Danielle Mullins: Social Networking and School Media Centers
Social networking seems to be a hot topic every year. Whether it's about age appropriateness, its place in schools, or its place in the world in general, people are always arguing over social networking. Though many things can go wrong with social networking, plenty of things can go right as well! Let's take a look at this hot topic!
First, let me take a selfie!
Social Networking is often painted in a bad light
based off of assumptions. Most people automatically begin to think about Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, girls taking "selfies" while eating, drinking, and breathing, but it is so much more than that! Once people step around the basic forms of social networking, they can see all of the amazing tools that are at their fingertips.
Today's students are using social media to complete assignments daily. they do this through the following tools:
- blogs
- wikis
- discussion boards
- reviews
- podcasts
- online instruction
In a 2008 survey reported by ALA more than 41% of all schools said they used podcasts, 29% used blogs as an instructional platform, and 20% online instruction and online bookmarking. Teachers are using these tools to make students more accountable. they are also following AASL standards which state that technology skills and social skills are essential to the 21st Century Learner.
Safety First!
A large concern and issue with social networking is all of the ways that security can be breached, information can be leaked, and general privacy issues can occur. You are never 100% safe when you are online, but you can follow simple steps to ensure that you are as safe as possible.
Do's and Don'ts Safety Check:
- Do Not give out personal information
- address, account numbers, phone numbers etc.
- Do Not provide any information that you wouldn't feel
comfortable with everyone knowing. - Always use computers that have anti virus and malware protection.
- Do Not pay for use of a website that you and your coworkers/peers are
not familiar with.
Websites That Help You Stay Safe Online
There are plenty of websites and even classes available to guide students, parents, and teachers on the proper use of social media and navigating safely. Most parents and teachers are concerned with privacy and safety when it comes to bringing social networking into the classroom and media centers, but there are so many different tools that can guide media specialists, teachers, and parents in using all of our amazing social networking tools for learning in a proper manner that is almost impossible to argue that privacy and safety can't be obtained online. According to Barbara Fiehn of the College of Education Department at Western Kentucky University, School Library Media Specialists, while still a little cautious, are enthusiastic about social networking in schools which is a huge improvement in the direction towards social networking tools being school wide.
Fun Features!
There are so many fun and amazing features that come with social media. Web 2.0 is about moving away from static websites and introducing dynamic user-generated and organized content that serves web applications and supports the growth of social media.
Moving away from the go to websites such as Facebook and Twitter, schools can use so many tools that are a part of social networking. For example media specialists have been using LibraryThing for a while now. It lets students review, rate, write a synopsis, and tag almost any book they have read. All that's required is a free profile.
Search engines such as Google have hundreds of helpful apps. Once a student creates a google account they can start a google drive that allows them to create and share word documents, presentations, blogs, spread sheets, drawings, and many other items that can be accessed through any computer or device that they log in on. Also accessed through Google accounts is Google+ which is a tool similar to Skype that allows students to speak with anyone else that has an account. Teachers and media specialist are starting to use this tool for cross cultural assignments so that students can speak with other students in their grade from a different part of the country or even a different part of the world. Students can also develop their own website through Google, and some teachers and SLM are even creating blogging homework through a blogger account that students can access so that they can contribute to the blog as an assignment
Media Center Specific Features
Auto-Graphics
-clustered results engine that allows user tagging, comments, ratings, reviews, added subjects, and keywords.
Fish4Info
-Library portal that provides half of the BOCES libraries with the capability to append pathfinders, calendars, student's book reviews, tagging, ratings, and social bookmarking to the a system wide catalog.
Destiny
- Though almost all of us are aware of the great Destiny, Barbara Fiehn describes it as, "Online searching interface that offers a standard search interface combined with social networking in a colorful graphical environment allowing students, teachers, and staff to give star or text ratings to books and submit text, audio, or video reviews. The school community can recommend books to each other, suggest items for purchase, and request additional copies. Destiny Quest also improves the ability to upload digital objects to MARC records. This upgrade also provides Destiny users with a free, 65-title ebook collection." She goes on to say that while students will most likely never admit something from the media center played a central role in their learning, these new advancements seem to keep students and teachers engaged and potentially lead to better communication between students and teachers.
Social Networking in my Media Center
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It may be due to my age and generation, but I think social networking has a huge place in today's media centers and classrooms. My senior year of high school we had a project for a marketing class that required us to create a business page on Facebook for either a real local business or create your own and advertise as if it were a real business. We had to gain followers and revamp our page every week. I absolutely loved that assignment and I didn't even realize how much I was learning until it was over. When teachers and media specialists use these tools it can make learning fun and keep students engaged. Sadly every school I have volunteered with has blocked almost every social networking tool and has yet to switch to Destiny instead of Surpass. There are ways around these things though. Teachers and media specialists can get permission through administration to use a proxy during school hours to allow students to use certain websites and tools for assignments.
I love all of the different ways you can connect to your fellow classmates and even teachers through these amazing tools. Book reviews for example are a great way to start communication between students that have never met or help student/ teacher relationships. When a student isn't sure about a book but they see that someone they know or someone that they've noticed reads the same books as they do has left a good review on a book, it may lead to them reading a book they may have originally looked over. If students also see their teacher enjoyed a book they're interested in, it can give them something to discuss and possibly lead to a better student/teacher relationship.
Overall I just think there are too many amazing features that we are not utilizing with social networking that can completely change the atmosphere and learning in media center and classrooms!
My information station:
http://www.ala.org/news/news/pressreleases2008/june2008/AASLsurvey
http://www4.auto-graphics.com/sitemap.asp
http://www.mmischools.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=59618
http://www.teacherlibrarian.org/
Metz, G. (2008). Secure Social Networking. School Library Journal. Retrieved September 22, 2015, from slj.com
Wow, Danielle. Thank you for such a thorough job with finding and organizing information about social networking – which is my weakest area when it comes to technology-related things. It may be that I’m just on the other side of the generation gap where social media isn’t as comfortable a fit…or it may just be my bewilderment at many people’s desire to overshare to the point of absurdity, but social networking is way out of my comfort zone.
ReplyDeleteWhen my son deployed to Afghanistan, I became a dedicated Facebook ‘lurker’ to keep up with what his company was doing, and now I have reached a certain level of familiarity with it. I also ‘lurk’ on my Instagram account. I know I have to get better at using social networking tools if I want to use them to my media center’s advantage when I become a media specialist.
You describe Google tools – my school is requiring teachers to learn to use Google tools and how to integrate them with the county’s D2L platform. It is really good to know about Destiny and Destiny Quest – my school’s media center already uses this tool; I just need to learn more about it.
I like your reminder that social networking tools add richness to kids’ media center experience – and makes them more connected to it. They are the way to keep kids engaged and interested – one tool to keep the media center relevant to learning.
I could not agree more!! I feel like social networking tools are completely under utilized by most schools and school systems! I hear administrators and parent involvement coordinators fussing a lot about the fact that they can't get parent involvement or parent participation. I always think "I bet if you were there friend on Facebook or twitter you could". My particular school has started to get involved. We have a school Facebook account and school twitter account that both link back to our school web page.
ReplyDeleteSocial media is not just great for parent involvement but also for students! Much like you stated above there are some really fun features to these tools that get students engaged! One thing I used to love to do in my classroom was to give out an assignment via twitter and then students had to tweet their responses and links to additional information. Kids who NEVER did their homework always managed to do that one! I think that using these tools also helps train our students in how to manage them appropriately and the various etiquette that goes along with using them. Kids learn tips and tricks for the tools which helps keep the globally competitive. Most Non-Western Schools and many European schools now require coding as a core class along with ELA, SCI, SS, and Math. I fear that it won't be long till our students are left WAY behind if we don't help by using all the resources available to us!
Lastly - I can't go on enough about how beneficial my PL social network is to me on a daily basis! I can tweet out or post in Google+ communities a question or issue I am having and I often have an answer, alternate idea, or quick fix almost instantaneously! I love it! It has saved way more than one lesson for me in the nick of time. (If you have been a classroom teacher you know how valuable that is!)
Truly enjoyed your blog! So informative and so many great points! I think one of the big keys in getting school systems on board is in the section where you talk about internet safety. That topic seems to be what causes people to drag their feet. If internet safety is taught and kept at the forefront I truly don't see how anyone could find a downside to using these tools in a guided environment.
What a through job and the information you posted has really helped me remember that we are in an age of advancing technology and that we need to be teaching students to become a 21st Century Learner. Thanks for sharing the Internet safety links, I will definitely will reference those when discussing internet safety with students. I think I'm realizing more and more how much my school might be missing the boat on the use of technology in the classroom. When I was a regular classroom teacher I was always looking for different ways for students to share their work via technology. Now that I am a support teacher for math and reading I don't utilize web based collaborating, learning tools very often. Reading through the blogs this week has reminded me of all the wonderful things that can be done in a classroom via the web. I'm excited to start "getting with the times" and using the Web 2.0 tools that are available, as well as, getting other teachers involved.
ReplyDeleteAs usual, this team's blog posts are very engaging with all of the graphics inserted into the information. In the school I am in all social networking sites are blocked by the school's firewall. I do not really agree with this policy. I think this type of policy is okay for elementary school, but not when it comes to middle school and high school levels. I think that at these levels the school should consider creating a social networking policy. This policy is a set of guidelines that would help the students know how to use the social networking sites in a positive and constructive manner. Some examples of policy guidelines could be: 1) accept responsibility, 2) respect copyright and fair use laws, 3) don't spread spam, 4) secrets shouldn't be posted, 5) don't pretend to be someone else, 6) avoid personal attacks or insults, 7) post only truthful information, and 8) avoid obscene or racist content.
ReplyDeleteThere are many uses for social networking in school library media centers. These uses include media sharing, digital storytelling, managing and organizing, social networking and communication, content resources, and curriculum collaboration. The AASL has a great website with lots of resources for these things at http://www.ala.org/aasl/standards-guidelines/best-websites/2015 . Also some other noteworthy websites you may want to visit are:
http://mediaspecialistsguide.blogspot.ca
http://www.sldirectory.com/libsf/resf/web2.html
http://www.educationalnetworking.com/List+of+Networks
http://www.ipads4teaching.net
References:
FrontPage. (n.d.). Retrieved September 29, 2015, from http://socialmediaguidelines.pbworks.com/w/page/17050879/FrontPage