Forums

Hello everyone, I am really interested in using social media in the classroom but I have yet to hear of any examples of successful social media integration in a science classroom. I recently read quite a few articles on the motivational power of social media and I have noticed that Science has become a trending topic on sites such as twitter and facebook. I teach Earth Science and I have just started a twitter account @MissFranklinSci so now I am looking for ideas or suggestions that will get students to realize the potential of social media as an educational and professional tool as well as a social tool.

My Earth Science students have a blog. In the past we have just used it to explain the science behind unusual events (i.e. Superstorm Sandy and the Oso mudslide). This coming school year they are going to post to it more frequently (probably weekly).

What I love about the blogging process is the blog is designed for students to teach other students or the general public. I assign the topics, but students decide how to present those topics. It's not perfect, but perhaps it will give you another example of how to use social media in the classroom. All of my students were engaged and I 'advertised' it on facebook. I have a Twitter account. I know I need to use it more.....but just have not.

You can view it at BV Earth Science Rocks.

WOW, your blog looks great! I was wondering if you had to pay to create the site or if you used a free DIY site? My biggest fear when it comes to using social media in the classroom is that I am not all that familiar with how to work technology. This is exactly the type of thing I hope to get my students participating in.

Our school uses Edmodo quite a bit. Its Facebook with out all the crap. Students generally don't post anything vulgar or bad...if they do they get suspended, so they learn pretty quickly that they can't do it. I have a school twitter account that I invite the kids to follow me on. I tweet homework/test reminders and an occasional extra credit question. I generally do the extra credit on weekends or over breaks to make them think about chemistry while they are gone!

Robin wrote, 'What grade are you using the blogging idea with? Do students post from home or only from school?'

Hi Robin,
This year I am using blogging with all my classes (grades 9-12). We will have three class blogs: one for Earth Science (it is the oldest), one for Physics, and one shared by all my Life Science courses (Genetics, Biology, and A&P) and Chemistry. I just shared the link for the Earth Science blog since we have been using it for three years. Biology is currently working on their first post about the need for a new phylum. The first post should go live tomorrow. I will put the link in the thread when it does because we talk about the proposed new phylum's links to the fossil record.

When working on the blog, students draft a blog post in a shared Google docs document. Each student group can work at the same time on their post. Students can also peer review each others work. I act as editor and science expert. Many times we work on the blog in class. I am the only one with administrator privileges so students submit their final draft to me only with images. I posted everything to the blog. My administration encouraged this policy so nothing inappropriate would be posted.

There are many kid-safe blog tools out there that protect the students' privacy but still allow for a rich learning environment (e.g., Kidblog). Some of these have a "basic" version for free or a more enhanced version for an annual fee. I think it is important to make sure the blog tool is secure and not open to the public, especially for younger students.