Social
Media- Does it have a purpose in teaching and professional development?
Looking at
this image tree and definition made me realise that
I am a fairly active user of Social Media, as in my head I associated it with
Twitter and Facebook but the reality is enlightening and encouraging in my
practice.
What are some of the
key features of social media that you have identified as beneficial for
teaching and learning?
As a coin
has two sides so does the use of social media in education…the good, the bad
and sometime the ugly if not carefully used and administered for our learners.
However in a study by (Silius et al,2010) showed that student motivation for
social media can enhance study.
What
are the potential challenges that teachers need to be aware of when integrating
social networking platforms into teaching activities?
- Safety and privacy of themselves and the learner
- Cyber safety policies of the school and the web as they maybe on forums where the world is present and may not have the same etiquette as your learners
- Is the platform socially and culturally acceptable for the age of the learner and community the learner belongs to?
- Remembering passwords for various platforms can get overwhelming hence social media should be used in moderation to mitigate this
- Is the use purposeful, beneficial, making an impact on their learning, is the learning transparent to the learner or is it merely ticking boxes for the educator?
- Is the context of the learning acceptable to the parent community and the fact that it is on a social media platform?
- On-going monitoring maybe needed and can sometimes get a bit tiring for the educator so choose carefully the content, context and platfor
What
social media platform do you feel best supports engagement with your
professional development, how and why?
Twitter
increases my personal knowledge of global practices and trends as well as
alerts me to local Professional development opportunities especially ones hosted
by Core education and WellyEd which I apply when I am developing resources for
my learners. Through this I have networked with passionate educators who are
finding ways to enhance learning for the 21st century learner.
The Google+
community which I joined as part of Mindlab has enabled me to exercise my Key
Competencies. Robust and supportive discussions have taken place here for me
with like and unlike minded people yet have been respectful of all. Just by
being on Google+, I have joined Education 3.0 and Games for Education
communities that have developed my skills in being innovative and creative in
my practice with the tools and game ideas I have been exposed to.
Melhuish(2013)’s study
has suggested that VLN Groups can enable an informal type of professional
learning for teachers. This has been proving true for me as for various needs I
may look in POND, VLN, LEARNZ, Biotech Hub and
my gem Techlink for
parents and students as well.
Various
blogs where I participate and contribute from my professional practice and get up-skilled in current research and thinking!
The
best thing I have recently started doing is participating or lurking on Edchats and boy is it lots of fun with the
devil probing.
References
Melhuish, K. (2013) Online social networking and its impact on
New Zealand educators’professional learning. Master Thesis. The University
of Waikato. Retrived on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/han...
Silius, K., Miilumäki, T.,Huhtamäki, J.,Tebest, T., Meriläinen, J.,
& Pohjolainen, S.(2010) ‘Students’ motivations for social media enhanced
studying and learning. ‘Knowledge Management & E-Learning: An
International Journal, 2, (1). Retrieved on 7th May, 2015 from http://www.kmel-journal.org/ojs/index.php/online-publication/article/view/55/39
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