How my views on social media has evolved....but I'm still skeptical | W14 Q1 | Forum

One of my beliefs about mind, social media and learning in society that was challenged this semester is my idea that social media is not a useful educational tool in formal high school classrooms. Prior to this course I did not believe that social media could make a useful and unique contribution to secondary educational environments. It seemed that any possible educational use of social media in the classroom might just as easily be accomplished through a different tool; one without all the distractions inherent in many of the popular social media platforms. However, after a semester’s worth of reading, and specifically the week of readings on “Facilitating Learning with Social Media” my attitude has started to shift; however, I am still skeptical of relying on social media to facilitate any type of serious and meaningful learning. Specifically, the Asterhan and Rosenberg (2015) piece made me consider the power of social media to foster not only student-teacher relationships (as the study examined), but also student-student interactions. Social media may provide a useful platform to for students to have more informal learning interactions within a more formal learning environment. Similar in many ways to how Manca and Ranieri (2016) conceptualize informal use of Facebook in formal settings.

One of my beliefs about mind, social media and learning in society that was reinforced this semester is the role that the “dark side” of social media might play in educational settings, and that it is important to address these concerns if social media is to be incorporated into formal education. Privacy and personal data are important considerations for youth in today’s society, and understanding how to manage an online presence is a vital skill. Too often these concerns are overlooked when learning with social media is reported in the academic literature; however, Krutka et al. (2019) examined this issue head on. Their practical suggestions make a useful starting point for educators with a healthy skepticism of social media use in education looking to incorporate social media in their classroom.