You can be an early adopter of the newest innovations or someone who waxes nostalgic over the days of flip phones and landlines. Regardless of where you fall on the technological spectrum, social media (for better or worse), is here to stay.

Which means teachers now have to adapt to its persistent presence in the everyday lives of their students. And as they adapt, they’re finding themselves asking intriguing questions about social media’s role in education.

• Just how vital is social media to success in my classroom?
• Can social media help my students with homework and test preparation?
• Is social media a dangerous digital rabbit hole down which my students can get lost?
• Should my classroom lessons and out-of-class projects incorporate social media?
• Should social media be monitored while my students are on school property?

Questions like these are at the heart of current debates over just how much a role (if any) social media should play in a typical 21st-century classroom. And they’re especially pressing when you consider that good digital citizenship is a skill students need when they go out in the world.

 

Via EDTECH@UTRGV, Dennis Swender, Edumorfosis