Walled Gardens

My school district is one of many in the area that has instituted firewalls that block student access to social media while on campus. Ironically, if my students want to access social media all they have to do is disconnect their phones from the school WiFi and use their 4G or 5G network connection. I think that most would say there is no need for students to access social media at school because their focus should be on academics not on outside conversations that are “distracting.” However, I believe the underlying truth that exists is a fear, or ignorance, in regards effectively using social media sites as a platform for connecting thoughts and ideas in the classroom.

Whether we like it or not social media is part of society and it is vital that we educate students on appropriate use in the classroom. If educator’s don’t embrace the responsibility for educating students on how to use social media appropriately then we are leaving it to their own experimentation to figure out the appropriateness. My freshman students just finished studying Fahrenheit 451. We conducted a socratic seminar centered on the question: How close is Ray Bradbury’s prediction of the future to our society? My students came to the conclusion that it isn’t that social media itself is an evil force, but rather a lack of maturity in usage. If students became educated on the dangers of their addition to social media (my students words not mine), then perhaps they would seek ways to use the tools in a healthy manner. After my students determined that they had an “addiction” to their social media accounts they began a competition to see who could withhold from using any social media for the longest period of time. In many ways this informal experiment has opened my student’s eyes to what life without social media looks like and how their relationships with friends and family have changed for the

better.

Educating rather than boycotting is the right way to deal with sites that normally are blocked by walled gardens. I appreciate the the “Skype in the classroom” initiative because it offers solid lesson plans to help teachers appropriately integrate social media into their classrooms. Skype lessons don’t simply seek to make things “cool” or “modern” with the integration of social media, but rather teach literacy skills and help students think critically by asking deeper questions. This initiative opens up the eyes of both educator and student and helps reveal how social media can be used to grow knowledge. Moreover, I also appreciate initiatives such as GlobalSchoolNet.org. This organization not only creates innovative lessons, but offers professional development training for how to appropriately integrate digital collaboration lessons. The organization also holds links to specific initiatives geared at furthering the education of students and teachers on the benefits of appropriate social networking tools in the classroom.

It is initiatives such as these that uphold the integrity, and I think the intended purpose, behind the original creation of social media. Although social networking can lead to “addiction,” as my students concluded in their seminar, it can also act as a powerful tool if used correctly. Thus, walled gardens aren’t the primary issue, it is the lack of knowledge and maturity in using those sites that are normally prohibited that is the underlying problem. Educating society on appropriate use needs to be the goal and not simply ignoring the source. 

Sources

Skype in the Classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2015, from https://education.skype.com/ 

GlobalSchoolNet.org -- Linking Kids Around the World! (n.d.). Retrieved March 15, 2015, from http://www.globalschoolnet.org/index.cfm