Social Media in the Classroom--for Kindergartners! Through High Schoolers

      This article, not surprisingly, is geared to teachers.  It acknowledges the many social media sites on the internet and encourages teachers to not only experience these sites for themselves in an effort to stay current with these sites in order to be able to speak from personal knowledge, but also encourages them to use these social media sites and skills in the classroom.  Using specific sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogger and Ning, the author (a Director of Technology at a California High School) poses questions about helping students learn global community social skills, incorporating these skill in schools and keeping students safe.  It is suggested that K-3 students begin conversations about and begin posting online with their class and even with other schools.  By middle school, students are prepared to have individual accounts.  Middle schoolers are considered a “tricky” group because 40 % of sixth graders will have already experience social networking at home or a friend’s house. What that lends itself to is providing a lot of guidance on appropriate use which may not have been emphasized at home. Excellent guidelines for teachers using social networking in classrooms are listed below:

* “Keep the network private, allowing only the students you choose to have access.”

* “Decide if you want parents to have access, and, if you do, give them their own accounts.”

* “Monitor the network regularly.”

* “Share both appropriate and inappropriate posts, discussing why something should not have been posted (and remember to remove inappropriate posts).”

* “Be specific on what the network is to be used for and what it is not to be used for.”

I appreciate the article’s focus on safety and including parents in the process.  Issues of privacy, privacy settings and the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act are also great attributes of the article.  The article is informative, thoughtful, thought-provoking and inspiring to me as a teacher. 

Ramig, R. (Nov-Dec 2009). Social media in the classroom--for kindergartners (!)     

       through high schoolers.  Multimedia & Internet@Schools, 16, 6. p.8   

       (3). Retrieved April 25, 2011, from Academic OneFile via Gale.