Technology Tango

“One step forward, Two Steps Back”

Sidenote: Now I have never claimed to be a dance aficionado, so I realize this may not have anything to do with the tango moves!  However, as an ELA “aficionado” I do like things to rhyme (smile)

I do feel that this is the current state of how social media is embraced across the board in our education systems.  As our blog prompt points out, some systems are embracing social media, while others are creating staunch, district-wide policies against usage by both learners and staff.  Districts can be geographic neighbors (such as Guilford to Orange county) or demographically-similar (such as the 3 giants- Wake, Mecklenburg, and Guilford)… it doesn”t matter; the policies on social media can still be night-and-day in when compared with one another.

Now let’s take a brief step back and identify some of the social media platforms that our 21st century learners (and educators alike) have come accustom to utilizing… at least in our extracurricular lives.  I remembering being a sophomore at UNC and embracing Facebook as the hip way to communicate with collegiate friends across the country.  It has now ballooned into the “it” site for communication- from keeping up with birthdays to finding out what someone ate for breakfast.  From pioneers* (I use this term loosely because Facebook wasn’t the first; however, the companies marketing strategies have solidified their place in the social media market as the frontrunner) such as Facebook, we’ve socially embraced Twitter, LinkedIn, Edmodo and beyond.  Social media platforms such as these have numerous advantages; the biggest of which being that they create a web of communication- moving both trending and essential information in a way that was once impossible.

As there are numerous advantages to inclusion in social media communities, there are also numerous disadvantages.  For the sake of time, I’ll just focus on those that pertain to school-age learners (5-18)

1) Access to inappropriate material: I remember that, by the time I was a senior in college (2 years after the inception of Facebook), Zuckerberg and his crew began soliciting whether or not FB should be opened to younger members (middle-to-high school age).  College students were enraged, but of course, it was a smart marketing strategy for Facebook.  So here we are today, were anyone over 13 years old- or proclaiming to be- can open a Facebook account.  Without the proper filtering settings, my middle school learner would be able to see any and everything that I posted on Facebook.  Thank goodness, my posts are geared towards MOTIVATION and EMPOWERMENT in my spare time, but think about how many other educators use their pages for different reasons….

2) Advent of cyberbulling: Just a few hours ago, I learned (through FB) about the threat of a school shooting slated this week at a Cumberland county school.

Here’s the link: http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2013/10/05/1287646?sac=fo.local

As I read the student’s post, it is clear that the situation (or threat of such) has resulted from physical and cyberbulling.  This new phenomenon allows the abuse of vulnerable learners to transcend the walls of the school.  In this manner, learners that once would have been able to get a reprieve from such torture at home are now falling victim to such abuse 24/7.

Just these two (2) reasons alone have scared some school systems into the usual ABSOLUTELY NOT policies that we see at one end of the spectrum.  In these school systems, social media is FULLY BANNED.  On the other end, you have schools that FULLY EMBRACE social media; giving full access to learners (usually 13 years of age and older).  It is usually with these fully-embraced, full-access schools that you see more incidences such as what Cumberland County is currently facing.  But why such extreme approaches?  The answer to this is simple: decisions will ALWAYS be made according to the cultural and ideological climate of a system.  Since beliefs change from system-to-system and according to leadership, policies will NEVER mirror each other.

What I feel is the ideal is a mid-approach; one where the school system’s policies acknowledges both the advantages and disadvantages of social media and operates under this understanding.  It is an approach that embraces with caution; creating policies that educate learners about DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP and gives limited access that filters out negativity.  It is this level of embracement that I believe my system has attempted to achieve as it relates to social media policies.

– Educators are firmly cautioned against creating Facebook or other social media platforms UNLESS they follow strict guidelines [examples: (1) page title addresses educator as MRS. X and (2) uses teacher’s school email; (3) Twitter: teachers can be followed but DO NOT FOLLOW OTHERS]

– With rollout of new 1-to-1 initiative (check out the video announcement at: http://schoolcenter.gcsnc.com/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=360958&copypaste_item=copy&copy_item=345296&copy_data=cms_page_item), learners have to participate in on-going DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP training.  Leadership attempts to keep a close eye on how social media is used in classrooms.  For example, teachers utilizing tablets have been using Edmodo with learners as a forum for discussion/collaboration as well as disseminating course materials.  However, the Edmodo app had to be vetted by an entire PACE team prior to being pushed to tablets; mainly because Edmodo (an educational tool) was considered a social media platform.

I do feel strongly believe that there must be an equitable balance as it relates to social media usage.  And with that balance, ALL systems must focus on the foundation: making sure learners understand (1) how the tools can be used to enrich their learning AND (2) their expectations with usage in and out of school.