Title: Social media in K12 education

Author Name: Jamila Abdirizak

 

1. Introduction

The use of social media has grown significantly over the years and is used throughout the world. It is utilized by most age groups, from the youth to adults. Social Media is used to maintain relationships, gather information on topics and news, and engage in activities. Social Media is seen as an emerging technology since it is still evolving. There have been many implementations of social media in Education. For instance, it has been used for recruitment, connecting with learning groups, and to make announcements. Social Media has different mediums, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and YouTube. In Education, these social media mediums have implemented instructions to help support student learning, provide diverse opportunities, and create better student training strategies. 

Social Media was first introduced in the early 2000s. This led to furthermore social media mediums to be created and utilized. There are currently more young individuals aged from fourteen to twenty-four who use social media than older adults. The young people who use social media spend multiple hours perusing through various social media sites. (Ganga, 2019). Since there is a high growth of social media users in adolescents, educators have begun to implement social media platforms into their instruction. For instance, educators can access various learning resources. Students can connect with their classmates outside the classroom. Instructors can adapt their teaching style to become more technologically driven by making their lectures into videos. (Reiser & Dempsey, 2017)

With implementing social media into instruction, many challenges and issues have arisen, especially with young learners in kindergarten to twelfth grade. Some challenges include that it can be a distraction for students, privacy issues, possible interaction with inappropriate information (Siddiqui & Singh, 2016). These issues can hinder both instructors and learners in implementing Social Media for instructional purposes. 

 

2. Overview of the Case

Coronavirus has heavily affected schools by shifting learning into becoming more technologically driven(McQuirter, 2020). Most schools provide online instruction with instructors using platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom for conducting online education. With schools using more online instruction, instructors have increased instructors’ use of different technological learning tools such as social media to support learners. However, the concerns of using Social Media as an instructional tool still linger. At my school district, we conduct 100% virtual learning. Virtual Learning caused a mixed reaction to students, parents, and educators. Students were not accumulated to use specific platforms. Parents were concerned about the security of using online platforms. Educators were not equipped with fully maneuvering online learning effectively. Many educators were uneasy with promoting classroom management virtually. In the news, there were headlines about students and educators misbehaving on the online platform. Therefore, Many stakeholders are hesitant to implement Social Media as an instructional tool due to many negative factors that may occur.  

Negative effects of Social Media on young learners:

• Possible Unexpected Events/Distractions — Students can find themselves in a situation where they will stray from the activity and eventually get off the learning objective task. Social Media is used as an outlet or a leisurely activity; therefore, students will probably not view it for instructional purposes. Therefore, some students may be tempted to stray from its purpose in class and use it for personal reasons. 
• Privacy Issues — Students can be bombarded with unrelated ads, engage in digital misconduct, cyberbullying, student information might be leaked inappropriately. Parents fear that young learners do not care or are aware of the effects of privacy issues. For instance, adolescents might click on ads without understanding the possible dangers it poses. Another component is students might engage in cyberbullying since they believe that it is a platform not monitored by adults. Therefore, they might say or do something to another student via social media and think that there are no consequences for their actions. Students might also post, comment, or share information that they might not think will become public knowledge. For instance, students might share their location, a revealing image, or engage in misconduct. (Greenhow, Sonnevend, & Agur, 2016).
• Nonacceptance from educators — Many educators are unwilling to implement social media in their instruction due to the fear of classroom disruption, privacy issues, and not appropriately implement positive online behavior among students. One reason for this hesitation is teachers not being entirely comfortable or acclimated with virtual learning, which causes teachers not to feel confident using Social Media as an instructional tool. 

Although there are many negative effects of social media used for instructional purposes, there are possible solutions to their issues.

3. Solutions Implemented

Social Media can be a beneficial learning tool for students and instructors. Social media can enhance student learning, allow students to connect with their classmates outside the classroom, allow students to build relationships, explore identities, and provide access to information and instructional resources. (Clarke, 2009) These positive effects are essential to consider when improving students’ learning quality. Thus, there are possible solutions created to the negative effects of social media. So, that social media can be better implemented and used throughout education.  

Possible Solutions: 

• Educators can enroll in training that focuses on providing practical classroom management skills for online learning. With social media, students can be distracted and get off task since they usually use social media for personal purposes. One way to ensure students remain on task is by actively monitoring the platforms, condemning misbehavior, and for the instructor to have access to each student’s activity log during the instructional task. The instructor must be equipped with the skills of utilizing online learning effectively, confident with maneuvering through the platform, and actively monitoring students’ online behavior and progress. 
• Privacy issues can be avoided by using activating security features on the social media platform. Learners may use pseudonyms on the platform as well. Instructors can be selective on which tools they implement that can help limit issues. The teacher can also ask for parental consent and allow parents to have access to the platform for the students that are under 18. This can help parents feel more comfortable with their students engaging with social media. Also, the teacher can teach the student about good digital citizenship. Digital citizenship is “focussed on national identity and upholds the values of justice and democracy, as well as language and culture as the roots bridging the personality of children to the community of solidarity and shared norms (Brown, Krasteva, Ranieri, 2016).

Digital Citizenship allows students to understand to respect their peers, show empathy, and be responsible on and offline. Digital Citizenship focuses on teaching students to respect themselves and others, educate on sharing information with others and technology, and protect themselves( Ribble, 2015). By teaching learners about digital citizenship, many issues and challenges can ultimately be avoided. Digital Citizenship can provide students with the knowledge and tools to use social media appropriately.

4. Outcomes

The use of social media brings many benefits for instructional purposes. There are many positive aspects of implementing social media. 

The Benefits:

• Social Media as a way of communication: Social Media can be used as a platform that gives students access to communicate with their peers, instructors, and other learning groups. Learners can engage with others, seek support, and access information without being in the classroom. By using social media, students can also develop networking skills, and their concerns and questions can be answered in less time. 
• Social Media as an Engagement Tool: Social Media being used as a learning tool can increase student engagement. Millions use social Media throughout the world. So, students are more captivated and willing to engage in the instructional activity that utilizes social media. Young learners tend to feel more comfortable, confident, and attentive to social media. For instance, a student who typically does not participate in class might feel more comfortable using social media platforms such as Twitter or YouTube to express themselves. 
• Social Media as a Collaborative Tool: Students will be a part of an online community where they can collaborate with their classmates by using social media. They can also engage with their peers at any time and can have quicker access to resources. They are platforms such as Google Hangouts, and Microsoft Teams are great collaborative platforms. (Faizi, Afia, & Chiheb, 2013)

Social Media is used in everyday life and became a part of young learners’ culture. For education to become more relative and actively engaging, social media should be highly considered. Social Media is currently a norm; therefore, it should be integrated into student learning. Teachers should integrate with new practices such as social media being used as an instructional tool. Social media can enhance learning experiences, provide better instruction methods, and help learners expand their learning. One study found an increase in social interaction and effective interaction where there were high levels of motivation and communication, which enhanced student learning. (Vollum, 2014). Another study found that social media gave students a voice, promotes creativity, and allows students to investigate topics independently. (Watson, 2020).

5. Implications

Social Media can be an excellent learning tool in education. However, one must be aware of the potential challenges of implementing social media platforms in their instructions. Situations may be avoided if instructors are knowledgeable and selective about which social media learning tool they utilize. Social media can allow learners to better support their learning by giving them access to useful information, communication with their classmates and instructors, and allow for creativity and collaboration. By implementing Social Media, student learning can be enhanced since it will enable opportunities to explore information, flexibility in accessing the platform, and different methods to express ideas such as through audio, video, or text. Although the following cons of using social media can cause distraction, privacy issues, and educators are often hesitant to implement these platforms. There are multiple solutions, such as managing classroom management virtually by actively monitoring student behavior and progress, teaching students about good digital citizenship, and being aware of specific social media features. Teachers can attend training to help them feel more comfortable implementing social media as an instructional tool. Young learners are prominent individuals who use social media during this age; therefore, their interests are already focused on these platforms. Therefore, by using social media for educational purposes, there is potential for high student engagement levels, and students who usually do not participate in class might find social media as a more comfortable learning tool to express their voice. Studies have seen an increase in student motivation and social interaction among students and teachers.  

References

Ganga, S. D. (2017). Social media and the rise of visual rhetoric. Experiencing Public Relations, 123-136. doi:10.4324/9781315208251-10

Dempsey, R.A.R.J. V. (2017). Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (Subscription). [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780134237039/

Siddiqui, S., & Singh, T. (2016). Social Media its Impact with Positive and Negative Aspects. International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research, 5(2), 71-75. doi:10.7753/ijcatr0502.1006

Mcquirter, R. L. (2020). Lessons on Change: Shifting to Online Teaching during COVID-19. Brock Education Journal, 29(2), 47. doi:10.26522/brocked.v29i2.840

Greenhow, C., Sonnevend, J., & Agur, C. (2016). Education and social media: Toward a digital future. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.

Clarke, B. H. (2009). Early Adolescents’ Use of Social Networking Sites to Maintain Friendship and Explore Identity: Implications for Policy. Policy & Internet, 1(1), 53-87. doi:10.2202/1944-2866.1018

Brown, E., Krasteva, A., & Ranieri, M. (2016). E-learning & Social Media – Education and Citizenship for the Digital 21st Century. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.

Ribble, M. (2015). Digital citizenship in schools: Nine elements all students should know. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

Faizi, R., Afia, A. E., & Chiheb, R. (2013). Exploring the Potential Benefits of Using Social Media in Education. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy (iJEP), 3(4), 50. doi:10.3991/ijep.v3i4.2836

Vollum, M. J. (2014). The potential for social media use in K-12 physical and health education. Computers in Human Behavior, 35, 560-564. doi:10.1016/j.chb.2014.02.035

Watson, E. (2020). #Education: The Potential Impact of Social Media and Hashtag Ideology on the Classroom. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 5(2), 40-56. doi:10.46303/ressat.05.02.3

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