Social Media Mania

When I initially sat down to write this post, I intended to write a completely different set of ideas. When someone says “social media” I automatically think some of the more infamous culprits of student distraction that have caused more then a few issues my school. However it is so much more!

According to Tufts university, Social Media is classified as “the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks”.

http://webcomm.tufts.edu/social-media-overview13/

There are so many tools that classify as social media, some I use and some I would like to implement.  Blogging, photo-sharing, collaborative content sharing, and others are all things that I would like to use. And there are plenty of sites out there that I would not use.  Just like any tool, its use should be coordinated and planned, and it needs to make sense

I also understand that whatever is used must be monitored.  It should not be assumed that students know how to properly conduct themselves on these sites.  Students should be taught how to conduct themselves behind the veil of technology.

Integrating social media can allow for creativity and provides students with an opportunity to collaborate outside of the classroom.  As educators, we must use when appropriate, and incorporate with caution.