Social Media & Students

This week I chose to focus on articles regarding social media skills that millennials lack. I found the skills mentioned in the article "5 Social Media Skills Millennials Lack" are rather important skills for those entering the workforce today. The article states "they're very good at connecting with people they already know, they often fail to understand the professional opportunities and pitfalls posed by networks like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIN, and Instagram." Being a millennial myself (just barley though), I completely agree with the statement. I typically only use social media to connect with my friends and family. Taking EDU 776 and this course has given me the opportunity to explore professional networks on social media and I have found more value in my social media accounts.

I found it interesting that the article mentioned "because somebody grows up being a social media native, it doesn't make them an expert using social media." However, these social natives' "social media expectations are often higher for millennials" in the workplace. It is important for companies to realize that if you want effective social media marketing and campaigns, employees need proper training, you can't just learn it on your own.

Social media can be used by those entering the workforce to broaden their networks, make connections, and hopefully find a fulfilling career. A feature mentioned in the article, InMail, was one I had not heard of before. It sounds like a very effective way to reach employers and people who may have felt out of reach before.

Piggybacking on this article is another article, Social Media and Literacy. Social Media and Literacy explores the reasons for the lack of curriculum surrounding social media literacies. If these skills are so important for 21st century workers, why don't we teach them in school?

I agree with a few of the barriers mentioned, especially the idea that "teachers feel they can't keep up." Many teachers are technology immigrants and realize their student are farther advanced in technology use. As a teacher, I want to ensure that the tasks I ask my students to complete are meaningful and engaging, adding a social media component may not keep the task meaningful and engaging.  If schools choose to incorporate teaching social media literacies, I believe it needs to be intentional. Too often we are quickly addressing topics that we think students already know. It's time to stop and teach students social media literacies as we know they are not properly prepared when they reach the workforce.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/5-social-media-skills-millennials-lack-gianfranco-capozzi

Media Literacy

This week's topic of media literacy is very timely for me. The past couple of weeks have been very trying times at my school in regards to social media. We have had a handful of incidents where students used social media and the result of their participation has had a very negative impact. Howard Rheingold's article "Attention and Other 21st-Century Social Media Literacies captured many of my same opinions. I believe that the five literacies that need to be addressed with current students include attention, participation, collaboration, network awareness, and critical consumption. Although Rheingold's article was written in 2010, it is still very valid for today.

I think participation and critical consumption are key for students to be literate in. Thinking about the past couple of weeks and the events that have occurred in my school, I have realized that student do not fully grasp the implications of posting, Snapchatting, or tweeting a "joke." These jokes are extreme in nature and have caused fear and panic within the school, community, and surrounding communities. Student need to be taught how to productively participate in social media. It is also important for students to realize who their audience is and who has access to their profile, information, etc.

Critical consumption is also extremely important. Students needs to be able to filter all the information that is coming to them on social media. They need to know what to do with information and when to report an inappropriate or potentially harmful message. Messages spread like wildfire on social media amongst our students and it is necessary to teach them what to do with the information.

I hope that the unfortunate events that have occurred will result in teachable moments with all of our students. I also believe that all students should receive formal training in media literacies, I believe it is a necessary skill now and in the future. I realize that students returning to school tomorrow will still be anxious, stressed, and feel uneasy about the events that have occurred. It is my responsibility as their teacher to help them feel safe and to help them process  through the events that have occurred.

• Daily Herald - 2/21/18
• Chicago Tribune - 2/22/18
• Chicago Tribune - 2/24/18
• ABC7 - 2/25/28

Source: SIGNIS

CIPA/COPPA: Protecting Our Students

The Children’s Online Privacy and Protection Act (COPPA) along with the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) are federal laws that are put in place to protect children and I understand the need for both of them. My school is a 1:1 school in which students all receive a Chromebook their freshman year to keep until they graduate. With the world at their fingertips, it is important that the school protects them in the best way they can, and of course, keep their government e-rate funds. Overall, the CIPAfilter does a good job, preventing inappropriate content from coming through, but every once in a while a strange picture may show up in Google images. I have also found that it blocks websites, that are totally appropriate for school, so it can be frustrating.

COPPA doesn’t impact my school as we are a high school. Most, if not all, students have any social media account they want. They can access it on their phones, however, the school has chosen to block specific social media sites on their Chromebook while connected to the school’s WiFi. I can understand Danah Boyd’s point about teaching students to lie, however, I think that ultimately parents and students need to discuss social media usage and agree to an age when it would be appropriate to create accounts. It may be wishful thinking, but I do believe parents have huge influence on their children and can guide them to make good choices.

I don’t think students are aware of the federal mandates that exist, as I often hear them complain about content that is blocked. They feel like they are “in prison” or being treated “like a child.” They do not understand that CIPA exists to protect them, they just believe the school blocks sites to keep their lives “miserable.” I know that their devices continue to have CIPAfilters present when they are at home and their activity can be monitored. My school also uses Gaggle to help monitor for keywords (i.e. suicide, swear words) on Google Docs or any accounts that are associated with their school email address.

Today’s school environment is much different and schools need to do everything they can to keep students safe and also to protect themselves. When giving students devices for educational purposes, it is important to ensure students are using them appropriately.

A Teacher’s Guide to CIPA
Source: Newton-Conover City Schools 

A Teacher’s Guide to COPPA
Source: Newton-Conover City Schools

Privacy Check

This week I chose to review the privacy settings of my social media accounts. It has been awhile since I have set up my accounts and figured it's a good idea to review and cleanup my accounts. I tend to want to secure the information I share on social media and have always chosen the most private settings.

I am most active on Facebook and usually check my settings at least every other month. Most of my settings are set so only "Friends" can see my information, this is a personal choice, but also influenced by my school district. The district requests that staff members set "only friends" to see information. It is also stated that staff members should not "friend" any current students.

Facebook Privacy Settings
Source: Author screenshot

 I also have chosen to keep my timeline and tagging settings fairly conservative. I like to "approve" anything that is added to my timeline prior to it being posted. Also, reviewing all photos that I am tagged in is extremely important to me!

Facebook Privacy Settings
Source: Author screenshot

Overall, I am happy with my settings on Facebook, especially since I only use it for personal reasons. I know Facebook changes their privacy settings every now and then, so I am in the habit to ensure the settings are up to date.

I also took a look at my Instagram settings, however, since Facebook owns Instagram it seemed like the settings were one in the same. The only setting I could really find was making an account private, which mine already was.

Instagram Privacy Setting
Source: Author screenshot

Next, I checked Pinterest. I never really thought about the privacy settings on my Pinterest account. This account has the least personal information and I only use it to bookmark ideas, websites, and anything that seems interesting to me. The only privacy setting I could find was the search privacy, which is turned on for my account.

Pinterest Privacy Setting
Source: Author screenshot

Lastly, I looked at my Twitter account. This account is the only account which I have set to public. I set the account to public for my EDU 776 course, this was a big step for me! I have chosen to leave the account as public just to see how it goes. I only use Twitter for professional reasons, so I feel more comfortable with having that information publicly accessible.

Twitter Privacy Settings
Source: Author screenshot 

Twitter Privacy Settings
Source: Author screenshot

I think it is important for all social media users to check their privacy settings at least annually. It is a fairly easy task to complete and can keep you protected. Social media sites are constantly changing their policies, so it is a good idea to ensure you are happy with their changes.

For more on a teacher's guidance on privacy settings, click here.

Educational Technology Research

As educators it is important to understand our students on a personal level, but also to look at data and research about their generation. This week I enjoyed looking at a variety of statistics about my students' generation and technology use.

I particularly enjoyed looking at data on home communication. There have been many times in my career that I was frustrated by the lack of contact information and also the response rate from parents.


Source: Project Tomorrow's Speak Up "School-to-Home Communication"

Project Tomorrow's Speak Up “School-to-Home Communication” report was very informative and made me realize that we may not be reaching parents because their preferences do not align with the school’s methods. Only 19% of parents are very satisfied with high school home communications, so I believe there is room for improvement. I love the idea that 52% of parents prefer text messages. I believe that would be a very effective way to communicate short messages, such as, absences. My school often uses automated phone calls and emails, blog posts, Facebook and Twitter, however, they are not personalized and appear to be ineffective.

After reviewing theses statistics, I have so many ideas on ways my school could improve their communications. I think one of the first steps is to ask the parents their preferred method or communication and have that information accessible to the staff.

Another report I found fascinating was Project Tomorrow's Speak Up “Flipped, Blended, Virtual: New Classroom Models, Technology & Personalized Learning” report. I love the idea of a flipped classroom and the results from the report just furthered my excitement to jump into that territory. I can completely understand why 61% of teachers believe a flipped classroom increases more individualized learning. I definitely think blended and flipped classroom are the way of the future. Students can work at their own pace, but also receive so much one-to-one instruction as they need it.

Project Tomorrow's Speak Up "Flipped, Blended, Virtual"

I’m excited to create a flipped classroom, but probably need some guidance. I think I will start here.

This valuable research is important to review every year, as students and technology change so rapidly. I am definitely going to keep these reports in my "toolbox" to ensure I am meeting my students needs.

Social Media Policies

This week I spent time looking for my school district's social media policies for students and staff. I discovered that we have policies for staff use of social media and also policies for "communicating electronically". With the rate that technology changes, I can understand why the "communicating electronically" policy is generic not tied to specific platforms.

Social Media Usage
The board policy that outlines social media usage is one I had never seen before. It states that one must be professional in nature, not to use district devices to access social media and not to use school branding (i.e. logos), unless permission was granted.

Click here to view the full policy.

Electronically Communicating with Students
The document starts off by explaining the purpose of the policy which includes protection, raising awareness of proper methods, and raising awareness on potential outcomes.

Employee Expectations
Source: Author's screenshot

Next, the document discuss the TAP test. TAP stands for transparent, accessible, and professional. All communication should pass the TAP test prior to sending the communication.

TAP Test
Source: Author's screenshot

Once a staff member verifies that the communication passes the TAP test, they then need to know the district's acceptable communication methods. Many of them are school maintained resources (PowerSchool, District email, etc). These are prefer methods as the communication is saved and archived. Text messaging is seen as a "less acceptable communication method," however, it is not banned. Many teachers and coaches use Remind, as the school has an account, and it has the same affect as text messaging.

Acceptable Communication Methods
Source: Author's screenshot

Lastly, unacceptable communication methods are outlined (non-district emails, online games, etc). There are also specific reminders about social media platforms such as, Facebook and Twitter.

1. Ensure privacy setting are set correctly.
2. Cannot "friend" a student who is currently enrolled.
3. Always ask yourself "Would I mind if that information appeared on the front page of the local newspaper?"

Unacceptable Communication Methods
Source: Author's screenshot

For students there are many technology documents available to them, however, a social media policy seemed to be lacking. My district is a 1:1 Chromebook school, thus, students and parents have to agree to the guidelines prior to obtaining a Chromebook.

Students also have to agree the Acceptable Use Policy prior to obtaining access to the network. Again, this document is stated very generally to cover various technology usage.

After reviewing all the documents, I believe that the policy set forth for employees is adequate, however, I feel there needs to be a document in place for students and for teachers, if they want to have students participate in social media for academic purposes. For the students, I would have the same TAP test in place. I think it is a great idea to have students ask themselves "Would I mind if that information appeared on the front page of the local newspaper?" prior to posting something to social media.

My community, my PLN

Torrey Trust, an Assistant Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst as well as a trusted researcher on PLNs sees PLNs as supporting the growth of educators in 4 ways: affective, social, cognitive and identity. As an educator my PLN has supported my growth in all four areas, however, currently my PLN supports my cognitive growth the most. I am the only accounting teacher at my school, thus I rely on my PLN to serve as collaborators and to swap or "steal" ideas from. Since I do not have an accounting professional learning community (PLC) my PLN serves as my virtual PLC. 

As seen on the "Seven Degrees of Connectedness & Your Personal Learning Network" I believe I am between Stages 1 "The Lurker" and Stage 2 "The Novice."  I partially attribute my "shyness" to become a more active participant on my personality (described below).

The Five Factor Personality Test was rather easy to take. There were a series of Likert Scale questions for each attribute, and the results of the test were given immediately. My results were as follows:

Agreeableness 85%

I agree with the results (what a surprise!). I want to make people happy and please them, I am leery of confrontation. There are many times I wish I was not so agreeable, as I tend to compromise my own feelings or thoughts. It's definitely something I conscientiously try to work on.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

Conscientiousness 87%
Again, I agree with these results. I love planning and I love details! I love thinking through how things will work, whether it's a lesson, a vacation, or even just managing my time. I try to avoid surprises.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

 Extraversion 48%
I definitely consider myself an introvert, I always have been. I do not enjoy being the center of attention, I am super low-key. However, I do say "Yes!" and "Let's go!" in some situations, more so with people I am comfortable with, so it makes sense that my results fell almost exactly in the middle.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot 

Neuroticism 47%

People often describe me as calm and believe that I stay calm in stressful situations, so I can see why I scored 47%. However, although outwardly it appears that I am calm, I definitely internalize some emotions. 

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

 Openness to Experience 59%
Based on the result description, I think my score is perfect! I don't necessarily think of myself of a creative person, but I see the beauty in it.

Source: Amy Amber's screenshot

For me, the Five Factors test described me fairly well. Sometimes taking personality tests can feel uneasy as it may give you results you don't want to hear. However, I see it as identifying areas of opportunity. I can see areas that I can work on to help contribute to my PLN and make it an even greater place!