Title: Use of Social Media in the K-12 Setting
Author Name: Tia Martin
1. Introduction
According to Greenhow & Askari (2017) and Manca & Rami (2012), educational researchers and professionals theorized the impact and implications of social media to transform learning within the classroom. It has been suggested that social media can foster learners’ collaborative knowledge construction and introduce tools, people and materials to school culture that could assist in breaking up established routines and assist students in getting feedback on their performances (Greenhow, 2009). Further research into the role of social media in education has examined the ways in which social media are used in formal and informal learning and the possibilities that exist so that social media can reimagine the production, consumption and use of knowledge in ways learners and teachers work within and outside of the educational system.
Recent statistics on social media usage indicate Facebook dominates teenager’s media practices. In 2014, it was reported that 78% of youth aged 12-17 used Facebook (Elliott, 2014). As such, educational designs and initiatives have shown that Facebook applications can build knowledge in both formal and informal settings.
Data retrieved from Act for Youth provides a breakdown of the various platforms used by youth.
2. Overview of the Case
With the increased usage of social media, there is a heighten concern for cyberbullying (Martin, Wang, Petty & Wilkins (2018). Cyber bullying is defined as the “deliberately using digital media to communicate false, embarrassing or hostile information about another person” (O’Keefe & Clarke-Pearson, 2011). In a 2009 study conducted by Dowell, Burgess and Cavanaugh (Martin, Wang, Petty, Wang & Wilkins, 2018), of 400 middle school students risky behaviors online, approximately 28% reported being bullied or harassed on social media sites. Similarily, a large national study of 1558 middle school students, ranging from 10 to 15 in age) found that 32% experienced online harassment, among which 43% were received through instant message in classrooms and 25% on social media sites.
As reported in the Journal of Youth Studies (2011), Raskauskas (2010) found that 43% of students ranging from 11 to 18 years of age, experienced at least one incident of text-bullying and 25% experiencing repeated text-bullying. The Institute of Education Sciences recently published the ‘Report in Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2020’ which revealed similar data.
Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety_ 2020
The question then becomes how can educators shift the cultural paradigm of social media and integrate into daily instructional practices in the K-12 setting. How can we encourage students to become responsible digital citizens, as well as, globally responsible citizens?
3. Solutions Implemented
While most research has been conducted to determine in which ways social media can be used for educational purposes, such as Facebook and Twitter, most of the research geared towards Twitter has been conducted in higher educational settings. Aimed at addressing said gap, a recent qualitative case study of two teachers, conducted by Chapman and Mariah (2020), explored the experiences of two K-12 teachers: Kristina, a second grade teacher and Matt, a high school teacher.
Research Questions
- What are the experiences of K-12 teachers who are teaching with Twitter?
- What are the teachers’ objectives for students’ learning?
- How are K-12 teachers using Twitter with their students?
- How does Twitter use in the K-12 classroom compare between 7-year olds and 17-year olds?
Kristin, elementary school teacher, used Twitter primarily to provide students with internet technologies by connecting studens with others outside of their isolated communities. In doing this, she charged students to publish tweets about current leanring experiences. She also connected tweeting with Skype video to connect with other classrooms across the country, as time zones permitted. In adding Skype, students were able to see, hear and talk with other students. Through initial tweets and follow up Skype connection with an all girls school in New York city, students learned about different modes of transporation to and from school. Discussions were held around bus rides or car pool lines vs subways and taxis in New York City. She was also able to connect with students in Alabama and how the students were amazed at seeing snow.
Matt, high school teacher, used Twitter primarily to increase student engagement by having students engage with individuals living in the midst of historical events in real-time. Matt invited students to use Twitter to ask people who were living through these events about their experiences, thoughts and feelings. Such example is during Arab Spring in 2011, Matt and students used Twitter to follow #ArabSpring to watch events of the Tahir Square in Eqypt as it unfolded. While the protests were happening, Matt was able to have select students find people in the Tahir Square who were English speaking protestors and ask them whey were they there.
4. Outcomes
Beyond Digital Citizenship: Kristina
While Kristina’s goal was to teach her students how to safely engage online and develop digital citizenship skills, she realized that teaching with Twitter supports skill development for lifetime citizenship. Students learned about appropriate behaviors in a digital world inclusive of saying king words, selecting appropriate emojis, considering others point of view and maintaining a small digital footprint. Kristina affirmed her belief that citizenship includes the ability to communicate effectively and appropriately with a combination of face to face and technological tools, which must be transferred to her students.
Beyond Digital Citizenship: Matt
Matt’s use of Twitter evolved as he used the platform which ultimately improved is approach to civic education. Matt’s purpose was to prepare his students for citizenship throughout their lives and began to incorporate Twitter to do so. While Matt so no difference between online and offline citizenship, he viewed citizenship as requiring the ability to apply knowledge, information and skills in both spaces. To be an active and informed citizen is inclusive of an awareness of current events and the ability to interact with a wide variety of people in order to understand a diverse array of viewpoints. Matt understands the development of said skills as critical for lifelong civic participation and the use of Twitter afforded him the opportunity to engage in civic actions immediately while allowing students to practice skills that would serve them throughout life as engaged citizens.
More Similar than Different
While the study involved an elementary and high school teacher, it was determined that they were more similar than different in their use of Twitter in the classroom. One noted difference was the preparation required in preparing students for learning via Twitter. Kristina’s students needed to learned basic information; whereas, 80% of Matt’s students were current users of twitter. However; similarly, through intentional use of Twitter on the how, when and why of interacting with others in a social media, in safe and meaningful ways. In each case, their teaching was intentionally designed to respond to the needs of the students in front of them. Additionally, the connections between using Twitter and teacher concepts of citizenships were similar in that they were both teaching citizenship skills across the lifespan. As a result, Twitter created the space to practice citizenship skills and teachers were acting as curators of the social media space.
5. Implications
There is a need for a paradigm shift in educational policy and practices at all levels. In acknowledging K-12 aged students are growing up with social media as a large component of global culture, there calls for policies to support teachers’ use of said platforms for learning. It is suggested that if school policies that block access to social media sites be reexamined. Curriculums that are silent in the use of social media should be amended to include suggestions on how to use social media effectively. In addition, teachers should be provided with guidance on how to manage their professional social media accounts in ways that model appropriate digital citizenship behaviors.
Askari, Brandon, Galvin and Greenhow (2018) offered three practical suggestions for K-12 teaching context. The first is to use social media to create a sense of community and a space to build relationships. Social media enables students to create a comfortable and supportive environment in which learning risks and identity development can be explored without fear of judgement. Encouraging students to use social media as a way of blending identify and academic work allows students to have authentic experiences and reveals details of students’ learning practices that can ultimately inform teachers’ practices. Secondly, teach students to use social media for more than transferring of information but rather integrate creative projects in which students are producing content. Social media can be a tool for discovery, constructivist learning and imaginative thinking. Finally, maintaining a strong teacher presence and accepting social media as an integral part of students’ lives. Teachers need to reclaim the students and embrace more structure and stricter management.
Social media cannot be ignored in the classroom, as it is a ‘hidden curriculum’ fully immersed into youths learning whether teachers accept it or not. Hence, it is impossible to expect students to disengage from their digital lives in class; as students will always check their phones or worry about checking their phones. Opposed to fighting a losing battle, consider options that can ease students’ compulsion without distracting from learning such as offering ‘technology breaks.’ Casey and Evans (2011) summarizes it best “teachers cannot take this approach in fear and chaos and disorder; they must find innovative ways to construct disorder and flow with chaos and build relationships to the traditional training that instinctively drives them to take control.”
References
Abe, P. & Jordan, N. (2013). Integrating social media into the classroom curriculum. About Campus. 16-20.
Askari, E., Brandon, D., Galvin, S., & Greenhow. (2018). Youth, learning and social media in K-12 education: the state of the field. International Society of the Learning Sciences. 45-55.
Chapman, A & Marich, H. (2020) Using twitter for civic education in K-12 classrooms. Association for Educational Communications & Technology. v65: 51-61.
Institute of Education Sciences (2020). Report on indicators of school crime and safety:2020 retrieved from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2021/2021092.pdf
Martin, F., Wang. C., Petty, T. Wang, W., & Wilkins, P. (2018). Middle school students’ social media use. Educational Technology & Society. V21(1): 213-224.
Youth and Statistics: Internet and Social Media retrieved from http://actforyouth.net/adolescence/demographics/internet.cfm