Social Networking and Our Classrooms

The world of social networking has both pros and cons in terms of its value and impact on education, just as it has pros and cons in its overall impact on society. The only real upside I can see to having social networking as a communication device in classrooms is that it allows students who may not otherwise come forward with questions to reach out to teachers and peers and interact that way. It can give students a feeling of community with their peers in class (according to the incredibly prescient text from 1996 that was referenced in the article “Facebook—The New Classroom Commons?”, “we find ourselves ambivalent inhabitants of a new global commons.” So make no mistake: while we may find a Facebook group to be a shabby imposter of a real community, for our students, this is the ultimate symbol of belonging.) However, the distraction posed by a social networking site like Facebook is a negative; curbing side conversations in class, intercepting notes, and physically separating chatty students in class is enough work without adding in the extreme drama of the online world to the mix.

My personal feeling is that I will be better served in a middle school classroom by limiting the amount of social networking I incorporate in my teaching. I understand that it is an integral part of students’ lives, but I disagree with the article “Social Media in the Classroom” that puts forth a need to start talking about it with kindergarteners. I’m finding that for myself, as a parent, it’s a very fine line between holding your child back technologically and dumping them headfirst into the cesspool of the Internet. Because of that, I would be very leery of stepping on the toes of parents of very young children as they may not wish to have social media be a part of their six-year old’s lexicon. But as I intend to work with middle schoolers, I think approaching the use of social networking in class with caution is advisable. Since, according to the “Social Media in the Classroom” article, children under thirteen shouldn’t even be on Facebook, I would aim for the highest level of information-sharing possible without crossing any boundaries, and I would set up a website that would allow students and parents to download and access important links or information. They could contact my by phone or email, and then I wouldn’t spend my evenings and weekends answering questions as they pop onto my Facebook screen.

To that end, I think there IS a level of inappropriateness in the amount of access students have to their teachers today. I went to school in a time where we had no email, so unless it was during the school day, or you happened to live near your teacher and could work up the nerve to go knock on his or her door with a question, then you basically had to make do with the time you had with them in class. And, believe it or not, I survived and thrived in school without being able to text them on a weekend or Facebook them at 10 p.m. the night before a test. Not only does so much interaction take away from your personal life as a teacher, but I think it does edge into a gray area with students. Many of them don’t know how or when to draw the line, and the over-familiarity can certainly get you into some trouble as an educator. And truly, in working with children, we are and SHOULD BE held to a higher standard. It’s our responsibility to mitigate situations where we put our own reputations on the line and where our students could potentially be put into situations that could be misconstrued.

As for Twitter, I think the merits mentioned in “Learning in 140 Character Bites” were largely skewed toward lecture-type college-level courses, and in that regard they were compelling—but not for middle or high school. I see no reason why in a room of 28 students, I can’t ask for a show of hands or call for questions rather than having them log into Twitter and send me their questions right there on the spot. Though I barely use it, I’ve been on Twitter for a few years and still am not thoroughly convinced of its usefulness, so I’d have to see some pretty hard evidence for bringing yet another social networking system on board with a gaggle of easily-distracted teens.

Bullying in any form is part of the job when working with adolescents, so I think I will definitely be on the lookout for signs of cyberbullying between students. In the article “Online Bullying Pulls Schools into the Fray”, the 7^th grade counselor at the middle school in question said that she spends about three-fourths of her time mediating and handling situations that stem from cyberbullying and texting. I think this loops back directly to the statement from the teen in the same article who said “It’s easier to fight online, because you feel more brave and in control…On Facebook, you can be as mean as you want.” As educators, there’s no way we can ignore this; to do so would be as good as admitting defeat and letting the inmates run the asylum. Those attitudes, petty arguments, fearless sniping, and mean-spirited attacks WILL impact the classroom, and will certainly affect the overall sense of community in a school. If our job as teachers is to ultimately be successful at teaching a blend of appropriate content and instilling values, morals, and ethics, then we need to roll up our sleeves and start adding appropriate online behavior, cyberbullying, and empathy for others to our long list of things to teach. To write such intervention off as “not our job” is to ignore the biggest 21^st century foe we have to creating a successful, safe, nurturing environment for our students to learn in.