Responsible (and Creative) Uses of Social Media in the Elementary Classroom

According to a study performed by TIME magazine in 2011, 92% of American children have an online footprint by the time they reach two years old. The Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center presented in 2012 that over 90% of third graders reported playing interactive games online and that 35% of subjects reported owning a cellphone. The use of the internet and social media has become an integrated part of life; this involvement has quickly trickled down from adults to children. So, even elementary teachers must take a role in encouraging safe and creative use of the internet and social media. This is done first and foremost by setting a positive example, secondly by making expectations clear and thirdly by incorporating social media into the classroom creatively.

It is often said that actions speak louder than words. Likewise, saying that social media should be used responsibly without adequately representing that policy does no good. Therefore, it is now common for schools to provide social media guidelines for educators. The school I graduated from, Burlington Christian Academy, acknowledges that social media can be “effective and efficient in our communication, serve as valuable sources of information, and enhance the educational environment.” However, the school proceeds to discuss the risks associated with the personal use social media and therefore outlines the expectations for teachers inside and outside of the school premises. The guidelines indicate that personal social media accounts should not be accessed during the school day and that it should be used responsibly and appropriately when outside of school.

Inside the classroom, educators need to be very direct in teaching students how to use the internet and social media responsibly. Awareness of the risks that can occur when using social media will help to lower the rate at which such risks actually occur. One website has 10 Unexpected Social Media Tips from Dr. Seuss, which encourage the careful use of social media. This digital citizenship poster also helps students to visualize and remember that staying safe and being respectful are the most important things. It will be increasingly important that digital citizenship curriculum is incorporated into each educator’s lesson plans to decrease the many risks associated with social media. One of these risks, cyberbullying, is now unfortunately a problem among elementary school students.  

With the use of social media in the classroom, we must have boundaries so that students are safe when they are at school and home using social media cites on their own. It may be said that “footprints in the sand, boot prints in the mud…easily washed away by the waves or the rain.” But, a digital footprint has the potential to last forever.

Again, there are many advantages of having social media incorporated into the classroom. For example, Edutopia suggests that using social media in the classroom helps to:

     1.Extend the Classroom

     2.Encourage Connected, Empowered Learners

     3.Develop Voice

Now, comes the fun part… How do we creatively and effectively use social media as educators? One common and very well founded use of social media is for communication, usually between the educator and parents at the elementary school level. As the poster suggests, social media can be used to post homework assignments, display student work, practice writing, and provide quick reminders. The Chicago Public Schools decided to try using Twitter to communicate with parents and students, and proved to be quite successful.

More in the interest of the students, though, social media can be actively used in the classroom to engage students and be relative to the world in which they are growing up in. One Canadian teacher has decided to use ELGG, a social media cite of sorts, in her classroom to teach students how to write better and how to post responsibly on social media in a way that is appropriate for others to see.

While social media can be fun for the students to use in school, it is important that teachers be very intentional in meeting an educational objective while doing so. Social media should be used for educational purposes, not entertainment purposes within the classroom.

Setting a positive example, making expectations clear, and incorporating social media into the classroom creatively and responsibly will increase awareness and responsibility among students, parents, and teachers alike. In doing so, social media can take on a whole new realm of possibilities – including being an integral part of the elementary classroom. 

References

Brown, M. (n.d.). BCA social media policy. Retrieved February 1, 2015, from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5s7DP8YxZ65MXY2cF9CSVB3Mm8/view?pli=1.

Chicago Public Schools [chipubschools]. (2013, January 22). Locke elementary school – social media trailblazers [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyQz48V6UmM.

Cunningham, L. (2013, February 27). What the good doctor taught us: 10 unexpected social media tips from dr. seuss. Retrieved February 1, 2015, from http://www.ghosttweeting.com/social-media-tips-from-dr-seuss.

Digital citizenship poster for elementary classrooms [Online image]. (n.d.) Retrieved from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/educators/elementary_poster.

Englander, E. (2012). Cyberbullying among 11,700 elementary school students, 2010-2012. In MARC Research Reports. Retrieved February 1, 2015, from http://vc.bridgew.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=marc_reports.

Examples of social media at work in the classroom [Online image]. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.teachthought.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/examples-of-social-media-in-the-classroom-ideas-cred.jpg.

Holland, B. (2013, June 18). Introducing social media to elementary students. Retrieved February 1, 2015, from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/introducing-social-media-lower-elementary-beth-holland.

Lindstrom, M. (2011, November 4). Bringing up baby in the digital age. Retrieved February 1, 2015, from http://ideas.time.com/2011/11/04/bringing-up-baby-in-the-digital-age.

Saanich School District [saanich]. (2014, February 25). Social media in the classroom – using ELGG – ќelset elementary school [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6hIHAjMHv0.

[Untitled illustration of a digital footprint]. Retrieved February 1, 2015 from https://employabilityandenterprise.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/digital-footprint.png.