Week 29: Professional Online Social Networks
Descriptive
Social media is a powerful tool in modern day teaching. As educators, a large part of our job
is connecting with our community and family members, establishing strong positive
relationships, and utilizing these to produce better outcomes for our students. Developing this
aspect in the classroom then should be a priority. Over the course of my last two years of
teaching I’ve found it more and more difficult to have regular contact with my parents. We’ve
tried a number of different platforms to enhance the school-home communication, but none
have had quite the effect that Facebook has allowed. Using social media in the classroom
allows students opportunities to learn how to be productive citizens in the digital world
(Magette, 2014). This year I have started using Facebook groups as a means to connect
with my parents on a platform that is accessible, highly popular, and easy to integrate for our
families at home. This platform also allowed an avenue for my students to begin learning
about their own digital platform, as they posted stories and shared their ideas on the page
also. They also are learning how to think like digital citizens, with ongoing reminders that their
posts on social networks are both public and permanent (Magette, 2014).
The integration of Facebook as our main medium of communication came about for a number
of reasons. I needed a platform that allowed me to share easily with my families at home.
I wanted to share successes, triumphs, school events, and any other forms of information
that was important for my parents to know. I needed a platform that was accessible and
would allow for the greatest number of active members engaging with it.
Comparative
There are a number of other platforms which have been tried and tested in my classroom
over the past two years. I’ve attempted to use Seesaw, Class Dojo, and classcraft with
varying success. Although these platforms were all useful in their own rights and had many
positives, I did find engagement from parents was the primary concern. These apps which
were third party required parents to go out of their way, and as a result, the engagement was
noticeably less. Parents voiced their concerns, saying that it was one more thing to worry
about, which wasn’t ideal for them - hence the move to Facebook. Social media is a great
channel to reach parents of students, giving any parent an accessible, engaging role in the
classroom community (Magette, 2014).
Social media is a powerful tool in modern day teaching. As educators, a large part of our job
is connecting with our community and family members, establishing strong positive
relationships, and utilizing these to produce better outcomes for our students. Developing this
aspect in the classroom then should be a priority. Over the course of my last two years of
teaching I’ve found it more and more difficult to have regular contact with my parents. We’ve
tried a number of different platforms to enhance the school-home communication, but none
have had quite the effect that Facebook has allowed. Using social media in the classroom
allows students opportunities to learn how to be productive citizens in the digital world
(Magette, 2014). This year I have started using Facebook groups as a means to connect
with my parents on a platform that is accessible, highly popular, and easy to integrate for our
families at home. This platform also allowed an avenue for my students to begin learning
about their own digital platform, as they posted stories and shared their ideas on the page
also. They also are learning how to think like digital citizens, with ongoing reminders that their
posts on social networks are both public and permanent (Magette, 2014).
The integration of Facebook as our main medium of communication came about for a number
of reasons. I needed a platform that allowed me to share easily with my families at home.
I wanted to share successes, triumphs, school events, and any other forms of information
that was important for my parents to know. I needed a platform that was accessible and
would allow for the greatest number of active members engaging with it.
Comparative
There are a number of other platforms which have been tried and tested in my classroom
over the past two years. I’ve attempted to use Seesaw, Class Dojo, and classcraft with
varying success. Although these platforms were all useful in their own rights and had many
positives, I did find engagement from parents was the primary concern. These apps which
were third party required parents to go out of their way, and as a result, the engagement was
noticeably less. Parents voiced their concerns, saying that it was one more thing to worry
about, which wasn’t ideal for them - hence the move to Facebook. Social media is a great
channel to reach parents of students, giving any parent an accessible, engaging role in the
classroom community (Magette, 2014).
Critical Reflection
After careful reflection, I’ve seen many benefits from using Facebook in the classroom.
Engagement from parents is high, parents enjoy the content that is shared via the page,
and a majority of our parents are subscribed. Facebook allows me to get a detailed
understanding of which parents are engaging with the program, and which parents are not.
One issue I did find with the platform was regarding our school policies. As we do not use
Facebook school-wide there are no policies in place for our students around multimedia
sharing. This is one consideration when moving forward. Another critical reflection is the
amount of time which is invested to ensure our parents are informed. Because Facebook
is a personal platform, I did find myself using much of my own time replying to messages
and sharing work, notices, and awards. It can be time consuming, and due to the nature
of Facebook it meant I spent a great deal of personal time upkeeping and maintaining it.
After careful reflection, I’ve seen many benefits from using Facebook in the classroom.
Engagement from parents is high, parents enjoy the content that is shared via the page,
and a majority of our parents are subscribed. Facebook allows me to get a detailed
understanding of which parents are engaging with the program, and which parents are not.
One issue I did find with the platform was regarding our school policies. As we do not use
Facebook school-wide there are no policies in place for our students around multimedia
sharing. This is one consideration when moving forward. Another critical reflection is the
amount of time which is invested to ensure our parents are informed. Because Facebook
is a personal platform, I did find myself using much of my own time replying to messages
and sharing work, notices, and awards. It can be time consuming, and due to the nature
of Facebook it meant I spent a great deal of personal time upkeeping and maintaining it.
Word Count: 584
References
Magette, K. (2014). Embracing social media : a practical guide to manage risk and leverage
opportunity. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.(Available in Unitec library).
opportunity. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.(Available in Unitec library).
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