Week 29: Using social online networks in teaching or professional development

Week 29: Using social online networks in teaching or professional development
Using Jay and Johnson's (2002) reflective model, I explored using online social networks in teaching and professional development.

Step 1: Descriptive Stage

I always thought that when I was using social media, even though I was looking for resources I was wasting time, it didn't occur to me that it was valuable to my teaching and learning. During the Mind Lab course I began to realise that online networks are places that you can grow professionally and share your learning.


I started to use different social media platform in my teaching and professional development:
  • Facebook and Google+ - to access, share and discuss context related topics with peers in the education sector.
  • Seesaw - to share content and discussions with families of the children in my class. It is an accessible online platform in which parents, students and myself can access 24/7.
  • Blogger - to share my assignments and access different ideas  
  • Online teacher resource sites such as Pinterest where teaching resources can be shared,
  • Google - I sorted all my files and hopefully will be totally digital, apart from the paper my management need.


Stage 2: Comparative Stage

Sharples et al. (2016) suggest that social networks in the classroom can increase "...creativity, collaboration, communication and sharing of resources" (p.12). This is reinforced by the New Zealand Education Council (a.n.d.) who explain that social media enhances communication between a range of people. Teaching collaboration and communications can be taught through social media and is a more relevant way for our 21st century learners. It has come upon us so quickly that it has been tricky to keep students safe. Schools have had to come up with policies to provide privacy and safety for our students online presence. Parents have been very concerned about social media and need to be educated on how it can actually enhance their child's learning. It is also a brilliant way of communicating with the community. Using a facebook book page for different events or activities at the school has given the parents more confidence in the safe use of technology. Parent evenings around digital technology are a great way to inform the wider community. Social media is a great channel to reach parents of students, giving any parent an accessible, engaging role in the classroom community. It’s also an opportunity to support and empower parents as they learn about the sites their children are using and talking about.

Stage 3: Critical Reflection
I have learnt that social networking is an essential tool in my professional development and supporting my learning. With the Mindlab course we used social media sites to keep in contact share resources ideas and have discussions. From the survey I can see that I am more inclined to use digital technology to look and read but I am still learning to become more active with my own thoughts, ideas and I need to increase my online presence with discussion. Social media is a communication channel, an engagement tool and a collaboration platform (Faizi, Afia & Chuheb, 2013) so we need to know how to use its potential effectively.
I feel that as educational professionals we can role model safe and practical use of social website interaction and this will then enable parents to become more comfortable with the use of social media.


References:
Education Council. (2012). Establishing safeguards.[video file]. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/49216520
Faizi,R., Afia,A. & Chiheb, R. (2013). Exploring the potential benefits of using social media in education. International Journal of Engineering Pedagogy. 3(4), 50-53.
Finlay, L. (2008). Reflecting on reflective practice. The Open University.


Magette, K. (2014). Embracing social media : a practical guide to manage risk and leverage opportunity. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Created from unitec on 2018-05-30 18:25:33.
Copyright © 2014. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. All rights reserved.
Melhuish, K.(2013). Online social networking and its impact on New Zealand educators’ professional learning. Master Thesis. The University of Waikato. Retrieved on 04 May, 2015 from https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/8482
NZ Education Council. (n.d.). What is social media . Retrieved June 16, 2017 from https://www.teachersandsocialmedia.co.nz/what-social-media
Sharples, M., de Roock , R., Ferguson, R., Gaved, M., Herodotou, C., Koh, E., Kukulska-Hulme, A., Looi,C-K, McAndrew, P., Rienties, B., Weller, M., Wong, L. H. (2016). Innovating pedagogy 2016: Open University Innovation Report 5. Milton Keynes: The Open University. Retrieved from http://proxima.iet.open.ac.uk/public/innovating_pedagogy_2016.pdf

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