My Top Three on Social Media in the Classroom

I was recently interviewed by the magazine T.H.E. Journal on my recent and best practices for instructional technology in the classroom.  I centered my ideas on the importance of using social media. Here's what I included:

With the proliferation of mobile devices, students are able to interact with incredible amounts of information.  companies have a need for for a social media presence nowadays, creating a high demand for a social media networking savvy workforce.  Today, for both learners as it is for workers we need to Understand it's. all. about. sharing  This generation of learners is becoming known as the Sharing Generation.  

First, They share information.  They are a generation that  have grown up with electronic cut and paste and forward.  Posting, retweeting and pushing all sorts of information back and forth has become an integral way of obtaining and exchanging ideas.  It's important that educators integrate social media networking into their curriculum to demonstrate the appropriate conduct and benefits of using it to enhance their learning.

Second. The Share themselves.  For these learners being in constant communication with each other is the norm.  And while their primary means of communicating is texting, they do it from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep, being connected 24/7 is an expectation for them.  As educators, we should embrace the opportunity to bring in resources, people and connections from the outside world into the classroom and avoid the walls our classroom the barriers  to access of information.  Social media is information that is fluid, dynamic and ever-changing, something our students get and we could do better to incorporate into our teaching and their learning.  

And third. They share knowledge.  Because many districts paid attention to how these students learn, it's a generation that has not grown up with the "sage on the stage" but rather with the "guide on the side".  They've come to expect pedagogy that involves small-groups with collaborative learning rather than more passive listen-and-take-notes.  Using social media brings different members of the learning community into the classroom, allows them to exchange ideas and information and apply critical-thinking skills to real situations.  

Social media networking is fun for students, but it is also something that will become a valuable skill for them later.

And those are my top three for social media in the classroom.