In this modern age with Snapchat, Twitter, and phone applications galore, a student’s worst nightmare is a webpage refusing to access a social media site on the school’s Wi-Fi. Teachers texting students was always seen as the ultimate taboo, and the media release form simply blended in with the rest of your “first day back to school” handouts.
Now teachers everywhere are starting to catch up with the times and starting to become hip with the new generation. However, this couldn’t be farther from the cheesy connotation of staying “hip”. The Hillsborough County School Board is cutting some slack, or rather giving teachers a little more wiggle room, towards the use of social media.
One of Steinbrenner’s history teachers, Amanda Colborne, has begun integrating Twitter into her lessons. During educational films her students are encouraged to live tweet.”You’re not supposed to be tweeting during a movie but afterwards you certainly get on social media and you talk about what you’ve seen and engage in that way,” said Colborne, “So trying this out in the classroom is a natural extension.”
Colborne is also trying to spread the idea of having a professional account separate from social media accounts one would use for fun. “It helps with the lesson that you have two selves. You’re public and presenting yourself to the world for job interviews or college applications. That presentation has to be a little bit different than your personal presence online.” Colborne also noted that this is not entirely unique to Steinbrenner. Other teachers have been broadening their horizons by implementing new teaching strategies and word of this has begun to spread. Some teachers have specific days where they log on to contact other teachers and chat about what new ways to teach lessons as well as if it’s successful or not.
Another one of Steinbrenner’s teachers, Kyle Wolf, has also caught wind of this new trend and has seen it affect classrooms in a different perspective. “It’s a trend, yes. I would say more research based. In my art classes people can share their images quicker and give responses faster,” Wolf said, “As long as you don’t rely too much on it and instead take advantage of being able to view all the information that students post.”
As well as using Edsby and other forms of social media to share and comment on research, Wolf sets up a texting reminding system for his students. “I wish I would’ve had it in high school,” Wolf commented. He’s hoping that it’s not too invasive as it’s going straight to a student’s phone, but he believes that it’s an extra push to keep all of his students on the same track by reminding them of upcoming assignments and tests.
Of course, there will always be an endless balancing act between use and abuse of these new rules and teaching techniques. As long as they are having a positive impact on the classroom’s environment and lessons, then the school, School Board, and students are all happy.
Hannah Makholm/Graphics Dept.
