Reflections on My Feelings Toward Social Media in Academic Spaces

 I feel like this was a big week for me in terms of shifting my thinking toward social media and not only how it can be used in academic spaces, but why it should. I told Dr. Dennen at the beginning of this course that I was hoping that my mindset around social media would be challenged, because I came into the course really believing that social media should strictly be used for social purposes. But now, I've realized that my world view of what constituted social media, and even social learning, was extremely limited. And more than that, I read something this weekend when I was looking for ways that teachers can remain FERPA compliant, and it basically said that teachers can't expect students to use their social media responsibly if educators aren't actually modeling appropriate use for them. How are we supposed to help hone the digital skills of students who really truly ARE digital natives if we're not giving them the opportunity to use the tools in a responsible way? And that really stuck with me, and now I'm coming to see how all these different tools that I've been exposed to could be so powerful in the classroom. What about you? Have your thoughts around social media in academic spaces changed at all over the last few weeks? 

Comments

  1. “You are much stronger than you think you are. Trust me.”July 10, 2022 at 7:52 AM

    Wow. As i read your comments, i was struck about the quote about the teacher becoming the student and the student becoming the teacher. In the context of social learning is that the true reward, the acknowledgement we are all on a journey at the same time and some times we in the crowd and sometimes we are what they crowd is following. Interesting reflection, thank you.

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