Social Media: Instagram, Facebook & Twitter in Schools
These ubiquitous apps are helping teachers develop activities that simultaneously appeal to student interests and include digital technology in their lessons to produce global learners.
While the average Facebook user may be changing, schools have been utilizing this app to connect or disseminate information to parents and students. Educators can find pages where they can connect and share innovative ideas that can be applied in the classroom. Librarians today can join groups like Elementary Library Exchange, Learning Librarians & Future Ready Librarians. All provide excellent information on curriculum, activities and technology applications from currently practicing librarians.
Librarians can also follow pages set up exclusively to showcase libraries across the country and keep us informed of book reveals, reviews and ideas for teaching them to students.
However, it is also our responsibility to instruct our students on the veracity of information posted on Facebook. Its greatest disadvantage may be its ability to produce inaccurate sources and misguide users.
_______________________________________________________
Twitter is growing in popularity in the classroom as an application that teachers use to spread concise messages and as a tool in school projects. Kathy Schrock explains it best in her site Kathy Schrock and Kathy Schrock's Guide to Everything. It includes reading material, videos and resources to use Twitter to jumpstart your classroom towards the future. (http://www.schrockguide.net/twitter-for-teachers.html)
As I scrolled through the post from several technology giants, Schrock's posts interested me the most because her posts encourage the use of technology applications to enhance teaching for all types of learners.
I also enjoyed how Alan November uses Twitter and other Webapps as a classroom teaching tools and gives educators creative suggestions on how to use them.
A small disadvantage to using Twitter may be that tweets must be short.
__________________________________________________________
Since Instagram is centered around sharing photos and messages, it allows teachers to engage with visual learners and connect to check for understanding!
Follow us! Raider Library RGC
Thanks for sharing, Sandra! I love social media and find great ideas in many of the groups that I belong to! Learning Librarians and Future Ready Librarians are two of my "go-to" groups! I love to save all of the ideas that I find into a "Library Ideas" Collection on Facebook to reference later!
ReplyDelete