Media Studies: A Whole New World for Education

© EMRS 2016

          The first thing I had to become accustom to when I started my Bachelors of Education is the world of education is, has and always will be changing. K-12 education now compared to when I went to school is extremely different. One of the largest changes has to do with technological involvement in education. This is not to say technology was unavailable for my generation or those before me (I spent far more time on ‘all the right type’ then I ever did learning how to properly cursive write). However, for today’s generations the overwhelming difference is the availability of technology to students of all ages and the ability to utilize its resource for educational purposes.

The use of Social Media: Taboo or Misconstrue?

          One of the principal lessons we have been taught in teachers college thus far is the importance of having a clean and (basically) invisible online footprint. We are told to change our Facebook names to make them unsearchable, to use sites such as Twitter for professional purposes only and to constantly vet ourselves for anything that could be incriminating. Therefore, it is no surprise that when Jim Asher, the principal of an elementary school in the United States of America asked a potential staff about their use of social media in an interview they were reluctant to respond. ‘Making the Case for Social Media in Schools’ was written by Asher; the article showcases his belief about the importance of Social Media in schools and the path he followed to change the perspective on social media by using it for everything from administrative communication to in class lessons. Social Media has its associated risks just like anything else, but it can also be an incredible resource for creating a diverse array of assignments and educational experiences for students.

©EDTECH 2016 

A Virtual Classroom: Media Literacy and Social Media

          Asher’s article exemplified what is only going to become more widespread among schools. Technology is here and it is not going away. As teachers, it is our job to embrace and adapt by involving technology in our lessons as often as possible.

          According to the Ontario Curriculum of Language, Media Literacy is expected to be an aspect of today’s education. ‘The Media Literacy Strand has four overall expectations: 1) demonstrate an understanding of a variety of media texts; 2) identify some media forms and explain how the conventions and techniques associated with them are used to create meaning; 3) create a variety of media texts for different purposes and audiences, using appropriate forms, conventions and techniques; 4) reflect on and identify their strengths, areas for improvement, and the strategies they found most helpful in understanding and creating media texts.

         Generations today are growing up on social media: we called on our house phones, they communicate through Snapchat; we kept a diary, they express emotion on Twitter. So why not engage the students and fulfill the curriculum expectations by utilizing what they know and enjoy?

Below are a few examples of how I might use Social Media in my Language Arts classroom:

TEACHTHOUGHT 2016

1) Twitter Tales: After reading and analyzing a media text, students will learn to write concisely by summarizing it in the 140 characters allotted on Twitter (depending on the length of the text, students may be allowed to use more than one tweet to summarize).

2) Instagram Essays: Students will tell a story through photos and captions uploaded to Instagram. Students will be allowed between three and five posts with a maximum of 40 words each to complete their assignment. 

Staying Aware: The Risks of Social Media in Schools

          For both of the above assignments I would then expect students to either reply to or comment on each others work in order to ‘peer assess’ and promote further thought. However, this follow up activity brings up an aspect of social media that I believe needs to be focused on with the growth of technology-based classrooms. Online assignments include the risk of cyber bullying by opening the

door for anonymous posting and behind the screen bravery. I recommend starting each year with a lesson on the severity of cyber bullying and its impacts. I would follow this up by reminding students that there is zero tolerance for bullying each time an online assignment is handed out; you may even want to include the consequences in the rubric. These are just a few examples, there are many other ways to ensure cyber bullying stays out of your classroom as well!

© Carleton University 2016