According to Jenkins et.al, the computer has a potential to create a learning revolution. The computer is only one form of technology which can impact the learning environment of a 21st century learning environment but it opens up the doors to so many other tools which can be used by both students and teachers (2006). The effectiveness of teaching and learning is highly dependent upon how relevant the content is to the students it is intended for. The integration of social media into a curriculum has the capability of making content very relevant to students not only the content aspect but the tools used as well; students today are ingrained with a connection to technology. Technology has the power to “extend education to more people, making it more relevant, immersive and open (New Media Consortium, 2010). The integration of technology and social media into the classroom would be a great way to reach students, especially if popular modes such as Facebook, Skype, cellular phones, Ipods and other popular tools such as those could be used appropriately in education. The students would see that the teacher can “speak their language,” which in today’s youth is what they are longing for.The students today are known as “digital natives” meaning their generation is “native speakers of the digital language of computers, video games and the Internet” (Prensky, 2). Teacher might demonstrate some difficulty at first with the job of technological integration because they are not digital natives but it will be very beneficial in the end once the teacher proceeds through that struggle. After looking over a few articles found on Edutopia.org, “society is moving towards a model of shared knowledge building, where people from all over the world can interact, question, reflect, and reshape thinking in meaningful way.” If social media has the capability of bringing all of these aspects into classroom why wouldn’t we want to integrate such an aspect into our classroom? Our group has decided to split the responsibilities up so that each person has an equal amount of responsibility. One group member is going to maintain the contact with the teacher , one with the community resources we might utilize, one will be responsible for the “paperwork” involved with the EME course such as the Thursday roundup and and reports. We will be able to get a better idea of who will be doing what once we determine the social media project we will be doing with our students. We have not yet been able to meet with our teacher at PK because of miscommunication as to who would be making the contact. Once we meet with our teacher at PK and are able to talk to the students we will be working with my group members and I will be able to narrow down and establish each persons responsibilities throughout the semester and we will refine our ideas that we want to see play out during our work on the project with the students.
Edutopia. http://www.edutopia.org/social-media-case-education-edchat-steve-johnson
Prensky, Marc (2001). Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants. On the Horizon. 9.3. 1-6.
