This interaction happened during a live chat for #edchatMENA, which is the educational hashtag for educators in the Middle East to share ideas and comment on topics. This is similar to the #engchat that Hicks discusses in the text on pages 143-144. In this particular instance, the #edchatMENA live chat begins with the topic of Next Generation Science Standards (#NGSS) and how they have begun showing a phenomenon in the classroom and instead of just telling students how this phenomenon occurs, they allow the students to dig, think, and find out for themselves. What is so amazing about this opening tweet is how short and concise it is while saying so much. Let's break down the MAPS heuristic and see how this interaction holds up.
Mode- The genre for this Tweet would be education. Teachers are getting ideas out there in the form of digital media to encourage others to incorporate the ideas in their classrooms.
Media- Obviously this is a digital text in the form of a tweet with 140 characters or less.
Audience- Teachers in the MENA region would be the most common audience for this tweet and for all the tweets in this live chat. The posts are targeted for these teachers in order to share ideas with each other but since Twitter is public, anyone could view and/or participate in these chats.
Purpose- The author of the first tweet began the #edchatMENA conversation for the day. Just as Hicks stated that the #engchat happens on Mondays at 7, the #edchatMENA has a certain meeting time as well, so the author had time to think about a topic to propose during this chat before actually posting it.
Situation- The Common Core Next Generation Science Standards are probably a big topic of discussion at the time and this situation called for ideas of how to implement these standards in the classroom and these teachers are doing just that.
Now that we've gone through that, I think interactions like this should be shared by teachers with their students so that they can see how live chats work, how to appropriately comment, and how adults use social media in a professional manner. This could start a conversation in the classroom and then continue in a live chat with a classroom hashtag.
Hicks states on page 140, "If we simply have students sign up with a social media service and then use it in the same way we use other web-based tools- distribute assignments, have students randomly reply to each other in discussion posts- we are not inviting them to think deeply and creatively about how to craft social media texts." This was a profound statement that really jumped out at me. Submitting assignments and posting once or twice on social media to meet a requirement is not fulfilling the potential of the social media in the classroom. Using a live chat to continue a classroom discussion could be a fantastic way to get every student to participate, especially those who would rather write than speak out loud in class.
Why is it so hard to incorporate social media in a way that students will benefit from and not use it in the same way we would use any other web-based tool? Thinking outside the box is something teachers will have to do to incorporate social media in a way that is helpful to students and encourages them to participate. Submitting boring assignments via social media does not get students excited. Another reason I think it is so hard to incorporate social media in the classroom is that teachers are scared, myself included. Since the outburst of social media within education, I have been hesitant and afraid that students would get out of hand on a class page or encouraging social media could lead to cyber-bullying but the more I read, the more I am inclined to use social media when I have my own classroom. After reading these chapters, I am starting to think using social media in the proper manner and teaching students how to be effective digital citizens could actually improve their social media skills and decrease cyber-bullying since they would be given expectations about what is appropriate.
Kailey, I agree with your fears and hesitation for using social media in the classroom. I understand there are risks with how students can use technology in negative ways, however Hicks suggests that as educators we are to consider how we use digital writing in the classroom because students are going to use social media outside of the school. He also states that "depending on what youth aim to do online - and how they act as digital writers in doing it - they are constructing identities, building (or destroying) relationships, creating new opportunities for learning, and remixing various digital media to produce new compositions such as blogs, wikis, and videos" (Hicks, pg.138). We know that students are going to use it in some way and our hope is that they will use it in a positive way and represent themselves in good way. Hicks then says that he strongly believes that if educators apply the MAPS heuristic, "slowing down just long enough to think through a text message, status update, or tweet - and thinking about audience, purpose, and situation - helps them be responsible, present a good first impression, and participate actively in a variety of communities". I think in learning and teaching them how to being digital writers and how to apply MAPS will show them the importance of paying attention and being intentional with their writing, will reduce your fears and also help students become better writers/thinkers.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am weary of using social media in the classroom. There are a lot of ways that students, and teachers, can use technology inappropriately. However, I think when we makes these social media interactions accessible by parents and administrators we have open lines of communication and make it clear that these social media accounts are for professional use only. I think problems arise when we try to use the same accounts for personal and professional interactions. The two do not mix, so we should not force them to.
ReplyDeleteAs Hicks (2013) reminds us, we need to teach our students to be intentional in their writing. With social media, we most often provide quick responses with little thought about the purpose of our message. We need to use social media interactions in the classrooms to show students that they can be thoughtful and intentional in every text, tweet, and Facebook post.
Sources:
Hicks, T. (2013). Crafting digital writing: Composing texts across media and genres. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.