Activity 7: Social media in teaching and professional development

Key features of social media that are beneficial in education for teaching and learning:

Global connectedness empowering education

• Connectedness: In this modern information age, local and global connectedness through social media net-working tools and technology is so crucial for everyone, at all stages of life – while learning, working and living life in general. It plays a key role for everyone in learning and teaching in educational world by enriching learning environment.
• Collaboration has become increasingly important skills in classroom and online learning environment. Local and global collaboration possible through digital technology in education, industry and business, is helping significantly solve many highly complex problems worldwide.
• Access to global resources and learning has become much broader through digital connectedness via social media net-working tools and technology.
• For all aged people, to benefit from varied strength of world economies and trends, learning of global diverse cultures and communities, has become essential, this learning is now much easier through social media net-working tools and technology
• Global connectedness has also improved access to career opportunities worldwide, quite significantly. All children need to learn this, in order to benefit from those opportunities.
• Using social media net-working in the classrooms promotes broader learning of becoming global digital citizens.
• Global connectedness in the classrooms, through digital social media improves student engagement, motivation, creativity and innovative self-regulated learning.
• Through integration of digital, local and global connectedness in the classrooms, learning and teaching is flexible, mobile, personalised, authentic and thus more focused on 21st Century skills

Potential challenges that educators and teachers need to be aware of when integrating social networking platforms into teaching activities:

• Equitable access to digital devices and technology, for all the learners must be ensured in entire learning environment, in and outside classrooms.
• Safeguarding and maintaining privacy of all the learners must be a prime concern for educators and caregivers, at all times.
• Keeping safe online: Teaching, promoting and monitoring Cyber safety against (Cyber bullying, online harassment, Facebook depression, sexting, etc.) must be the top priority again all the time.
• Facilitation of greater awareness and learning of Global Digital Citizenship needs to be integrated, encouraged and promoted in all the teaching and learning online.
• The skills for ‘Maintained focus on learning’ need to be taught, to avoid distraction in order to be productive while learning and working online.
• Adequate technical support for learners needs to be available and facilitation of accessing help themselves; should be integrated in teaching and learning programmes.
• Suitable pedagogies and strategies for teaching and learning through social media net-working tools and technology; are crucial for effective learning outcomes.
• Parental awareness of learning through social media net-working tools and technology; parental guidance and/or supervision of children’s learning; are also essential part of schools teaching and learning programmes. This significantly helps children with managing themselves online and also promotes self-regulated learning.
• suitable strategies and systems for assessing and/or measuring effectiveness of student learning need to be in place
• Face to face real-life social-skills of children need to be maintained in all the teaching and learning programmes, as these skills are essential for real life.

The social media platforms that I feel best supports engagement with my professional development and why:

• Facebook is the most common social net-working platform in education, employment, industry and in business. Almost all the educators, professionals, institutions and organisations worldwide use Facebook. It is the most effective social net-working platform to maintain connectedness with educators and professionals locally and globally, and hence to maintain engagement with professional development.
• Twitter is another most commonly used social net-working platform in all the areas for short, quick, and frequent communications using mostly mobile digital devices
• Google Plus Community and Google Hangouts are also common professional social net-working platforms used by educators and professionals locally and globally, and hence they are useful for ongoing learning and professional development.
• Blogs and Wikis have proved almost essential for online learning, teaching as well as professional development, as learner, educator and professional communities worldwide get equal opportunities to learn from others resources and share and contribute to learning resources for others.
• LinkedIn is not as commonly used as the social media platforms as above, however it can also be used to build the network of educators and professionals for development. It is used very much for careers – by job seekers, recruitment and business.
• GAFE suit and YouTube – well! We all know how useful they are – all though they are not social medial platforms! What would we do without them? All the credit for a lot of the learning and professional development of all aged people, goes to these resource mines!
In my professional practice; for teaching, learning and professional development, I am an active user of Google Plus Community, Blogs and Wikis, LinkedIn, GAFE suit and YouTube; and I am gradually growing my Facebook and Tweeter professional networks and contacts.

References:

Claire Amos's Blog: http://www.teachingandelearning.com/
Global Digital Citizenship Foundation: (a non-profit organization dedicated to cultivating responsible, ethical, global citizens for a digital world): https://globaldigitalcitizen.org/blog
Social Media For Kids® The Social Media Education Experts:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2rOekhi20E
Pearson: Social Media for Teaching and Learning
http://www.slideshare.net/tjoosten/social-media-for-teaching-and-learning-27456257?ref=http://professorjoosten.blogspot.co.nz/2013/10/pearson-social-media-for-teaching-and.html
The Virtual Learning Network (VLN) provided by the Ministry of Education for all New Zealand educators: http://www.vln.school.nz/
Connected Educators: the importance of being "connected" in order to be an effective teachers and leaders
https://app.themindlab.com/media/12726/view
Engaging Prospective Students with Social Media:
http://www.edsocialmedia.com/2016/02/16001/
Pros and Cons of Social Media in the classrooms:
https://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/01/19/pros-and-cons-of-social-media-in-the-classroom.aspx
Free photo from Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/search/?text=social%20media