Posted in: Internet
Forbid Facebook? That’s what one New Jersey principal recommended in an e-mail to parents. But is that really a good idea?
Let’s face it: Technology isn’t going anywhere — and that’s a good thing!
Social media has its downside, but it also offers so many tools. Implementing these tools in the classroom will help students use technology responsibly — and learn a few things while they’re at it.
Here are six ways to integrate tech tools into class assignments — and engage students in new ways:
- Bring classic literature into the 21st century. Have students create a Facebook page for a character from a literary work that the class is studying. Be specific about what students should include on their characters’ profiles. Here’s an example.
- Study the most up-to-date current events. Twitter‘s public timeline shows the most recent tweets from all over the world. Discussing world events as they happen strengthens students’ global awareness.
- Teach professionalism. Encourage graduating students to create professional profiles on LinkedIn. Whether students are graduating from high school or college, they will benefit from building a professional network.
- Create a class story. Have the class write a collective fictional story on Twitter, using Twittory. Use an original hashtag to help students keep up with the ongoing storyline. In addition to being a fun assignment, it builds effective communication skills — students will have to work out their “creative differences.”
- Build students’ retention. Assign homework that requires students to tweet one thing discussed in class that day. Bonus: This assignment makes it easier for shy students to participate.
- Poll the class. Using Facebook’s Poll app in the classroom helps students understand how their opinions relate to the lessons. It’s a win-win situation. Poll findings that support the lesson reinforce it, and findings that dispute the lesson encourage debate.
Any others we left out? Share how your school uses social media in the classroom in our comments section below.