Gonzales, L., Vodicka, D. and White, J. (2011) Leadership 2.0: Social Media in Advocacy Leadership, v41 n1 Sep-Oct
2011 p18-20, 22, 38.
Summary
Incorporating social
media into the classroom may seem like a daunting task for most educators. It
doesn’t matter what you teach or how long you have been teaching for, the use
of social media for education is rapidly growing. These Web 2.0 tools range
from basic use of Internet, mobile devices, to social search engines, and photo-sharing
services. First created for the personal use and entertainment value; they are
making the way into the education field.
These
tools are now being used to begin social changes. Education leaders are now
tasked with informing the public about the variety of changes happening in the
education community, whether it be education politics, school closings or
budget discussions. Using the knowledge of these issues can help turn a
personal campaigns into public campaigns. Teachers can become educational
leaders outside of their classroom and create action where there was none
prior.
When
choosing to use social media it is important that you start with a clear
purpose and that the tool that you use will match up with that purpose. If you
begin this advocacy, it is also important that you continually monitor what is
going on. Campaigns have been used for centuries, but using social media for
those campaigns is something that is new. In 2008, The Obama campaign gained 5 million
supports through various social networks.
Facebook – Facebook is
free and has over 600 million users. It can provide people with 24/7 newsfeed
and an abundance of content. One can like a status, follow a page or add to a conversation.
It is important to remember that not everyone has a Facebook account so don’t
rely on this as your sole communication tool.
Twitter – Originally created
to answer the question “What are you doing?”, now it provides people to use 140
characters to communicate quickly and provides a sense of immediacy. With so
many people using Twitter, a message can get retweeted several times to broaden
your communication circle, however, the message can also get lost with so many people
posing their own message.
eBlasts – An effective
way of getting information out to a lot of people is to use email blasts. You
can use a company for a nominal fee that will often provide you with a template
to send out your message.
Blogs – There are so
many blogs and blog companies out now. It is very easy to set up and maintain. It
started out as a diary entry format, but has expanded to education and the food
world. The ease of publishing a blog and being able to use that blog into
various settings, makes it very common and popular.
With
the education field rapidly changing and the various challenges that are
presented to us, social media is a great way to get the issues and potential solutions
to the public, community members, parents, and politicians. We encourage
children to stand up and right for what they believe in, it is time that educators
use social media to take that stand.
Reflection
Throughout
this class, we have discussed technology tools and social media for the
classroom. I never thought it use it on a bigger scale. Even while reading this
article, I kept thinking of how to apply it to my classroom’ do I use Facebook
or Twitter to get my message across. Yes, I do want to make a change in
education, but right now I just want my E/LA students to turn their reading log
in on time. It amazes me that this tool can allow for differentiation at levels
and purposes.
I
think that these tools are all great communication tools and are useful within
the classroom and outside the classroom. Educators can help dispel myths about
teaching and provide accurate information to the public so that they can make
an informed decision. It is nice that with just a tap of some keys and a click
of a mouse, the world can potentially change.
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