Woman Teaching Social Media Course by Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan, CC0

Educators have a responsibility to use tech and social media to promote social justice. This was the debate that I was most torn by. I feel really strongly about how important it is to teach social justice to children. I also believe that by remaining silent about social justice issues then you are supporting the injustice.

Is Political Neutrality in Classrooms Actually Neutral?

In Is Political Neutrality in Classrooms Actually Neutral? lead researcher Alyssa Dunn states it isn’t possible for teachers to stay neutral because it creates the opposite effect of being neutral by “choosing to maintain the status quo and further marginalizing certain groups.” But it is hard for teachers to share their opinions because they are afraid of backlash from parents.

It is important that teachers teach social justice. Sonia Nieto in Teaching as Political Work: Learning from Courageous and Caring Teachers defines ” social justice as both a philosophy and actions that embody treating all people with fairness, respect, dignity, and generosity.” Nieto states how there are four components of social justice in education.

1. it challenges, confronts, and disrupts misconceptions, untruths, and stereotypes that lead to structural inequality and discrimination based on race, social class, gender, and other social and human differences
2. provides all students with the resources necessary to learn to their full potential, this includes material and emotional resources
3. draw on the talents and strengths that students bring to their education, this includes their languages, cultures and experiences
4. create a learning environment that promotes critical thinking and supports agency for social change

It is apparent that social justice issues do need to be taught in the classroom, but do tech and social media need to be used to do that? Using social media to teach about social justice is scary. It is guaranteed that parents from a teacher’s classroom will have a wide range of views. In today’s cancellation culture, will posting about a political or polarizing view cause a huge backlash? Will parents push for a teacher to be fired if they don’t agree with their views? Then the question becomes for teachers, are they willing to fight for the stance they have chosen. I don’t feel this is fair to teachers. It is important to teach social justice issues to children, but social media or tech does not need to be used to do that.

Teacher teaching children raising hands in classroom, Wallpaper Flare

Openness and sharing in schools is important.  You need to be careful though because there are privacy issues. I have two children, ages 7 and 9, and the oldest has hit the age where he sometimes thinks about what we share about him on social media.  My husband and I don’t post a lot, but if we do, it usually involves our children.  One day my son approached me and said it would be awful if we posted something about him that he didn’t like. I was surprised by his comment, but the good thing was, it started a conversation between us regarding consent.  We came to the agreement that if we were considering posting something about him that we would make sure to get his approval before we posted.  And we wouldn’t post anything involving him without his consent.

In class we talked about the media release forms at schools.  It was mentioned how for parents whose first language is not English, the forms can be very stressful. English is my first language and I find the media release forms stressful! It isn’t clear what exactly the media release form covers.  If I don’t sign, does this mean that my kids can’t be in the class picture, will I not receive updates through SeeSaw? Or does it only cover postings to the school’s public social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook? I eventually just sign the media release form because I don’t want my children to miss out on activities or be singled out.  I also think that the school and teachers have the best intentions when posting photos and wouldn’t post anything that would harm my children.  It is kind of ironic though, that my son needs to consent to anything I post, but I just sign away his consent the second he enters the school.

Even though I have concerns about children’s privacy, I think openness is very important in schools. Children who are currently in school are going to grow up having never lived in a world without social media.  They are exposed to it at a very young age and it will always be a part of their lives. Having openness in the classroom is the first step to integrating teaching digital literacy. Common Sense Education talks about how “to be true digital citizens, our students need teachers who model pro-social, creative, and responsible social media use.”

It seems like parents should also be modelling responsible use of social media, but the problem is that everyone uses it so differently.  Renee Hobbs in Media Literacy for the 21^st Century talks about how the digital divide starts at home for children and it starts early. Hobbs states, “The most significant digital divide occurs as a result of differences among parents in how the Internet, social media, television, news media and video games are used in the home. A child who grows up with a mom who is on her cell phone constantly using Facebook and Twitter will want to use social media tools at an early age. A child who grows up where the Internet is mostly a resource for downloading music and watching dance videos on YouTube will have a different set of knowledge and skills than a child who grows up in a household where parents read a print newspaper and use the Internet to gather information about questions that occur in the context of daily life.” Which is why it is important for the teacher to be the role model and not only the parents.

Common Sense Education lists ways that social media and openness can be used safely in the classroom and things to avoid. It suggests things such as:

• review your school district’s policy regarding social media use
• use media release forms
• teachers should create a separate social media account used only for professional purposes
• review the privacy settings on social media accounts to ensure only approved members are viewing the post
• explain to the students that you are using social media and how you are using it
• turn off location services so that you don’t inadvertently share the exact location of your classroom
• closely review pictures before you post to make sure you aren’t accidentally sharing private student information

Things to avoid to ensure student privacy:

• don’t share anything without explicit parental consent
• make sure not to share any student’s grades or assessment
• ensure there aren’t any name tags or jerseys visible in photos to accidentally share student names
• remember that handwriting is personally identifiable information and shouldn’t be shared
• don’t use student names when naming files because that information is visible

Openness and sharing are important in classrooms because it allows students to be creative and share.  Also it is the beginning of learning about digital literacy and building a digital identity.  There are issues surrounding privacy, but as long you are careful about what you share and follow guidelines to ensure student privacy, it will benefit the classroom.

Mathematics Formula Smartphone by Piqsels/CC0

It was another great debate this week about whether cellphones should be banned from the classroom. Jill and Tarina argued cellphones should be banned from the classroom. Their points included cellphones are distracting, school devices are safer and cellphones increase negative behaviour.  Skyler and Alyssa were against cellphones being banned. They argued that parents should be able to reach their child in case of an emergency, that there aren’t enough school devices for children, so cellphones help and cellphones help teach children digital citizenship skills. Skyler and Alyssa’s strongest point was don’t completely ban cellphones, restrict their use.

An all out ban on cellphones isn’t realistic, but their use definitely does need to be restricted.  I know that I can find my cellphone distracting. Sometimes I think that I will just check it quick while listening to someone talk, I’ll multitask! But really, I am lying to myself because no one can truly multitask.  I know I definitely cannot read something on my phone and listen to someone at the same time.

Cell Phones in the Classroom: Learning Tool or Distraction by Oxford Learning discusses the pros and cons of cellphones in the classroom.

The benefits of cellphones in the classroom are:

1. Using educational learning apps – if there aren’t enough school devices for each student, cellphones can allow everyone to have access to the apps
2. Incorporating digital platforms into lessons – this can be the beginning of incorporating media and digital literacy into lesson plans
3. Supplementing lessons with digital materials – having different types of material engages students with different learning styles
4. Providing easy access to more information – having access to the internet allows students to research topics easily

The drawbacks of having cellphones in the classroom are:

1. Distractions and interruptions – students check their cellphones on average 11 times per day during class time.  This is very distracting to the student checking their phone and to others.
2. Cyber bullying – bullying happens on school grounds with or without cellphones. Cellphones make it more difficult to identify that bullying is occurring and who exactly is involved.
3. Cheating – between smartphones and smart watches, it is very easy for students to access information while writing exams.
4. Disconnection from face-to-face activities – for lots of students, they become so caught up in messaging others that they will text a friend rather than talk to them directly.

It is hard to completely ban cellphones from classrooms, but there is no denying the negative effects of having them there.  In order for cellphones not to become a major distraction, a plan needs to be in place to restrict access and usage.  You could allow students to manage their cellphone usage on their own, but that probably wouldn’t go well. Therefore it becomes the teachers responsibility to police cellphone usage.

How to Deal with Cell Phones in School by Nancy Barile discusses the tactic she used to effectively manage cell phone usage in the classroom. She created a classroom policy that both the student and parents had to sign. She also had a discussion with the students explaining why she thought this would be best. Then cell phones were placed in a pocket with the student name on it as soon as the student entered the classroom.  Barile says that this was a game-changer in her classroom. Students were fine with not having their phones during class time and if anything “seemed to appreciate the time away from their phones.”

Cellphones are such an ingrained part of our society now.  They are not going to go away, so as Skyler stated “don’t make a ban, have a plan!” It adds another thing for teachers to do during their already busy days.  But if you have a plan, and get student buy-in, I think it is possible to have cellphones in the classroom without them being a major distraction.

Today Testing (for derivative) / CC BY-SA

It was another great debate this week, discussing whether or not social media is ruining childhood. My first instinct is to agree, social media is ruining childhood!  Kids are on their phones all the time now.  They don’t communicate directly because they are too busy messaging each other. They don’t go outside and play as much.  They just want to stay inside and be on devices.

Then I realized that because I didn’t grow up with social media, I viewed it as being negative, because it is so different from my childhood.  But just because it is different doesn’t mean it is bad.  As a kid, I would do skits or put on performances with my friends.  Now my daughter loves to recreate TikTok videos with music and dancing.  We don’t post the videos, but she is happy just to create them.  Are those two activities that different? I realized they aren’t! They both involve being creative and doing something fun with your friends. The only difference is that mine involved a boombox and performing for my parents and my daughter’s involves a phone and playing the video for us.

There are negative aspects to social media.  Bailey Parnell, in her TEDxRyersonU talk mentioned some of the issues with social media and mental health.  Some facts that Parnell stated are, 90% of 18-24 year olds use social media and they use it 2 hours per day. 70% of the Canadian population is on social media. According to Parnell, there are four stressors for people that use social media.  They are:

1. 

   Is Social Media Hurting Your Mental Health? | Bailey Parnell | TEDxRyersonU

   Highlight reel. People post their best moments to social media.  But users end up comparing their behind the scenes and everyday moments to others highlight reel and feel like they are failing or are less than.

2. Social currency. When users post on social media, their currency is getting likes, positive comments and shares.  It causes dopamine to be released and makes them feel good.  Eventually though, their self-worth begins to be tied to whether or not a post does well.
3. FOMO, Fear Of Missing Out. Even though social media can cause anxiety for people, they can’t bring themselves to stop using it because of FOMO.  The fear of missing out on social situations prevents them from stopping something that is causing them anxiety.
4. Online harassment. 40% of social media users have media users have experienced online harassment and 70% of witnessed it. This percentage increases drastically if the user is a visible minority or LGBTQ+. Sometimes the harassment is one negative comment or a micro moment. But as Parnell mentioned, when micro moments happen repeatedly, they become macro problems.

Social media does get a bad rap, but there are positive aspects to social media as well. In 10 Examples of the Positive Impact of Social Media, it talks about how social media has a positive impact on tweens and teens. Some of the ways it accomplishes that is by teaching them how to use technology and job skills they will use in the furture.  It fosters creativity, because they are exposed to so many different ideas and it allows teens to experiment, create and share easily. Social media allows them to connect with their classmates and friends.  If a child is introverted, it can be hard to reach out to peers, but social media can empower them to express their ideas. Also, if a childhood friend moves away, it easier now to stay connected.

One of the biggest benefits of social media for teens is that it can be used to spread social awareness and kindness. It has become very apparent how important social media is in bringing awareness to serious issues such as #BLM.  As Jason Perkins, San Diego SEO and Online Marketing Inc. mentioned, social media allows teens to “search for new information on people, explore new ideas, express themselves the way they want to, and connect with others all over the world.” And allows teens to “start campaigning for their rights and the rights of other people.” In this day and age, it is incredibly important that everyone is able to connect and spread social awareness to bring attention to important social issues.

In the end, I feel like social media isn’t going to go away.  It allows us to easily do something we always did, which is communicate, connect and share stories.  The big difference is that it allows our communication to reach a larger number of people, quicker. Social media isn’t really the problem. The amount of time spent using it is the bigger issue. Because social media isn’t going away, it is more important we teach teens how to use it safely and responsibly so that mental health and online harassment are less likely to be an issue. If it is used properly teens can moderate who they are following so that they increase their civic engagement and feel uplifted, rather than anxious. There are negative aspects to social media, but there are also many positive and it is important to be informed and educated to be able to benefit from the positive aspects.

Boy writing on a desk by virgil nichols/CC BY

Should schools teach things that are easily googled?  This is a complex question, but I think the simple answer is, of course they should.  Really, most things can be googled now, but that doesn’t mean it is easily learned, just because it can be googled.

All children need to learn the basics, which are commonly listed as reading, writing and arithmetic.  The definition of the basics is slowly evolving though. In Education, Back to Basics, John Merrow says the 4 basics are:

1. reading and writing – the first basic skill that is required for everyone to gain knowledge and convey information
2. numeracy – basic math skills are used constantly in everyday life
3. creativity – when we are young, we learn new things by experimenting and being creative.  Children don’t worry about making mistakes or trying something new.  Unfortunately, schools are setup to penalize mistakes and this curbs creativity.
4. health and nutrition – schools need to build alliances with community groups so that underprivileged children are being fed and therefore are on a level playing field with the rest of the students.  This teaches them how proper health and nutrition allows them to prosper.

People for Education

People for Education mention how there are new basics that are required for children to succeed in the future.  The new basics include:

1. Developing a sense of self and society
2. Thinking creatively & critically
3. Learning to learn
4. Collaborating
5. Communicating effectively

The types of jobs that current students will get in the future are completely different from previous generations.  Therefore the skills they need to learn in school need to adjust as well. The new basics will help them acquire those skills, but they aren’t skills that can be easily googled, which is why it is important they are taught in school. The Institute for the Future (IFTF) published a paper, 2020 Future Work Skills.  It discusses how in the next 10 years there are key drivers that will reshape the jobs available and the skills required to do those jobs.  Some of these drivers are the rise of smart machines and systems, the longevity of the global lifespan increasing and how the world is so interconnected it allows greater adaptability and diversity. With the advancement of technology, computers and robots will take over repetitive tasks that people used to complete. But there are certain skills that a computer cannot take over and these need to be taught in schools.

The 10 skills that IFTF says are needed for the future workforce are:

1. Sense-making – ability to determine the deeper meaning or significance of what is being expressed
2. Social Intelligence – ability to connect to others in a deep and direct way, to sense and stimulate reactions and desired interactions
3. Novel & Adaptive Thinking – proficiency at thinking and coming up with solutions and responses beyond that which is rote or rule-based
4. Cross-cultural Competency – ability to operate in different cultural settings
5. Computational Thinking – ability to translate vast amounts of data into abstract concepts and to understand data-based reasoning
6. New-media Literacy – ability to critically assess and develop content that uses new media forms, and to leverage these media for persuasive communication
7. Interdisciplinarity –  literacy in and ability to understand concepts across multiple disciplines
8. Design Mindset – ability to represent and develop tasks and work processes for desired outcomes
9. Cognitive Load Management – ability to discriminate and filter information for importance, and to understand how to maximize cognitive functioning using a variety of tools and techniques
10. Virtual Collaboration – ability to work productively, drive engagement, and demonstrate presence as a member of a virtual team

IFTF also stresses that all levels of education need to teach critical thinking, analysis and insight skills, while integrating media literacy.  These are complex skills that need to be taught because they cannot be googled.

The big component that needs to also be mentioned is connection.  It doesn’t matter if a teacher is teaching the basics or a skill for the future workforce, it is the sense of connection that the student has with the teacher that advances their knowledge. If the teacher is passionate about the topic or knows a student’s learning style and manages to connect with them and really convey the information, that is going to make all the difference to the students engagement and retention.  Connection is not something you get by googling a topic.  It is connecting with other people and sharing ideas, where learning really takes place.

Schools do need to teach the basics and topics that can easily be googled. Children need that base of knowledge to be able to learn new skills. Schools also need to teach critical thinking and analysis skills that can’t be googled. Computers and robots will never be able to do certain jobs, such as ones requiring social intelligence.  It is important that the “new basics” and the 10 skills that IFTF mentions for the future workforce are integrated into education as well.  The problem will be trying to find the time to integrate the new basics in with the standard basics of reading, writing and arithmetic and making it all fit in to a school year!