As I have gotten deeper and deeper into the conversation of whether or not social media is a positive or negative in education, I have realized that both sides are equally correct. Social media can be seen as both a positive and a negative. As seen in the two articles above, it generally depends on how you look at the situation. If you see the situation from the "Henry Jenkins'" side, or the positive side you can see that media can be just as much of a basis for learning as a textbook or a teacher. We learn so much from the things we see, use, and do on a daily basis. The positive side of this conversation are pushing to see more media, and social media being used within schools. For example, our classes blogs! Social media! We learn so much from reading each other's thoughts, and commenting with a rebuttle or feedback! This is the type of social media that younger generations really are pushing to see more of in schools. However, for every positive there is a negative! The negative side also has a very valid point. Children, teens, and students aren't always using media the right way. We see so much harassment and bullying going on in the media that we cannot blame the side that wants to eliminate media in schools. James Paul Gee's idea of identity plays an important role here again. The idea of identity that we can get from video games also falls into media. Students will create a false persona when it comes to media. They will use the media in many different ways which can all be negative. This also plays a major role in their education, alongside the positive. We see in the second article above a questioning of what students are really doing with the media. Are they learning, or are they goofing off? What they don't understand about the media is that it changes your emotions, attitude, personality, and everything that makes you you for better or for worse. It has been interesting diving deeper into the symbiotic relationship between media and education. I think it is safe to say that we can see this relationship as either a positive or negative. No matter our point of view the media is here to stay in education. As I look back over the semester I see that almost everything we have done in class has involved some kind of media, whether it be blogs, videos, emails, Twitter, or Ignite talks! Even with all the media we have been through, this semester has be a success. We have learned how to make connections between things we thought were polar opposites, and then analyze, revise, and do it all over again!
- Anderson, Steven. "How to Create Social Media Guidelines for Your School." Edutopia. The George Lucas Educational Foundation, 27 May 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
- Bagigah, Ahmed. "Digital Media to Strengthen the Connection Between School and Home | EdLab." Digital Media to Strengthen the Connection Between School and Home | EdLab. Columbia University, 2011. Web. 28 Apr. 2013
- Jenkins, Henry. "Is New Media Incompatible with Schooling?: An Interview with Rich Halverson (Part Two)." Confessions of an AcaFan. N.p., 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 28 Apr. 2013
I really enjoyed looking at the things you found relating social media to education. Social media is no doubt a huge impact in our society as we know it, and more and more people join the social media movement everyday in overwhelming numbers. I personal think it is more of a negative influence for education just because of all the bad things and personal things that people post. Yes, it can be positive when you engage in academic conversation, but we very rarely see that nowadays.
ReplyDeleteEw...Your reflection was too long so didn't read it...and I agree with Thomas. Social media rarely talks about academics. All you see is people talking junk nowadays.
ReplyDeleteI think that if teachers were able to monitor what students were doing on their phones or laptops in class, that they would be more open to the integration of it. There are always academic conversations going on, you just have to find them. Social Media can also driv students insane because there will always be that outlier that will be talking about something else and will sway everyone off track during the process. In my eyes, it's all about how much trust the teacher has in his/her students.
ReplyDeleteI like how you were able to find academic conversations starting already on the internet. It is a great way to hear what others think and then add in your own ideas.
ReplyDeleteSocial Media can have negative and positive affects in education because of its' heavy influences.
ReplyDeletePatrick has a great point; if they could monitor what every student was doing then I think technology would become more common in the classroom, but unfortunately that's not always possible and kids would abuse it.
ReplyDeleteSocial media definitely has a negative and positive impact on our lives. I love this project, and how everything came together. I think it is cool that people can have different identities through gaming. But then is has a negative effect when people are bullied and stuff.
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