Social Media as a Teaching & Learning Tool

Social media – love it or hate it, it is here to stay. According to We Are Social Singapore the number of active social media users in New Zealand is equivalent to a total of 70% of the population (3.2 million people). It is a communication system that many of our students are familiar with and enjoy using. Inevitably, teachers will need to adapt to its use in order to be able to deliver a curriculum that is relevant and meaningful to their target audience.

Image sourced from https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/digital-in-2017-australia-new-zealand-the-pacific

I first began using social media in my personal life ten years ago – I know this because Facebook created an anniversary video for me just last week! It was around this time that I switched careers and joined the teaching profession. Initially my use of social media in education was limited to YouTube (in the classroom) and exploring teacher blogs as a source of inspiration. The degree to which I used social media in my professional life mirrored that of my personal life. If I were to place myself on the bell curve of the diffusion of innovations theory, I would imagine that I would probably fall into the early majority category.

Image sourced from http://blogs.salleurl.edu/itmanagement/2015/02/26/the-adoption-cycle-of-e-books/

Over the course of the last decade, I have explored many social media tools in the classroom. The ones that I have found to be most successful are:

•       Mystery Skype
•          Connecting with outside experts via Furture in Tech
•         The Global Readaloud
•         The New Zealand Readaloud
•         LEARNZ Virtual Field Trips

In my experience, the benefits and challenges of each of these teaching and learning tools are similar, if not the same:

Benefits	Challenges
Students have an opportunity to connect with outside experts	Joint ventures require greater input of time and effort in the planning and preparation stages
The ideas and information explored form part of an integrated teaching and learning program	All parties need to be committed to the process and communicate in a timely manner – there is nothing worse than having someone stall the process through failure to respond to an email!
Students are exposed to a wider range of ideas and opinions than would otherwise be achieved in the confines of our classroom	Coordinating timetables and time zones can be difficult – flexibility, creative problem-solving, and open-minded-ness are required to overcome these challenges!
Students have an opportunity to develop a stronger sense of self and their place in the world when interacting with people outside of their community or country
Students are able to practise their 21st century ICT and communication skills in an authentic context
The teaching and learning program is exciting for everyone – including the teacher – as there is a sense of anticipation and excitement about what we will discover together
Students demonstrate higher levels of engagement and motivation when presented with an opportunity to communicate with people outside of their classroom and community
Students ask more questions and show a higher level of curiosity when presented with learning activities that extend beyond the classroom

Each of the benefits and challenges in the table are my own experience of using social media tools in the classroom. It is clear to see that the benefits outweigh the challenges. The pleasure that my students derive from engaging in such learning opportunities is the main driving force behind my continued use of these tools. 


The process of planning and coordinating international communications has also provided me with an opportunity to expand my professional network and gain a clearer understanding of how education in New Zealand compares with other countries. I am excited about the possibilities that technology has opened up to my students and I, and I take great delight in the knowledge that I will have an opportunity to connect with many more outstanding teachers across the globe in the future.

References

Rogers Bell Curve. (2017, February 03). Retrieved July 21, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6g6Ld5v6bQY

We Are Social Singapore Follow. (2017, January 26). Digital in 2017: Australia, New Zealand & The Pacific. Retrieved July 21, 2017, from https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/digital-in-2017-australia-new-zealand-the-pacific

Digital Citizenship and Ethical Dilemmas in Teaching

Scenario

This year our school has encountered a number of problems stemming from a disregard for appropriate usage policies and online netiquette. It is possible that this upward trend in inappropriate use is associated with the normalisation of frequent internet and social media use.

Image sourced from https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/digital-in-2017-australia-new-zealand-the-pacific

The scenario in question involved a small group of students using What’s App to group message one another outside of school hours. The problem arose when the students initiated a new group chat, but chose to exclude one of their friends. The group went on to say mean things about the excluded student, who was blissfully unaware of what had happened until the next day at school when one of the group decided to tell her what they had said behind her back.

Concerns

This incident raised a number of concerns:

1.     Why were these students engaging in underage use of messenger apps?

2.     Why were their parents not supervising the use of these apps?

3.     Were their parents even aware that they were using the app?

4.     Were the students and their parents aware of the newly introduced cyberbullying law and the consequences for using digital communications to intentionally cause harm to others?

5.     Where does the school stand in relation to inappropriate online conduct outside of school hours?

6.     Even if the school had no responsibility for student conduct outside of hours, would a failure to address this issue constitute a breach of the Education Council’s Code of Ethics?

Stakeholder Prioritisation

After careful consideration of the concerns relating to this incident, I chose to give priority to the students involved in the incident. My gut feeling was that the students’ actions were not intentionally malicious – they had simply failed to consider the feelings of their friend or the consequences of their actions. Furthermore, their parents were unaware of their children’s online activity and were perhaps a little too trusting of how their children were using social media.

How the Incident Was Resolved

Short Term:

•  I was in immediate contact with the parents of the children involved. They were informed of the incident and we discussed netiquette and strategies for ensuring the safety of their children online.
• All of the parents involved were pleased to have been informed and responded well to the information provided.
•  I identified this as an important learning need for the students in my class. A series of lessons and learning experiences were planned and delivered over the course of a 2 week period immediately following the incident.

      

Long Term:

• The incident was discussed at a staff meeting. During our meeting we worked through an ethical decision making process similar to that proposed by Hall.
• As a staff, we reviewed our digital technology appropriate usage policy (AUP). Previously, the agreement was signed once by students and parents upon enrolment at our school. The decision was made to review and resign the AUP biennially. My personal feeling is that this should be done yearly so that parents and students are aware of their rights and responsibilities in relation to the use of digital technologies.
• We decided to make digital citizenship the focus of the parent information session that coincides with our Life Education program and health consultation evening
• I decided to choose digital citizenship as the focus for our Term 2 Life Education program to reinforce our learning from Term 1.

Outcome:    

     The incident highlighted the need for explicit teaching around digital citizenship. The most positive aspect of these incidents has been the change in attitude among our staff. The explicit teaching of digital citizenship skills is no longer seen as the exclusive domain of the senior teacher!

References:

NZ Herald Share via email Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Show more Bookmark this article Share on Facebook facebook Share on Twitter twitter Share via email email Share on LinkedIn linkedin Share on Google Plus google-plus Share on Whatsapp whatsapp Share on Pinterest pinterest Share on Reddit reddit ×. (n.d.). Controversial cyberbullying law passes. Retrieved July 01, 2017, from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11473545

Reporter, D. M. (2014, November 19). More than half of children use social media by the age of 10: Facebook is most popular site that youngsters join. Retrieved July 01, 2017, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2552658/More-half-children-use-social-media-age-10-Facebook-popular-site-youngsters-join.html

Education Council. (n.d.). Retrieved July 01, 2017, from https://educationcouncil.org.nz/content/our-code-our-standards

Underage Facebook users prove vulnerable. (n.d.). Retrieved July 01, 2017, from http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/6786407/Underage-Facebook-users-prove-vulnerable

We Are Social Singapore Follow. (2017, January 26). Digital in 2017: Australia, New Zealand & The Pacific. Retrieved July 01, 2017, from https://www.slideshare.net/wearesocialsg/digital-in-2017-australia-new-zealand-the-pacific

Cultural Responsiveness and Indigenous Knolwedge

What is Culturally Responsive Practice?

According to Bishop, teachers display culturally responsive practice through evidence of genuine care for their students; and by shunning the use of deficit theorising as an explanation for gaps in educational achievement levels.

Some people construe efforts to incorporate the use of other languages into the classroom program as superficial lip service to biculturalism. I prefer to see it as a good starting point. In my experience, teaching Te Reo has opened up opportunities for students to become the experts and for me to become the learner. This is one of the six qualities of an agentic teacher, as described by Bishop.  

Communication and Cultural Responsiveness

I work at a small rural school with approximately 85 students. All of our students travel to and from school by bus each day. It is very rare to have parents visit the classroom and have informal opportunities to chat about their child’s progress or behavioural issues.

Last year the results of a parent satisfaction survey revealed that a lack of communication on minor issues was a major cause of frustration for parents. As teachers, we would classify incidents as insignificant, yet at the end of the term, we would review all of these incidents when making decisions on end of term awards. It was common for students to miss an award because of the cumulative effect of a number of minor incidents over the course of the term.

Understandably, parents were frustrated. They felt that the lack of communication early on had prevented them from being able to support their child to make changes to their learning or behaviour, and that we had failed in our duty to support students to do their best. This was a fair call, and one that we have desperately sought to address by making effective and timely communication a 2017 school strategic goal.  

Using the Mauri Model, I believe that my practice has transitioned from a Mauri Moe level 2 state to a Mauri Ora state. Over the course of the year, I have developed strong working relationships with many of my students’ families. It has required perseverance and a great deal of effort to discover which methods of communication work best for different families, but it has been worth it.

Decision Making and Cultural Responsiveness

In 2016, ERO visited our school and identified a need to build cultural capital. We are a very mono-cultural school. Out of 12 staff (including bus drivers, admin staff, the cleaner, and teacher aides), only 2 are non-European. Our board of trustees is of European descent. Most of our students are Pakeha – I have only 3 Maori students in my class.

Invariably, our default setting for decision-making is through a European lens. Whilst we are acutely aware of this weakness in our school culture and practice, our efforts to make improvements have so far been unsuccessful. For the past three years, we have attempted to set up a visit to the local marae. We have come incredibly close on more than one occasion, however the kaumatua have repeatedly cancelled our plans at the last minute.

Our most recent disappointment came when our regional cluster cancelled a professional development session on cultural responsiveness due to lack of funding and inadequate planning. I agree with Bishop’s claim that agentic teachers are not enough to change the tide of progress for Maori students. Adequate investment and resources are necessary to help teachers truly understand Te Ao Maori. Self-directed professional development in the form of readings is a sorely inadequate substitute for learning from people with deep cultural knowledge and understanding.   

Using the Mauri Model, I believe that our practice is sitting at the second level of Mauri Moe. We are committed to make progress with our goal to become more culturally responsive. However, we have made little progress, and our decision making process shows a bias towards a European worldview.  

References

A culturally responsive pedagogy of relations. (2017, July 01). Retrieved July 01, 2017, from https://vimeo.com/49992994

The Effects of Globalisation on Personal Identity

The OECD has identified globalisation as one of the major trends affecting the future of education. Upward economic mobility, according to Pearson, means that the world’s middle class numbers are set to rise from one to three billion. This, along with the relative affordability of international travel and the proliferation of digital technologies, is already having a major impact on education across the globe.

The impact of any one of these factors alone is wide and varied. However, I believe that it is the combination of these factors and their impact on personal identity that are of most significance to the future of education.

How is Personal Identity Formed?

When I reflect upon the factors that have influenced who I am today, I recognise that it is a complex interplay of people, places, and experiences; each of which have helped to shape my beliefs, values and general outlook on life.

Thandie Newton describes the development of our personal identity as a quest for belonging and affirmation, which has direct links to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory.

Whilst there is a tendency to assume that identity is a fixed entity, this is not the case. Each new experience and social interaction serves to either challenge or affirm our personal beliefs and worldview. 

     

Image sourced from https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

How is Personal Identity Relevant to the Future of Education?

The affordability and proliferation of digital technologies has huge implications for education. From the infographic, you can see that 54% of gamers play with others online (or in person) at least once a week. This means that many of our students are interacting with people in a global online community on a regular basis.

Image sourced from https://www.gamespot.com/articles/graphics-not-among-the-top-reasons-people-buy-game/1100-6426659/

As participants in online communities, students will inevitably encounter people who will challenge their assumptions and beliefs.  Whilst students with a well-developed sense of self are capable of exploring ideas from different perspectives, without damage to their mental well-being, this is not the case for everyone.

According to Stats NZ, a quarter of all children in New Zealand live in medium to 

high-risk households. These children are our most vulnerable members of society. A large proportion of them are also likely to be among those members of society who do not have a strong sense of belonging. The problems associated with   

disconnection are many and varied, but are increasingly attributable to the rise   in nationalism and radicalisation.

Teachers and policy makers across the world have a responsibility to ensure that all students have an opportunity to establish a healthy sense of belonging and develop the skills necessary to display positive citizenship attitudes and behaviours in local, national, global, and online communities.

      

Practical Implications for Education

Teachers are in a unique position to contribute to the development of their students’ sense of belonging and personal identity. Below is a brief list of practical strategies for addressing this issue. It is by no means complete.

1. Aroha – teachers should take the time to get to know their students. Making the time for a chat and taking an interest in what they are interested in outside of school is a positive way of building relationships and showing that you care.

2. Student Agency – teacher should demonstrate that they value and respect student ideas and opinions by involving them in planning and decision-making processes whenever possible.

3. Whanaunatanga – teachers should actively strive to develop positive home-school partnerships. Positive and effective communication is the best way of ensuring continuity of expectations and behaviour between home and school.

4. Treaty of Waitangi – teachers in New Zealand have a duty to adhere to the principles outlined in the Treaty. Language connects people and contributes to our sense of belonging – just image the sense of disequilibrium experienced by an English language speaker living in a country where the people do not even speak the same language! Teachers should strive to use Te Reo as part of their daily teaching practise.  

5. Citizenship education - teachers need to prioritise learning experiences that provide students with an opportunity to have a positive impact on their school, local, or global community. It could be as simple as practising netiquette during a Skype session with a class in another country; or helping to restore the sand dunes at their local beach. Every positive learning experience will contribute to their sense of belonging and personal identity.

To the reader…

What is your take on the issue of globalisation and personal identity?

What strategies do you use to establish positive working relationships with your students and their families? 

References

Newton, T. (n.d.). Embracing otherness, embracing myself. Retrieved June 30, 2017, from https://www.ted.com/talks/thandie_newton_embracing_otherness_embracing_myself

P. (2013, April 26). Global trends: The world is changing faster than at any time in human history. Retrieved June 28, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdZiTQy3g1g

Trends Shaping Education 2016 | OECD READ edition. (n.d.). Retrieved June 28, 2017, from http://www.keepeek.com/Digital-Asset-Management/oecd/education/trends-shaping-education-2016_trends_edu-2016-en#page32

Vulnerable children and families: Some findings from the New Zealand General Social Survey. (n.d.). Retrieved June 30, 2017, from http://www.stats.govt.nz/browse_for_stats/people_and_communities/Children/vulnerable-children.aspx

The Interplay of Socio-Economics and School Culture

School Climate vs School Culture

In a video by ‘The Academy for Social-Emotional Learning in Schools’, a clear distinction is draw between the school climate and school culture.

School climate is readily accessible to outsiders and forms the basis of their first impressions of the school. It includes everything from the physical appearance of the school, to how people interact with one another in public spaces within the school.

School culture is the implicit beliefs and values that help to shape the people and practices within the school environment. Whilst there is some suggestion by ‘The Academy for Social-Emotional Learning in Schools’ that an organisation’s climate and culture may differ, my experience has been that the school climate is heavily influenced by the values and beliefs embodied in the school’s culture.

An example from my own school would be how outside educators (such as sports coaches and Life Education teachers) have commented on the enthusiasm and manners of our students. Positive feedback is always satisfying; however, it is something that we actively reinforce through explicit teaching of our school values and the use of our Wonderful Wainuioruian system, in which students are formally acknowledged for the consistency and effort with which they demonstrate the school values. 

Socio-Economic Status and Our School Community

Wainuioru School is a decile 9 school situated in a small rural community. Whilst many of our students are from local farming families in the area, the number of students commuting to school from Masterton is growing. Most of our students participate in multiple extra-curricular activities and enjoy regular holidays abroad – they are from middle class families and enjoy a comfortable life.

Nonetheless, there is a small proportion of our community whose life experiences are very different. Some families face the struggle of balancing cheap rent (due to the rural location) with the challenging of ensuring that there is enough food and fuel to last until the next payday. Our school culture emphasises active parent involvement which further compounds the financial challenges experienced by our less affluent families – one such example is the expectation that parents will transport their children to rural sporting events such as cross country, which is a 43Km drive from our school.

School Response to Societal Changes

Over the past three years, we have had a significant staff turnover (at least one new teacher each year) – something easily encountered in a small school with only four teachers and a principal! We are fortunate in that each of our staff members has had experience working in larger schools with a lower decile rating, so we are familiar with the challenges associated with a wide socio-economic gap.

Image sourced from: https://www.google.co.nz/search?q=equity+versus+equality&safe=strict&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiyhO6n4sjUAhWEXrwKHfXBCioQ_AUICigB&biw=1536&bih=736#imgrc=lTFsXR43ySwvdM: 

Part of the process of developing our school culture has been to re-examine our expectations around parent involvement in school life, especially in light of the growing number of households in which both parents are engaged in full time work. Whilst parent involvement is still heavily encouraged, we have established systems for helping those parents who cannot attend every school function. On rural sports days, for example, we now offer a limited bus service for those parents who are unable to attend. 

In response to our observations on the number of students who were coming to school without breakfast (due to a number of factors, including early starts; long bus journeys; and -for some students - a lack of food in the cupboards) we established a daily breakfast club, which is open for all students to attend. Interestingly, the breakfast club program met with resistance from some families who felt that the responsibility for feeding their children lay with them. In many respects, this opinion reflects the backgrounds of the majority of our community. The idea that some families may not have enough food to feed their children is beyond their comprehension or personal experience.

As a staff, we are continually working on the developing a culture of equity (not to be confused with equality). We strive to achieve the cultural norms associated with
Stoll’s improving schools, however we acknowledge that each of the norms requires continuous effort and a willingness to challenge our beliefs and practices, and to be challenged by others who seek to understand the culture of our school community.  

References:

Stoll (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. 

What is School Culture and Climate? (2015, April 28). Retrieved June 18, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-_NvhlcusQ

Communities of Practice

What is a Community of Practice?

Wenger (hyperlink) describes communities of practice as a way of locating yourself and building a sense of identity. He uses the analogy of hills created by groups of people who share a particular interest, whereby discussion and the construction of shared understandings and artifacts lead to the formation of the hill.

In my mind, I liken communities of practice to neurons:

·        The neuron represents my passion or interest in a particular issue
·        The dendrites represent the many ways in which I pursue my passion or interest
·        The axons represent my connection to groups that share my interest
·        The synaptic terminals represent my contributions to the communities of practice       of which I am a member

       Each time I actively engage with my community of practice I am strengthening the myelin sheath; that is the knowledge and skills associated with my passion or interest

However, it is important to note that that, unlike neurons, communication and transmission of ideas is bidirectional in communities of practice.

Image sourced from: http://readingroom.mindspec.org/?page_id=8852

My Communities of Practice:

As a teacher, I belong to many communities of practice. Some are local, while – thanks to advances in technology - others span the globe. All of the communities of practice I belong to contribute to my personal and professional development and afford me the opportunity of improving my teaching practice. Nonetheless, there is something special about meeting with people face-to-face and sharing the experience of discussing, problem solving, and learning together.

Masterton Future-Focused Teaching and Learning Cluster:

One of communities of practice that I most look forward to meeting with is the Masterton Future-Focused Teaching and Learning cluster. The cluster meets once each term and is open to every school in the Masterton district. Some schools have permanent representatives who attend the meetings, whilst others share this professional development opportunity with different people each time.

As the permanent representative for my school, I feel very fortunate to belong to this group. The group is still in its infancy, established at the beginning of 2016. At our inaugural meeting, we began by developing a shared vision – namely, to develop and sustain future-focused teaching and learning practices in Masterton. Being part of the group from the very start has instilled a strong sense of belonging and commitment to the group. Having attended every meeting, I have access to all of the notes, emails, Google Docs, and readings that we have generated. Furthermore, I have shared memories and experiences with core members of the group who have also been members since the very start.

The importance of these shared experiences cannot be underestimated. I developed a heightened awareness of this at our last meeting, where a number of people were attending for the first time. They described the experience as feeling like a fish out of water – everyone else seemed so far ahead in terms of their pedagogy and future-focused philosophy. Whilst this may be true for individual members of the group, the understandings generated within the group do not always translate back into schools once the meeting is over.

My primary role within the future-focused teaching and learning group is ‘active participant’. Since I am the only person from my school who attends these meetings, I have no choice but to interact with teachers from other schools. This in itself is very useful as I have an opportunity to gain insight into how other schools have tackled the challenges associated with future-focused education. However, in order to address the goals associated with the group’s shared vision I am also, what Wenger describes, a broker.

As a broker, I am accountable for reporting to my colleagues. The shared vision and goals of the group – to develop and sustain future-focused teaching and learning practices in Masterton - would be impossible to achieve without the process of dissemination.  

Whilst there is no formal requirement to act on new learning, I have found that challenging my colleagues to try out at least one new idea and provide feedback ahead of the nest FFTL meeting is a useful way of transferring new knowledge and/or practices from one setting to the other.

On that note, my question to you is what strategies do find most useful in your role as a community of practice broker?

References:

O. (2009, September 15). Etienne Wenger talks about 'walking the landscape of practice' Retrieved June 16, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjw0YoqpEq8&feature=youtu.be&list=PLb5Ty6fTaPkWE

Wenger, E. (n.d.). Education. Communities of Practice, 263-278. doi:10.1017/cbo9780511803932.022

Agile Planning

Agile Planning

On reflection, I would say that at Wainuioru School we are moving towards a more agile planning process. Student input is probably the area that we are in need of working on the most. Student agency is more prevalent in some areas of the school than others

https://plus.google.com/u/0/107405397829857133156/posts/FKzyfsKQFfy?cfem=1