Social Media is an important part of most Americans' everyday lives. After reading about what Social Media is and is not. I think that my dealings with Social Media began back in 1995. That sounds a little early for what we traditionally think of Social Media. However, my early days of dialup internet took place on AOL. AOL was my Internet Service Provider (ISP). AOL was unique at the time because when you signed on you were given a simple interface that allowed you to email, message, chat, or search the web on the start page. As soon as you logged on, It would say “You Got Mail”. You could click a few buttons and then you would be able to interact live with hundreds of people on chat rooms. In fact, thinking about it now, it seems more advanced, in a way, than what we do online today. AOL introduced Instant messaging in 1997 which is still a major part of most traditional Social Media apps. (Streets, 2024) AOL was definitely ahead of their time. I think that their system was more user friendly than most around today.
Over the years, I have used several different forms of Social Media. Probably the three most used by me are Youtube, Myspace (20 yrs ago) and Facebook.I am like many people across the United States, over 50% of people have Facebook. (Lawrence, 53)Traditional forms of Social Media are banned at my school. The sites are blocked from the Chromebooks and phones are not even allowed to be seen in the school except for in the office. We do use alot alot of forms of technology in class. One in particular that I used a lot when teaching History last year was Kialo. Kialo is an online debate platform that allows users to post debate questions and then post theses for those questions. Then other users can interact with the Question or the thesis. They also can vote on which comments are more compelling.
.jpeg)
In the screenshot above you will notice that one student has made a thesis (We SHould Allow All Immigrants into the USA.) to the Question (at the Top). The Thesis is then commented on by several users. Students (7th grade) were required in my class to make so many comments, and at least two comments should have a link to where the information was received. Now as you see that students also rated the arguments that were compelling (the bar above each comment). This was the part that usually was frustrating, because the comments that had evidence rarely were rated for being compelling and other emotional responses were rated high. This debate would last for a week and then everybody would be required to write an essay about what their opinions were about the topic. This site isn’t a traditional Social Media site. However, students do socially interact on it, so therefore I think it would be considered Social Media in a way.
In using Kialo, my goal was very similar to the “Think, Write, Argue, Create” framework that Dan Lawrence writes about in his book (Lawrence, 36 ). Online debates help students develop critical thinking and become better at putting thought in writing. It also encourages students to interact with different ideas that they may not be familiar with. It is great to see students think through ideas that they have not been exposed to. I have included a video above that explains how one can use Kialo in their classroom.
Social Media has changed and is continuing to change the world that we leave in. Our students continue to use Social Media at an alarming rate. As an educator is important that we stay up to date with all the trends and look for to incorporate them in the classroom.
References
Lawrence, Dale. (2022). Digital writing: A guide to writing for social media and the web. Ontario, Canada: Broadview Press
Streets, M. (2024) The history and evolution of social media explained. Techtarget.https://www.techtarget.com/WhatIs/feature/The-history-and-evolution-of-social-media-explained
Washburn, B. (2024) Cultivate critical thinking with online debate platforms. Technology Teaching Resources. chttps://brittanywashburn.com/2024/03/cultivate-critical-thinking-with-online-debate-platforms/
I had not heard of Kialo prior to reading your post! I think it would be a fun and engaging way to support students in interacting in an online environment in a more controlled setting than Instagram or Facebook for example. Educators can then provide students with instruction in content areas, such as history as you mentioned, but also teach students ways to engage safely and courteously online while learning important content and life skills, like productive and respectful debate and/or arguments. Lawrence talks about the need for connectivity and interaction for humans; Kialo seems to be a great platform to encourage ways to meet those needs in a school setting while still being able to meet the needs of content standards. I am excited to explore this platform and hopefully incorporate into my own classroom!
ReplyDeleteReferences
Lawrence, D. (2022). Digital writing: A guide for social media and the web. Broadview Press.