Re your question "social media tasks for homework rather than in class?" For homework, of course. However, be aware of the meaning of the expression "social media tasks"--it would be both students and a teacher homework, namely STUDIES AT A DISTANCE. Have you any doubt? Observe my activities at Multilingual Studies at a Distance. Students and Academics of All Countries, Unite! :-) ( http://fedcba.ning.com/ ). ;-)
social media tasks for homework rather than in class? - What do you think?
In my opinion everything depends on what type of studnets do we have. one day I asked my students to write a short description of....something(I don't remember of what:) and I asked to send me their work through e-mail. Only very few students complited the task. I thought that it would be interesting for them to send an e-mail to the teacher and did homework on their computers. Unfortunatelly I was wrong. I think that using social media tasks for homework could be interesting for students, especially for those who are ambitious. However, today's teenagers are not very keen on doing anything which require and involvement from them....
I’ve mentioned before that one of the main obstacles in using social media in the school classroom is lack of equipment. However, as many people previously noticed, the teacher can be also perceived as a serious problem. Negative attitude towards innovate ideas, lack of technical knowledge or lack of interest may stay behind the teachers’ approaches or actions.
I’m not an opponent of traditional classes, however I regard e-learning components ("samples") as useful and attractive. There are so many possibilities available to use in the class.
We can read from the forum, that social media is a large store of information, education etc... which can be useful in teaching or learning process, it is true but we can also find some obstacles to social media use. One of the problem is that not everyone has access to the internet so it turns to be a huge impediment, other obtacle is that not every teacher is highly internet knowledgeable (internet literate). Also some schools are not so highly supplied with the hardware needed. According to the question above, maybe there should be organized some computer courses for teachers to raise their qualifications.
Well, everybody seems to feel the same about social media in Polish schools. Theoretically, computers are there for students and teachers, but practically the condition of it is poor: technically and in case of access to the Internet. It would be wonderful to use social media idea in classrooms and to do it at home for students as well as for teachers, who want to improve their skills connected with it. But it's a long way...
I’d like the idea of using social media as tasks for homework. Currently, I’ve been experiencing this strategy (e-learning components), and I have to say it works. As a student I am keen on doing my homework, eg., using e-articles from BBC (reading comprehension), u-tube (listening comprehension), but so far I’ve not seen the use of blog. It only indicates that this tool requires to be adjusted and employed to teaching (eg., for creative writing).
it was very interesting to read the sum up of all opinions.. but coming back to the question i think that first of all we should think about the age of our learners.. differnt use and access will be for young learners and different for adult learners... so I think with the younger ones it is better to start with social media in class: they need support, quidance and more control. later, with the growth of their independence the teacher raise the use od social media as homework.But then we should be sure, that there is an access to internet at school for those ones who do not have one at home...
For my point of view, 'economic' obstacles are crucial when one consider problems with using social media at schools. Our world changes so much, that I believe that soon or later, even Ts who now prefer old-fashioned methods of teaching will use social media in order to make more interestin classes for Ss. To gain new knowledge it's never too late! (There are many courses where Ts can be tought how to deal with computers). Much more serious are obstacles connected with economic situation, such as luck of proper equipment at schools or free access to the Internet.
I agree that teachers should be really clued-up to technical innovations and most of them feel the need to follow new trends. However, it is not an easy task as students will always be one step ahead. What is more, teachers are overworked and they do not have extra time for participating in social media forums. Despite of the massive programmes of having access to the Internet, there are stiil places where students have huge difficulties in it.
I believe using social media in education is a must these days. We need to teach our students a real language, a language which is present in everyday life. Our students play computer games, write blogs, surf the internet, watch TV, use mobiles, iPods and iPhones. They really enjoy interactive lessons, which they find interesting.
However, as you all write here, there are some obstacles that do not allow all schools to use a new technology. First of all, the problem is a lack of money. Schools do not have enough money to equip well the classrooms in their schools. Another problem is, here I agree with apsik, that some teachers do not use those tools either because they cannot use it or because they are afraid of using it.
Main obstacles I've come across are as follows:
- there are no computers in a language lab, so language teachers can't use s computers any time they want, and often those from an IT lab are unavailable, because there are many IT lessons every day
- there are still some students who don’t have access to the internet at home, which makes it impossible to give students homework that involves using social media
- there is a group of students who seem to lack motivation to learn a foreign language, no matter what techniques teachers use, moreover, social media is a part of most teenagers’ daily lives, so they don’t find it particularly attractive to use social media during a lesson
Despite all obstacles mention above, in my believe, Ts should try to provide using social media tasks in their classes. Simply because nowadays "21st century Learners" need to be taugh with 21st century inventions. This is first thing to do. Teachers as teachers should show an example, a good example of using social media in a proper way.
By using social media in class,Teachers show Ss how to use them properly. And before giving social media tasks for homework, Ss should be given some examples how to use, such a great invention as the internet for other purpose instead only for games. The main problem with doing social media tasks as homework would be the access to the internet. Not all Ss have computers and internet at home.
Teachers should try to find a solution of existing problems to make teaching more efficient and interesting.
As we can read on this forum, media have a great potential and huge store of materials, which can be used both in teaching and learning. However, there are many obstacles that obstain us from using it. I do not want to be a pessimist, but I am afraid that one day it may happen that media will disqualify those teachers, who do not use them… What do you think?
- schools are not well-equipped, there are not enough computers and the access to the Internet is limited in many schools
- teachers are not familiar with technology and they are often afraid of using the Internet during the lesson
- students don't want to learn, they want to play computer games only
- parents don't encourage their children to use the Internet to study
I think that some of the main obstacles to social media use are lack of teachers' awareness of the kind of media importance for students' motivation and lack of Ts' ability to use the media. I believe that the latter may be even of greater importance. I'm the best example of a dedicated teacher using variety of teaching methods but not educated in the area of social media which have gained such popularity particularly among young people. I don't read and write blogs, I don't use wikis, I don't chat on gadu-gadu.Many of the social media tools aren't parts of my life, I don't feel the need of using them. The two reports recommended to us on the role of social media in young people's lives have made me more aware of the growing inseparability of the two: young people and social media.
One more thing that comes to my mind as for the obstacles is the fact that many schools in Poland aren't sufficiently equipped with computers with the Internet access. Limited number of the computer labs makes it difficult to use computers when teaching.
Social media tasks for homework rather than in class? - What do you think?
In my opinion it would be a good idea to give an online homework to students in secondary lower schools and high schools. I think that an online homework would be a good idea because of high prices of coursebooks and workbooks.
Nevertheless, schools are well equipped. Each school has an access to the Internet which should be used for educational purposes. However, it cannot be the most important of “kind” of the lesson and homework. In my opinion, e-learning should be only the component of the English course at Polish school to make learning more attractive. More and more teachers are able to use the equipment so it is not a problem..
Obstacles to social media use. The biggest problem in Polish school is their equipment or lack of it. The major problem is also a teachers’ unawareness of using the equipment. Conducting lesson with social media tools can be more time consuming so it could be problem for teachers who are actually in a constant rush.
In my opinion, social media is a great idea. However, as mentioned before in previous posts, it is problematic in our country to use the Internet in schools- on lessons or as homework. The problem is the access to the Internet, at school as well as in student's homes. I am a teacher in the country school and I must say I would not manage to use social media as tool for teaching. Students would not manage to fulfil tasks connected with it. In accordance, students are not even correctly educated about computers and their usage, so I suppose it would be hard, or even unworkable, in Poland. It is the greatest obstacle.
- Lack of equipment. Think about village schools. Sometimes it is not profitable do create IT class, when there are few students in schools. Look what is going on with our education in Poland. There is decrease in birth rate. Access to the internet might be a serious problem in case of small villages.
- Teacher's lack of knowledge in this area is also a serious problem.
- Students are always busy, some of them are not able to do for examle e-learning homeworks because they have got others extracurricular activities.
In my opinion, social media ( for example: blogs, forums, wikis) are a new technology adopted by our education system. Now more and more educators are willing to use such media during their lessons. In my point of view, the main obstacle is that our schools are full of old teachers who haven’t kept up with modern technologies and they give up using them. What is more, social media are developing so fast that it is impossible for all schools to follow them. There is lack of important equipment such as computers. What is more, another obstacle connected with social media is that many teenagers start using them for all the wrong reasons. We all know that social media is about sharing important and useful information, not only for example marketing and selling some services or products. In the end I want to add that lessons based on social media may be very time consuming.
Social media tasks for homework rather than in class? - What do you think?
I think it is a good idea, though when not all students have access to internet at home (as it is in my case) it may not be feasible for regular assignments. But then it is possible to use social media for project work. Firstly, it connects the project team and the teacher in an authentic and purposeful way. secondly, it allows gathering materials. and thirdly, it is good for monitoring the performance. It also seems, that Ss may be more motivated to visit a local library and spend a few hours there, if they are going to work on a topic, which is really interesting and meaningful to them.
I agree that the issue of students access to the Internet is very important. Also the very problem in many schools outside Warsaw is the possibility to have English language classes in classrooms with computers an access to the Internet. Nevertheless, I believe that if there is possibility to use this great tool it is worth it! Especially when it comes to social media showing real language the one a student will encounter while being abroad.
I don't think it would be a good idea to give an online homework to our students. In Polish reality, the number of drawbacks and difficulties would predominate the benefits. Of course a lot depends on social backgrounds our students come from and the school we teach in. We can give an online homework if we are sure that every single student has access to the Internet. This kind of homework (e.g. a discussion on a given topic) would probably be more attractive than doing another boring exercise in a traditional workbook. But still, we have to remember that the topic should be interesting to a given age group in order to engage everyone.
social media tasks for homework rather than in class? - What do you think?
In my opinion, using IT is a great idea in English teaching. It seems to be reasonable to incorporate homework into “e-activities”. However, there are many obstacles:
· Limited access to the Internet (especially in villages where the Internet is not as popular as in cities. The Internet is sill too expensive. As far as I know, the access to the Internet is not free in all Polish Public Libraries (even in cities), for example, there are many computers in Nałęczów’s library but everybody should pay for the Internet.
· Social media tasks for homework are not appropriate for every age group. Young children are too small.
· Students use various social networks (some likes facebook, the others nk..,etc) it would be difficult to choose the best one for homework.
Dear All,
Thank you all of your valuable contributions so far. I’d like to sum up the main ideas and concerns voiced so far here, in the three threads in English.
I’ll start with concerns /obstacles / difficulties that you’ve discussed:
A lot of the posts point to the fact that social media uptake by teachers will be very context-sensitive. For example, some of you say that in Polish public schools (which is where the Polish digital natives are), the access to computers is still difficult. The computer lab might be mostly booked for IT classes and booking into it with a foreign language class is not easy. Also, once you do manage to have a class in computer lab, you see another batch of difficulties, for example: inadequate students’ attention. Students, instead of focusing on the task only, may be multitasking, chatting with their friends (NOT in the foreign language I understand), etc. That is a problem especially in the reality in which the lesson is a 45-minute slot and the time pressure is big and your class size not very small.
In the light of the above, I’d make two suggestions: It might be a good idea to 1. plan your social media-enhanced lessons or tasks so that Ss work outside class time (e g. from home)and 2. assess on the basis of the task completion (in which case it does not matter if Ss complete the task in 20 minutes or in 40 minutes because they were in a chat at the time of completing the task). However, such a design would mean that all students need Internet/computer access either from home or from an open-access place at school or other public space. At a recent IATEFL event in Warsaw, a colleague told me that in Poland most (all?) public libraries (in both towns and villages) now have computer + fast Internet access free for all. Do you think delegating our Ss to a public library to do their online homework would be an option?
Delegating most / all tasks involving social media as ‘homework’ would also mean the T no longer needs to be monitoring Ss’ screens while they are doing the task. Also, such homework would be a good way of “getting” your student’s attention. Piotr listed things learners now do when they go home:
- checking e-mails
- turning gg on (a chat)
- turning skype on
- facebook
- nk (Polish social networking site)
- wikis
- blogs
-games
Perhaps it would be a good idea to incorporate their homework into those activities?
Now, let me quickly list factors influencing successful social media use in language learning that you mentioned:
1. T’s attitude (openness to learn from his/her students. confidence. willingness to get extra training in technologies and willingness to collaborate with the IT teacher)
2. T’ s preparation (in the sense of task preparation, but also getting to know which tools your students use on every-day basis)
3. Access to technology and reliable Internet connection
4. Methodology / pedagogy (It’s not enough to use technology, the pedagogy behind technology must be sound and logical. Tasks should be meaningful, should allow learners to develop as personalities/ people, and should also require that students think creatively and critically).
Let me finish by repeating the question asked in the middle of this post: social media tasks for homework rather than in class? - What do you think?
I think that this is not a matter of teacher’s lack of knowledge how to use the social media tools or the matter of equipment that limit the use of social media in education (a great majority of students have computers and access to the Internet at home and all the schools have it too). The major problem is a teacher’s overload with paperwork and hours that he or she has to spend filling in the piles of useless documentation instead of thinking how to make lessons more interactive, appealing and up-to-date. Another issue are exams and school authorities that put great pressure on teachers to make their students pass the continually changing exams with the highest scores. This results in teaching mostly for exams and does not leave a teacher time for “playing” with web tools which are in that case considered a waste of time. Therefore, social tools are used only by some teachers, maybe these are those who are supported by their headmasters believing that only through incorporating technology in the lessons we can tailor teaching to the needs of contemporary students.
In my opinion, the biggest obstacle to using social media in education in Polish public schools is their insufficient equipment.
I also agree with the statement that teachers' inability to use social media in education is a serious obstacle to using them. Nevertheless, teachers can learn how to use them. However, they need a well-equipped computer lab to put their abilities into practice and to use all these abilities during the lesson unit. And it can be a more serious problem for Polish poor schools, because they simply do not have enough money to ensure all the teachers with computers and with the access to the Internet.
I must agree that students are vey often much more skilled in technology than teachers. On the other hand, I think that teacher should keep abreast of the times. Unfortunatelly, sometimes he/she simply doesn't want to...Moreover, I would like to add that teachers should use students' knowledge about technology for teacher's own purposes, e.g: the use of a Smart Board during the lesson. I use a Smart Board in my private lessons and becouse of the fact that it works like a computer, it is attractive for students. That's why I think we should use the speed of technology developement and make it work for us.
I agree that a reasonable infrastructure is a minimum requirement for the application of social media in the class. Without sufficient material resources such as computer labs and reliable internet connection it is hard to expect from teachers to incorporate social media into their lesson plans. However, even more important is the training. I would disagree, that teachers are not using social media in the class because they are conservative, unwilling to change or fearing technology. Most teachers are open to inventions and, with some training, they quickly become apt users of the new media. However, knowing the tool is also not sufficient. I think, what is really needed, is a good methodology training and access to pre-selected resources. Taking into account the vastness of the internet, using social media in teaching, is a much more time-consuming business compared with the traditional methods. Since teachers usually don’t have extra time, without professional assistance (training, materials, model lessons, list of web-sites for a given topic etc.) they will not be able to make a significant progress.
A lot has already been written here. Therefore, some of my reflections may coincide with what has already been posted in this thread. I am not teaching at present, however basic my views on the observations I did during my pedagogical practice I may say that teaching through media can be seen as a priviledge for a particular school. Why do I think so?
It is simply because school facilities do not give our students such possibilities. Of course there are computer labs in almost every school because IT is an obligatory subject. Neverhteless, I assume that conducting a lesson which employs new technology requires more than an hour to introduce the topic, create and evaluate. As I remember there has always been a fight in order to get to a computer lab and conduct English there.
Summing up, money is the issue here.)
There are a lot of problems connected with the use of social media.
First of all, many teachers and learners cannot cope with modern web-based technologies.
Moreover, most especially elder teachers prefer to teach in reality. Virtual world is unintelligible and unknown for them. Some of them believe that social media are the source of entertainment and the domain of only young people.
Additionally, if we thin k about social media in the process of education, we should take into account learners, who are disabled, for instance blind. They have limited abilities and cannot use computers or they use them partially or with friends' help.
Technology is an important part of both personal and professional lives, that is why social media tools are also very often introduced into language teaching. We could even say that they are becoming a normal part of ELT. However, many teachers are afraid of using them in the classroom. One of the reasons is that their students are often more knowledgeable and skilled users of current technology than they are. We should remember that today's children do not know the world without a computer, they feel comfortable and confident with it - they grow up using computers and other technological inventions. And teachers, in many cases, have come late to the world of technology. Of course there are many courses they can attend as Sylwia notices, but I don't think it is so easy. Conducting lessons with social media tools can be a real problem for many Polish teachers.
I think that the most annoying thing, as far as obstacles are concerned, is when the equipment does not want to work properly as if it would be against you. But, when a teacher checked it couple of minutes ago everything was ok. As a result, a teacher has to waste his time to fix the problem and children are making a mess at that time. What is more, in my opinion, it discourages teachers who do not feel confident with high technology tools. The truth is some children at Primary School already know more about computers than their teachers. That is why, they often assist them during a lesson.
Sorry, I have to disagree with some previous comments that there is a problem for them to conduct the lesson with social media tools when the equipment is on the second floor. There is a very simple solution to that problem. You can always ask your colleague to change the classroom.
I agree that preparing a social media task is time consuming. But let's think about it as an idea that motivates students. The teachers can extend lessons and learners take more responsibility in the learning process. The way they learn is acceptable and interesting for them. So why not try?
I totally agree with the opinion that the sufficient equipment is a huge problem for Polish public schools’ teachers. In my school theoretically there is a computer lab and actually it is well-equipped, however it is situated on the first floor and my lessons usually take place on the second. I know that it is not a huge distance to ‘conquer’ although, very often it takes some time to get there and for me this time is simply wasted. For this reason, despite the fact that I’m aware of the advantages of using computers at school, I prefer to assign homework within the use of a social media tool rather than to make use of them during the lesson.
I think learners’ distraction can sometimes become an obstacle to employing social media in the classroom. When using a computer lab, the teacher may face attention difficulties. Learners instead of concentrating on the content of what is being discussed can focus on the tool itself. Also, they can be tempted to check other websites (like YouTube or Facebook) during the lesson. Thus, the real challenge for the teacher is to make sure that learners are working on relevant things. Obviously, limited confidence affects the way the lesson is conducted. For instance, I know teachers who prefer to teach from the back of the classroom so that they can control the monitors most of the time.
I think that the teacher's attitude is the most important thing here. If the teacher wants to make learning more attractive and introduce social media in the lessons, there should not be any barriers (excluding problems with equipment in school). There are many courses for teachers that help in finding the innovative and attractive way to teach Ss using media and access to them is so easy nowadays that it should not be a problem to learn how to manage with technologies and aplications.
Although social media can be a great tool for foreign language teaching and learning, there might be some obstacles that the teacher and students may encounter. In my opinion, the content of some websites can be the problem. Many people say that Wikipedia is a great tool for language learning, but Wikipedia is made by people who are not always experts in a specific subject. Anyone can create their own article. Those entries are not necessary supported by scientific research, and I think the teachers should be cautious while using Wikipedia in their work.
well, everybody seems to be right. There are many obstacles- the teacher may be (does not have to be) one of them. The teacher who may not be interested in using social media, who may be afraid, who sometimes, and I hope very seldom- may think that using social media is not that necessary. There are,however, teachers who want to use social media - and they do. Another obstacle, as somebody has already mentioned- is the access to well equipped facilities. On the one hand, we hear about programs such as "computer lab in every school" and so on, but on the other hand- the school has no chance to follow the fast world of technology. What was enough yesterday- is not enough today. Another obstacle may be the fact that preparing a lesson based on social media is usually time consuming.
The nothing new’ syndrome deals with modern television and the Internet viewing population. For the modern population it is nothing special when the teacher switches on monitor in the classroom and presents video materials or particular web sides with using a computer and the Internet. The only way to present video activities as appealing experience for learners, the teacher needs to select appropriate material and present it in an effective and absorbing way.
Another problem which has to be avoided are poor quality discs dealing with poorly created video material which cannot involve students waiting for something professional as well as ambitious. That is why, the teacher who wants to introduce attractive lesson should decide which particular materials use as well as make sure that its quality is sufficient to attract learners’ attention.
Even if the teacher is computer literate and creative, s/he can face serious problems with equipment. In Polish public schools it can be extremely difficult to get access to a computer lab. I am a teacher myself and (unfortunately) I know it from my own experience. Preparing appropriate activities is one thing, but being able to conduct a lesson in a computer lab is a far more difficult and often discouraging experience. Another obstacles are the quality of computers and the Internet connection.
What is more, not only teachers', but also learners computers skills can be problematic. Most learners can easily operate computers, but is it always so? Here, we take information technology for granted, but there are still many families which cannot afford a computer.
Also the learners' age is an important factor. Young learners (by 'young' I mena grades 1-3 of primary school) may not be able to follow teacher's instructions.
Agree, but I'd be more precise. The teachers' stupidity may be the obstacle. even if he/she doesn't know how to operate the computer , it is possible (and accessible) to take part in special courses for teachers. I'm currently doing some courses and well, they cost from 21zł + . Sounds like almost free extra qualifications. The matter is if I want or not. :)
As far as the obstacles connected with social media are concerned, the teacher comes to my mind as the first obstacle. I mean not prepared teacher and even not qualified one. While working with websites and other social media the teacher should be a person to organize and know how particular things work. It may be frustrating for students when the teacher doe not know how to find sth or worse how to operate the computer.
When I think generally about social media used for teaching I can hardly think of any obstacles. Then, however, as somebody said, specific tools become obsolete a unfashionable. Students may not want to use it anymore or may find them uninteresting. Moreover, there is q question of teachers' competences and training to use them. Sometimes students are more skillful at using them than teachers. It may create certain problems. What seems to be really important, is that the personal interaction between students and teachers is replaced by virtual one, which, I think, is less beneficial for students
I know that it would be perfect for some teachers (I mean technology noobs) to implement face book into teaching system and create 3-4 lessons plans and to stick to it for the rest of their carrier.
But I though the teachers to be constantly developing, learning new methods, new tools and surprising students. That should be the standard, that we are progressing together with our students and together with new technology.
Using one tool would become boring at certain moment even for you. Teachers need to be creative, flexible in all areas dealing with edu.
That is a good question Sylvia, and I do not think we can train our pre service teachers to a specific tool but rather to a range of tools or to see the affordances of a tool. I mean there are a lot of pedagogical ideas which can be transfered from one tool to another. Since we know that tools will continue changing, we do not have much choice anyway...we cannot wait till the good one ! I think we can already try to make the most of what is available and helpful in some ways for learning languages.
The thing about social media is that it moves very fast. social networks that people used 2 years ago like Myspace are now being abandoned, if you implemented Those networks into your system, you'd now have to change to more commonly used nwtworks like facebook and twitter.
There needs to be a standard that would allow data connectivity with various social media outlets, either that or a social media channel specifically for education institutions.
Commentaires
Re your question "social media tasks for homework rather than in class?" For homework, of course. However, be aware of the meaning of the expression "social media tasks"--it would be both students and a teacher homework, namely STUDIES AT A DISTANCE. Have you any doubt? Observe my activities at Multilingual Studies at a Distance. Students and Academics of All Countries, Unite! :-) ( http://fedcba.ning.com/ ). ;-)
I’m not an opponent of traditional classes, however I regard e-learning components ("samples") as useful and attractive. There are so many possibilities available to use in the class.
However, as you all write here, there are some obstacles that do not allow all schools to use a new technology. First of all, the problem is a lack of money. Schools do not have enough money to equip well the classrooms in their schools. Another problem is, here I agree with apsik, that some teachers do not use those tools either because they cannot use it or because they are afraid of using it.
- there are no computers in a language lab, so language teachers can't use s computers any time they want, and often those from an IT lab are unavailable, because there are many IT lessons every day
- there are still some students who don’t have access to the internet at home, which makes it impossible to give students homework that involves using social media
- there is a group of students who seem to lack motivation to learn a foreign language, no matter what techniques teachers use, moreover, social media is a part of most teenagers’ daily lives, so they don’t find it particularly attractive to use social media during a lesson
By using social media in class,Teachers show Ss how to use them properly. And before giving social media tasks for homework, Ss should be given some examples how to use, such a great invention as the internet for other purpose instead only for games. The main problem with doing social media tasks as homework would be the access to the internet. Not all Ss have computers and internet at home.
Teachers should try to find a solution of existing problems to make teaching more efficient and interesting.
- teachers are not familiar with technology and they are often afraid of using the Internet during the lesson
- students don't want to learn, they want to play computer games only
- parents don't encourage their children to use the Internet to study
One more thing that comes to my mind as for the obstacles is the fact that many schools in Poland aren't sufficiently equipped with computers with the Internet access. Limited number of the computer labs makes it difficult to use computers when teaching.
- Teacher's lack of knowledge in this area is also a serious problem.
- Students are always busy, some of them are not able to do for examle e-learning homeworks because they have got others extracurricular activities.
· Limited access to the Internet (especially in villages where the Internet is not as popular as in cities. The Internet is sill too expensive. As far as I know, the access to the Internet is not free in all Polish Public Libraries (even in cities), for example, there are many computers in Nałęczów’s library but everybody should pay for the Internet.
· Social media tasks for homework are not appropriate for every age group. Young children are too small.
· Students use various social networks (some likes facebook, the others nk..,etc) it would be difficult to choose the best one for homework.
Thank you all of your valuable contributions so far. I’d like to sum up the main ideas and concerns voiced so far here, in the three threads in English.
I’ll start with concerns /obstacles / difficulties that you’ve discussed:
A lot of the posts point to the fact that social media uptake by teachers will be very context-sensitive. For example, some of you say that in Polish public schools (which is where the Polish digital natives are), the access to computers is still difficult. The computer lab might be mostly booked for IT classes and booking into it with a foreign language class is not easy. Also, once you do manage to have a class in computer lab, you see another batch of difficulties, for example: inadequate students’ attention. Students, instead of focusing on the task only, may be multitasking, chatting with their friends (NOT in the foreign language I understand), etc. That is a problem especially in the reality in which the lesson is a 45-minute slot and the time pressure is big and your class size not very small.
In the light of the above, I’d make two suggestions: It might be a good idea to 1. plan your social media-enhanced lessons or tasks so that Ss work outside class time (e g. from home)and 2. assess on the basis of the task completion (in which case it does not matter if Ss complete the task in 20 minutes or in 40 minutes because they were in a chat at the time of completing the task). However, such a design would mean that all students need Internet/computer access either from home or from an open-access place at school or other public space. At a recent IATEFL event in Warsaw, a colleague told me that in Poland most (all?) public libraries (in both towns and villages) now have computer + fast Internet access free for all. Do you think delegating our Ss to a public library to do their online homework would be an option?
Delegating most / all tasks involving social media as ‘homework’ would also mean the T no longer needs to be monitoring Ss’ screens while they are doing the task. Also, such homework would be a good way of “getting” your student’s attention. Piotr listed things learners now do when they go home:
- checking e-mails
- turning gg on (a chat)
- turning skype on
- facebook
- nk (Polish social networking site)
- wikis
- blogs
-games
Perhaps it would be a good idea to incorporate their homework into those activities?
Now, let me quickly list factors influencing successful social media use in language learning that you mentioned:
1. T’s attitude (openness to learn from his/her students. confidence. willingness to get extra training in technologies and willingness to collaborate with the IT teacher)
2. T’ s preparation (in the sense of task preparation, but also getting to know which tools your students use on every-day basis)
3. Access to technology and reliable Internet connection
4. Methodology / pedagogy (It’s not enough to use technology, the pedagogy behind technology must be sound and logical. Tasks should be meaningful, should allow learners to develop as personalities/ people, and should also require that students think creatively and critically).
Let me finish by repeating the question asked in the middle of this post: social media tasks for homework rather than in class? - What do you think?
I also agree with the statement that teachers' inability to use social media in education is a serious obstacle to using them. Nevertheless, teachers can learn how to use them. However, they need a well-equipped computer lab to put their abilities into practice and to use all these abilities during the lesson unit. And it can be a more serious problem for Polish poor schools, because they simply do not have enough money to ensure all the teachers with computers and with the access to the Internet.
It is simply because school facilities do not give our students such possibilities. Of course there are computer labs in almost every school because IT is an obligatory subject. Neverhteless, I assume that conducting a lesson which employs new technology requires more than an hour to introduce the topic, create and evaluate. As I remember there has always been a fight in order to get to a computer lab and conduct English there.
Summing up, money is the issue here.)
First of all, many teachers and learners cannot cope with modern web-based technologies.
Moreover, most especially elder teachers prefer to teach in reality. Virtual world is unintelligible and unknown for them. Some of them believe that social media are the source of entertainment and the domain of only young people.
Additionally, if we thin k about social media in the process of education, we should take into account learners, who are disabled, for instance blind. They have limited abilities and cannot use computers or they use them partially or with friends' help.
Sorry, I have to disagree with some previous comments that there is a problem for them to conduct the lesson with social media tools when the equipment is on the second floor. There is a very simple solution to that problem. You can always ask your colleague to change the classroom.
Another problem which has to be avoided are poor quality discs dealing with poorly created video material which cannot involve students waiting for something professional as well as ambitious. That is why, the teacher who wants to introduce attractive lesson should decide which particular materials use as well as make sure that its quality is sufficient to attract learners’ attention.
What is more, not only teachers', but also learners computers skills can be problematic. Most learners can easily operate computers, but is it always so? Here, we take information technology for granted, but there are still many families which cannot afford a computer.
Also the learners' age is an important factor. Young learners (by 'young' I mena grades 1-3 of primary school) may not be able to follow teacher's instructions.
I know that it would be perfect for some teachers (I mean technology noobs) to implement face book into teaching system and create 3-4 lessons plans and to stick to it for the rest of their carrier.
But I though the teachers to be constantly developing, learning new methods, new tools and surprising students. That should be the standard, that we are progressing together with our students and together with new technology.
Using one tool would become boring at certain moment even for you. Teachers need to be creative, flexible in all areas dealing with edu.
There needs to be a standard that would allow data connectivity with various social media outlets, either that or a social media channel specifically for education institutions.