News article - "Learning to Teach Social Media" Posted by Kerrie

Click here to read the article "Learning to Teach Social Media"

 The Drum Unleashed is a production by the Australian Broadcasting Commission.  It is a forum that encourages people to contribute ideas based on current issues.  I came across an article written by Mike Stuchberry who is a high school English and Civics teacher, he is also a regular contributor and occasional broadcaster with the ABC.

In his article titled “Learning to Teach Social Media”, Stuchberry tells the story of a series of lessons he did with a Year 8 Civics class.  The children had to explore and research the electoral process and the students had to use Twitter, Facebook and Youtube to report their findings.  The students were amazed that a teacher was giving them the opportunity to incorporate something that is up to date and relevant in their lives into their learning.  The students responded favourably to the task and were “alert, focused and loving what they were doing”.

Stuchberry goes on to express his thoughts on the Digital Revolution and the impact that it can have on teaching students.  He acknowledges that presently we are excited about the fact that we are giving children many opportunities to work with computers and some technologies that are associated with these devices but what good is the access to these devices if schools continue to block technologies such as social networking.

I agree with Stuchberry, Web 2.0 technologies are here to stay.  As educators, we need to embrace these technologies and demonstrate how they can be used effectively in the teaching and learning process.  The media is quick to jump on the negative impact that social networking sites can have on young people of today but are not as quick to jump on the bandwagon of demonstrating how they can be used effectively to enhance learning opportunities. 

The comments that followed Stuchberry’s article were interesting, there was certainly an element of doubt in some of the comments that people wrote:

“There’s a flourishing youth subculture online that ripples around forums, chats and Voip programs and does everything it can to stay away the commercial nonsense that is Facebook and Twitter.  Why force it on them in the classroom?”

While others applaud the concept:

                “If only we could have this kind of forward-thinking attitude across the teaching industry.”

I totally agree with this reader, as educators, our job is to encourage children to be active investigators and encourage enthusiasm and a thirst for learning in an environment that is stimulating and meaningful.  Well done Mike Stuchberry, you are doing your job effectively!