are trying to do their best. Twitter is her favorite place to share and she loves to make homemade sourdough bread and cinnamon rolls and enjoys running half marathons with her sisters. You can usually find her laughing with her students or digging into a book.

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7 comments

Lynne Kocer October 19, 2015 - 9:34 am

Excellent, I retweeted.

Reply
Vicki Davis October 19, 2015 - 8:53 pm

Thank you so much Lynne!

Reply
john bidder October 19, 2015 - 7:18 pm

Hi Vicki
in London last week I ran a workshop on this very topic as its what I do day in day out with schools of all shapes and sizes. https://www.blippit.co.uk/#blippitsocial Has some videos and talks by UK Head teachers (Principals) and some of my slides are shared here from that workshop. some of the key incidental learning points shared you also have so it’s interesting to line them up for comparison. There are some stays and impact stuff included which you’re welcome to see herhttp://blog.blippit.co.uk/the-parent-zone-digital-families-workshop-2015/ if of interest at all.

Like you I’m a huge believer in the inclusivity of social media and its ability to enable schools to fish where the fish are. Extraordinary blogging as usual – if you ever feel like doing a joint project on the themes here I’d be more than happy to step up :)

Reply
Vicki Davis October 19, 2015 - 8:52 pm

Wow! Thank you John for sharing all of these resources with both me and the thousands of people taking a look at this blog post. Thank you for sharing!

Reply
Thomas Ho November 12, 2015 - 11:06 am

My recent presentation at the K12 Online Conference:

http://www.slideshare.net/drthomasho/what-can-social-media-aggregation-contribute-to-advocating-for-education-54322156

provides similar motivation.

Reply
Vicki Davis November 13, 2015 - 5:24 am

Thanks Thomas!

Reply
Ana April 3, 2017 - 2:22 pm

Hi!

I am currently involved in the making of my Final Degree Project and I was wondering if you could fill in this survey https://goo.gl/forms/bNWfABme3u94hv3J2

Thank you very much for helping me!

Reply

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