In the beginning most teachers thought that social media platforms bring only distractions to the students making them not to focus on their studies. But now that thinking, however, has changed, and teachers are focusing on the positive instead of the negative impact of social media. Many teachers are incorporating Social Media Platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube and many others in their mode of teaching as effective tools. Consequently, they are enjoying the positive impact of social media but still they don’t deny the fact that social media has a negative side as well.
Socialmedia can be an effective tool to engage students to be good learners, feel confident, feel friendly, feel connected, feel smart, feel informed, feel helpful, etc., Teachers who are incorporating social media in their teaching methodology can inculcate good social media etiquettes in students and help students in building positive, respectful values in their interactions on socialmedia platforms.
Help your Students to smartly handle social media
You may be wondering how to help your students to become global responsible digital citizens. Here are few ways to impart good digital social values to your students.
1. Ask students create, record, and report on their digital footprint.
- Educate them the importance of having a positive digital footprint.
- This project can include Googling themselves as they begin to explore the implications of their own digital footprint.
- Take it a step further by having students investigate how you can use social media for social change.
2. Connect your class via social media and allow them to chat, post, and interface in a safe learning environment.
- Model responsible virtual social behaviors -- blogging, vloging, Skyping, texting, and emailing.
- Set classroom norms for internet engagement, and give students tools and strategies for how to respond when they encounter inappropriate virtual communication.
3. Encourage students to use their digital space to promote a school project or activity.
- Share the project with your school community, for example, through hashtags or artwork.
- Use the project as an opportunity to model how to search for unique verbiage or Creative Commons-licensed images.
As educators, coaches, and models, we have the power to build a culture that encourages and challenges students to grow to be the best people they can be, hopefully with an appreciation for global digital citizenship.
Teaching your students about social media safety, privacy, security and digital literacy
As teachers advice students about “protecting and being safe online” can be summarized in four words: “Think before you post” and “be kind and respectful”.
- Most schools have set aside dedicated time and in some cases dedicated staff, for digital literacy.
- Students now are not able to distinguish between their digital life and the real life-- like looking everything that happen in their life as online, texting and accessing apps is just part of their daily routine.
- Teachers have a major role to impart moral values to students through their class hours about social responsibility as well treating others with respect, In similar way teachers should make students realize about digital moral values as well.
- Students (and teachers too) must take responsibility for what they post on social media. – In social media people never bother to verify what they read is true or not.
- Imparting critical thinking and knowing how to find reliable and accurate information.
Reference: Fedana
