At the beginning of this course, Social Media for Connected and Personalized Learning, I had weary views on the idea of using social media for learning. 

As an avid social media user and someone who enjoys not only watching but also creating content on social media I have been very careful with what I create and what I post, given the nature of being a teacher. However, I find social media is a fun and easy way to connect with students as long as it is done appropriately. I do this through having an Instagram and Tiktok account for my dog. Students love it because they feel like they are connecting with me in a different way outside of the classroom, and we have something fun we can talk about when connecting at the beginning of class or after a break, but it’s not photos or videos of me being shared with them, and I never follow students back, or have conversations with them online. 

However fun it is, I also sometimes struggle with the higher standards put on teachers surrounding social media, and the common discourse that we should not be using it, or if we are, students shouldn’t be able to find our accounts. While I agree as a teacher I shouldn’t be posting inappropriate things, I also think that teachers shouldn’t be getting “in trouble” should a student actively seek them out online and see a photo of them enjoying personal time. 

When I thought of social media I thought about things like, facebook, snapchat, instagram, youtube, or tiktok, and never considered what it could mean beyond those platforms. However, through this course I have started to understand and explore social media more broadly, as what the name suggests “media” that is “social”, and that media could be anything, but the key is that whatever the media is, it is being used socially and for learning.

I had two significant learning moments within this course that have impacted me and my teaching. 

The first, was when exploring learning structures and thinking about minimal guidance vs. direct instruction learning. During this week’s topic we read to juxtaposing papers:

1. Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching
2. Teaching for Meaningful Learning

Now, I already have a dedicated blog post to these two articles so I will keep this portion short and direct you to that post should you like to read a more detailed summary of my thoughts, but essentially what these articles come down to is that “Teaching for Meaningful Learning” is talking about how great inquiry based learning is for students while, “Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential, and Inquiry-Based Teaching”, talks about how inquiry based learning doesn’t work for students. 

In reading both articles, I truly can understand and appreciate both sides of the argument, and see where the authors are coming from in both articles. Seeing the discourse for both sides inspired me to think about and reflect on my own practice and what I do, and if what I am doing is what I think is the best thing for my students. 

The conclusion I came to is that I don’t lean all the way to one side or the other. I have a great balance between both inquiry learning and direct instruction, but what I use each for is very specific and intentional. In my classroom, I value skill building, and having a strong skill-based foundation in order to achieve the rest of our learning. When I am teaching students a new skill I often use direct instruction, modelling the skill for them, and using the I do, We do, You do method. Once the students have an understanding of the skills and are working towards mastering them, I then lean into the inquiry-based approaches to teach the course content and have students explore their learning that way. 

Both of these articles reinforced my perspective on best practice for learning in my classroom, and have inspired me to continue working towards updating older lessons and units to reflect these practices.

The second significant learning moment was hearing Dr. Remi Kalir speaking about social annotation. The idea of using annotations socially and collaboratively was something I had not spent a lot of time thinking about. Maybe because of the grades I teach, many of my students are still learning what annotations are and how to do them meaningfully and to deepen their learning, so the idea of using them socially would be challenging for them. 

Hearing Dr Kalir speak about using annotations as a way for students to learn socially, challenged me to think about what more I could be doing in my classes to get students to the point of being able to socially annotate. Although my younger students might not have the skill of annotation developed enough to do it – my older students definitely could get there.

This has led to a slow reshaping and rediscovery of how I use annotations within my teaching practice. I’m trying new things – my younger students are working together to annotate documents in small groups, my older students are using annotation skills during in class non-verbal debates, and I want to continue to explore and add to how students are building their annotation skills throughout their middle school years. 

I never put much thought into the skill of annotation – it wasn’t a skill that was heavily emphasized during my education, and it’s not something I intentionally do on a regular basis, but it’s a skill that when understood by students can be used to co-construct their learning and understanding of a topic, which is a powerful skill for students to have. 

Not only is social annotation a skill: annotation; it is also a tool that students can use to be creative in their thinking, rather than complying to specific one-way molds. There is also equity that comes from it because students are able to think in their own way, and at their own pace. Additionally, everyone’s voice has a space to be heard, and it’s not just the fastest thinkers or loudest speakers being heard, and by having students responding to each other, they are validating each other’s thinking, and as the teacher I am giving back the power to the students in their responses rather than holding it all on my own. Because it can be done digitally, it also allows my students to use any accessibility tools they may need to be successful.

However, it is important for teachers to be aware of potential privacy concerns and data protection, when using digital learning platforms of any kind. I’m really lucky to have multiple people within my organization that take this off my plate for me, when vetting new technology and websites. So I know that if something is on the approved list, it falls within our organizations privacy and data protection guidelines, and has been deemed “safe” to use for students. 

While I reflect on my thinking throughout this course, I am reminded that the integration of any new tool, whether it be social media, social annotations, or artificial intelligence, requires intention and a little bit of courage. 

I’m excited about all of the possibilities that lay ahead with being a part of the digital age, where so many amazing social tools are available, however, there is still a sense of fear that makes me question myself, sometimes slowing down my willingness to try new things. Which makes me question how much fear of judgment impacts teachers’ willingness to embrace new tools and technologies that will genuinely enhance students’ learning? 

At the same time, once I am past those moments of fear, I try to be very intentional about the tools I introduce to students and make sure that they are meaningful and will enhance student learning. So I wonder, how can I further develop the tools and lessons I am already using, to continue to make space for diverse learners while keeping equity and inclusion central to my practice? 

Moving forward, I will continue to explore different ways of using the tools I am most familiar with, while practicing exploring new tools, to ensure that not only are students getting the opportunity to develop their skills, but also the opportunity to use their skills to construct their own meaningful learning moments.