This week in our internet for educators course we had a guest speaker. Andrew Mead virtually gave us a presentation about social media and education. Andrew Mead is the principal of Mitchell Middle School and recently has taken on the job of principal at Manitoba's Remote Learning Center. Andrew began by explaining the way he used social media as a school principal. For some reason, I have always had this idea in the back of my mind that social media and schools were kind of like oil and water, they do not mix very well. Andrew brought light to the situation and gave us many reasons as to why social media can be a great tool to use in the classroom.
One of the most influential ways that social media can be utilized in the classroom context would be as a means of communicating with parents. Not direct communication, but as a way of displaying student work on a platform easy and accessible for this generation. Many of my classrooms spoke on this and said they really enjoyed opening up their Instagram or Twitter and seeing their child's work or a picture of their child working hard at school. Andrew spoke on the fact that we have come such a long way with technology that it is really nice to be able to use it to its full potential. Posting student work for parents to see really opens up the conversation at home. When a parent asks their kid "what did you do a school today?" 'nothing' will no longer be the answer because they can specifically ask about the artwork or writing they were able to see on social media. Pretty cool for a teacher to be able to keep in touch with families in such an easy and convenient way.
Andrew also gave a principal's perspective on social media and how he really enjoys seeing and interacting with teachers on their posts. Principals are busy and don't always have a chance to check in on each classroom but having this platform can make that much more accessible. I also have found that social media can be extremely helpful for keeping in touch with other teachers and sharing resources. I don't exactly like to admit it, but as a result of being bored at home through the pandemic, I have stumbled across Teacher Tik Tok. Yes, this app has been more so directed towards the younger generation but have found numerous classroom resources through my scrolling as well as many humorous teaching stories. I personally love it and will share some of my favorite ones with you below.
The final thing I would like to address from Andrew Mead's presentation is the Manitoba Remote Learning Center. The creation of this began when Manitoba went remote in March of 2019 and since has formed into something that could be around for the years to come. When I think about school, I picture a physical building, with classrooms, students, and teachers but that visual has sort of shifted in this past year. We now don't need a physical space in order to educate our students. The way that the world has adapted and created fantastic resources to use in an online setting is simply amazing. I really like the idea of having an online school available in Manitoba for anyone to attend if they choose to. It will be really interesting to see the interest in the online school setting when we are out of this pandemic.
Hope you enjoy these Tik Tok's as much as I did. Also, don't be afraid to explore teacher Tik Tok, it is not as scary as it sounds.
I really liked how you brought up how you always thought that school and social media didn't mix and I like the analogy you used of "water and oil, they don't mix". I think this is something that is a very common thought process for many people that sort of grew up with the rise of digital age. I remember when schools were blocking access to social media accounts, so the thought of utilizing one for a classroom would have never crossed my mind, but to see the progressions that have been made and the way that teachers and educators as a whole can use the platform not only to build their knowledge, but to connect with parents and show off what is being done in the classroom is an exciting prospect of things to come.
ReplyDeleteI also haven't got to the Tik Tok stage of the pandemic yet, but there is plenty of time to go, and I will be sure to check out the links you provided!
Awesome point about how social media can be a great way to connect to parents. I guess the fear is mainly from something being controversial or something someone else shouldn’t see. But thats why social media has so many privacy settings now. If you were to utilize social media, what kind of privacy settings do you think you’d definitely want to have on?
DeleteI really enjoyed this post! I like how your perspective changed throughout the post from being unsure of how school and social media can coexist, to really seeing the benefits of social media. I love how you brought in teachers TikTok as I have also discovered this during quarantine and I find myself scrolling through it way too often.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point of having a school that available for anyone to attend, with the Remote Learning Center. I grew up in a small town, and there were many classes that were not offered due to numbers and staff, so I changed to a small city school in order to get these higher-level courses. With the Remote Learning Center it makes a proper education readily available to anyone in the province, no matter their location.
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