Saturday, May 11, 2013

What is Social Media?

Listen and watch how these young children define social media. What do their responses suggest to you about how teachers can help young learners to create their digital foundation?




7 comments:

Andrea Rosenfield said...

This put a smile on my face! Students certainly are exposed to all sorts of social media, and they fully understand that it is a way for big kids and adults to communicate. It is our job, then, to remind students that communication via a screen should be treated in the same way as face-to-face communication. If you wouldn't say it to someone's face, don't post it on Facebook, Twitter, etc. It's all about instilling the principles of digital citizenship from a young age.

Allan Ray Tanchiatco said...

One thing we can get for sure from the video is that even young kids are aware what social media is. What we also know based on what's happening now is that these kids will get involved in it sooner or later. As teachers, what we need to do is teach them how to be responsible and, just like what Andrea said,tell them that it's nothing different than face-to-face communication.

Samantha said...

I think it's very interesting that all the students interviewed had similar ideas, yet, they were all a little different. Social media is constantly changing but students at various ages have exposure to its use. One of the kids stood out to me because they stated that social media is how adults are social without being social. I thought this was pretty intuitive for a child to say. Social media is a great tool to have but it does pose the question, are we becoming too reliant on social media and becoming less and less able to take part in face to face interaction?

Victoria Guerrera said...

This video just proves how much of an impact social media has on young children. The children in this video seem to view social media as a positive way of communication. They seem to like how social media is an outlet for expressing yourself and sharing your ideas with the world. One comment that concerned me was when one of the young girls said social media allows one to "be social without being social." It is so important for children to learn how to socialize with other people without the use of technology. It is scary to think that such young children are capable of relying on social media to make friends. As a teacher, I think using social media in the classroom is a great way to get students thinking about a variety of social issues that they may not have thought about otherwise. I think it's really important for teachers to bring social media in the classroom in order to create that real world connection with students. I would just make it a point to teach my students that it is important to find balance when using technology.

Unknown said...

This video proves that young children have a great understanding of social media and teachers should embrace that. It is evident that these children share the same view on media and technology and realize the impact social media has on communication. Using this feedback, teachers can begin to build on young children’s use of technology. Technology should be embedded in our classrooms. Since we have moved into a more technology driven world, we have no choice but to embrace this and teach students how to use social media and the internet safely. We must help our student understand the dangerous of communicating via social media, but at the same time let them know the advantages of social media. As others have stated, we want students to know that social media is accessible but they should not forget the importance of face to face interactions.

kris of Software Development Company said...

Teens nowadays are very hooked with social media sites to get in touched with their idols and to socialize with their peers through instagram, twitter or Facebook. Social media sites serves as a medium for children to speak out their ideas.

Unknown said...

I have to say that after viewing this, I had the same thoughts as Victoria. I once listed to a child psychologist talk about the effects of social media on social skills. The most dangerous kids are the ones who have lots of knowledge, but no social skills. Think about school shootings. I totally agree that students should be making use of the many great technology tools, but as teachers, we may find ourselves spending more time on social skills than in the past because they are not getting them as much outside of the classroom. I even see adults struggling as they prefer to communicate with technology.

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