Professional Online Social Networks

Social Media use in Teaching and Professional Development

Using Social Media both personally and professionally is a normal part of our lives now. Most of us use it in some form or another, be it Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, YouTube, or Instagram. 

How do I use Social Media in my teaching?
In my Junior class we use Seesaw for students to share their work with parents. The content can only be shared to the child's journal when a teacher has reviewed and accepted it. Children can video, take photos or record themselves. This is a fantastic way for student's to show their learning to their parents that day and it is a journal of their learning over their time at school. 

In what ways has Social Media been beneficial to student learning?
Seesaw for me was a great tool to use to check up on children's understanding in our topic for instance when we did the water cycle. Children drew a diagram, labelled it and then explained on their Seesaw Journal the process.  It showed those children that still had gaps in their understanding. For the children they are learning how to video and take photos and what they have to consider e.g background noise, location within the class, keeping still and in focus. They are making the choice of what they want to share with their parents, what they are most proud of be it writing, art, or maths. Children get to share their learning again by talking with their parents about what they have learned.


What are the challenges that arise when you use Social Media in your teaching?
Some of the challenges is having enough devices and ensuring they are always charged, making time to post regularly on their blog and choosing the right content. Another challenge is when new students arrive in the class they don't know how to use Seesaw which sometimes can be annoying although on the positive side of this it means that other students can show them how to use it without my assistance.


The Social Media I use in my personal/professional life most often is Facebook. I am a member of a number of pages related to my teaching and often read through to see if there is anything of interest for me. Sometimes I will comment but I mostly look, read others posts and get ideas. I also use Google+ although this has been a new experience for me and one that I hope I can continue with after finishing Mindlab.

Like Melhuish (2013) said it does give affirmation of practice, advice on experiences within the classroom, new resources, and mentorship and this certainly allows people to connect with and learn from others who were previously inaccessible. These people can at times be on the other 
side of the world. As on the video of Connected Educators, posting a question late at night in one country you may get an answer from someone on the other side of the world. 

Social Media is here to stay and we as educators need to embrace all that it offers us. I think as an educator I need to keep exploring and upskilling with different forms of social media and using these in my class. 

Reference

Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 05 May, 2015 from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/han...

Office of Ed Tech. (2013, Sep 18). Connected Educators. [video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=216&v=K4Vd4JP_DB8