We all have to make choices. As teachers we must constantly
make them. How will we spend our time in and out of class? What resources
should we use with our students, and where should we go to get them? How will
we foster effective learning? Social Studies educators, like me, often wonder,
how will my lessons foster responsible citizenship among my students?
I recently chose to investigate the possibilities and
challenges of utilizing social media to improve my social studies teaching. I
define social media as any service where content is user generated and shared
with fellow users of that medium. I was already using several social media
services (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Instagram) in my personal life,
but I did not utilize them professionally. While I didn’t understand it at the
time, I’ve found this choice, albeit a quite a bit less dramatic and violent, like
the one Neo faced in The Matrix
(1999):
Like Neo, I had no idea of the ramifications my choice to select
the red pill of social media. When I began to use it I discovered a world that
I did not know existed, but, fortunately, it was not the painful reality of
Neo’s “real world.” Over the last couple weeks I have uncovered a wealth of
resources, ideas, and colleagues. Yet it has not been without challenges. I
will provide a brief summary of my some of my experiences using social media
for school. I hope these experiences might provide some insights for others embarking
upon a similar journey (or maybe even remind social media veterans what it is
like for neophytes).
While I made the choice to investigate social media, I have
not been alone. For the past week I asked my senior social studies methods
students to accompany me. I began a week before our first class by immersing
myself in a variety of social media services by using them 5-10 hours a day. I
created a Facebook page,
a new Twitter account, an Edmodo account, and sought out
people and organizations on these forums. I checked out books from the library
and searched databases for academic articles on the topic. The academic
materials provided some interesting perspectives, but they didn’t show me what
to do. Just like Morpheus explained to Neo, “no one can be told what [it] is.
You have to see it for yourself.” Only by using social media can one really
understand the possibilities it might afford teachers and students.
I initially used my linked Twitter and Facebook pages to
collect and share resources with others. I searched organizations with which I was
already familiar (e.g., the History Channel, the Gilder Lehrman Institute). I
retweeted interesting links, or posted YouTube videos or websites that I had
previously used in my own classes. I made use of Scoop.it to find new and interesting
articles.
I found many good resources, but I also felt overwhelmed. I
was inundated with a mass of information, and keeping up with everything on
just scoop.it and Twitter seemed like too much. I enjoyed much of what I was
finding, but I found myself without enough time in the day to keep up with all my
professional responsibilities along with this new cyber world. Not only was I
overwhelmed, but I also wondered, what is really different about social media
then just searching the internet? I was also nervous about how my students
would feel accompanying me on this journey (see next blog post). The social
studies methods course is designed to help students think about theoretical and
practical aspects of teaching social studies, and I was dedicating the first
few weeks of our course to exploring these tools so we could practice using
them all semester. I certainly did not want to waste their time, and there’s
always anxiety when you try something new and different with your students,
especially something that is banned in many schools (LINK ARTICLE). Like Neo, I
was initially unsure of my role in this new world.
The turning point came when I discovered that the real power
of social media was not in simply collecting resources and ideas, but in connecting
with others whom are on the same journey. I have met a community of social
studies educators passionate about teaching, and using social media tools to
improve their craft. All of a sudden, I not only found resources, but support,
insightful recommendations, answers to questions, and invitations to
opportunities to continue the conversation. I didn’t just search for resources,
I began receiving and providing them to people as we had conversations about
wise practices. My online use went from a largely one way gathering of
resources to the development of transactional relationships and the discovery
of an online community.
After 10 days of social media use I found myself
participating in a Twitter social studies chat (#sschat) where educators from
across the country were sharing resources and ideas. Four days later social
media leaders in the social studies – Shawn McCusker (@ShawnMcCusker) of
Illinois and Melissa Seideman (@mseideman) of New York – were imparting ideas
and answering questions with my class via Google Hangout videoconferencing.
They showed my class and I specific ways we could successfully use social media
and technology to become better teachers. As they answered my students’
questions I was amazed how social media made this all possible.
I still have an incredible amount to learn, but after only two
weeks I can’t help but feel like Neo at the end of the Matrix – after he finally believed and understood how the
Matrix works. He realized that the rules of the old system didn’t apply to
anymore. He saw that a new world of possibilities existed. I am excited and
unquestionably satisfied with my choice to journey into the rabbit hole of
social media. I recommend that you make the same choice.
Recommendations:
- Participate in social studies chats on Twitter using
“#sschat” every Monday for one hour beginning at 7 Eastern/6 Central; Follow
moderators: @ShawnMcCusker, @Ron_Peck, @Becky_Ellis_
- Although I’ve had some problems, I’ve found Edmodo to be
an interesting way to set up a class. It has a Facebook interface, but provides
a closed, and presumable safer, environment for classes.
- I have found Google Drive (formerly Google Documents) and
Google Hangout invaluable resources to connect with students and colleagues.
Dan Krutka, Ph.D. is
middle level/secondary social studies chair at Wichita State University in
Wichita, Kansas. He taught high school social studies for six years previous to
beginning in his current position in 2011. He can be followed/contacted at www.facebook.com/WSUSocialStudies, on Twitter @dankrutka, at dankrutka.blogspot.com, or by e-mail at
dankrutka@gmail.com.
