The 10 commandments of using social media in the classroom @rlj1981 @BCOTMEDIA

1 - Thou Shalt Follow Thy Acceptable Usage Policy

It is crucial to make sure your use of social media comes within, and is sanctioned by your institution's guidelines. If your acceptable usage policy forbids social media it is time to rewrite it. Do this in consultation with other schools or colleges who are using social media in the classroom successfully.

For full transparency give your username and password to your Line Manager. Share and discuss what you are doing with your colleagues or a TeachMeets. Speak to peers from other schools or colleges for tips, advice, and guidelines.

2 - Thou Shalt Be Positive

Do not call students out online for missing deadlines, being absent, falling short of your standards eg tagging people in posts such as ‘The following people have not submitted their ….’.

Chances are that they have a reason so embarrassing them in front of their peers is perhaps not the best way forward. Students will not check your groups, inbox messages, or interact with you online if they associate it with being nagged. They will close the door on you. It is essential to be upbeat, encouraging, and enthusiastic by praising, sharing cool things, and extending the learning in fun and humorous ways eg starting comment threads under relevant images, memes, and videos. If you need to speak to someone about something they have done/ not done it should be done in a private message that is supportive, patient and kind ‘How can I help you?’ or ‘Do you need anything?’

3 - Thou Shalt Be Respectful of Thy Students Personal Lives

Unfollow their posts on Facebook so you only see what they share with you/ in your group. Many students reluctance to use social media in class is because they feel their personal life can be seen by their Tutors. Professional Twitter accounts, LinkedIn profiles, and Google+ accounts are great ways to assist your evidence based learning while simultaneously helping your students to develop their digital footprint.

We need to teach the importance of a strong online reputation - it is your responsibility to make it clear how positively or negatively their social media can affect them as employers WILL be looking at how they choose to portray themselves.

4 - Thou shalt collaborate on a Code of Conduct with your Students. Use this as the basis….

Code of Conduct:

Do not abuse the site or others users.

Respect each other and their opinions; everyone has one and has the right to voice it.

Anyone who break the code of conduct will be excluded from this group and may be withdrawn from the course.

...then you can ask your students to collaborate with you in a Google Doc to agree on what they feel should be the additional rules of their social media and by extension, their classroom eg no swearing, no trolling, no eating in class etc.

5 - Thou shalt make using social media part of a meaningful learning experience.

Do not try and use social media in the classroom as a gimmick or to look cool. If you are unsure how to use social media meaningfully, then you might like to start:

Live tweeting a lesson using a # to interact with those beyond your classroom.

Create a closed group on Facebook for your students to interact.

Tweeting links to a class blog to attract public readership and comments from industry professionals

Create a circle on Google Plus, where students can interact and easily comment on work created using Google Apps For Education.

Instagram images from your class of good work, tips, or reminders from your board

Using these tools can be used to develop key employability skills such as teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, communication, as well as their digital literacy.

6 - Thou shalt not expect everything to work first time, every time.

Using social media is like using IT. Always have a Plan B in case something doesn’t work. Be accepting that sometimes the best planned lessons that rely on technology may well not ever happen. Accept that using IT can be risky, but that it is worth the risk for the gains you see in student learning.

Learning alongside your students and showing that you are excited and engaged in the process of trying new things, getting things wrong, reflecting, and then getting better will help you gain credibility and their respect.

The element of novelty and fun that trying new approaches such as Twitter hashtag debates about that mornings news or creating Vines or Instagram about the progress of a 1-day project will buy you goodwill and the attention of your students.

7 - Thou shalt practice what you preach.

If you plan on using social media in your lessons, you need to be relatively au fait with how it works. Of course everyone is a learner, and we are all having to learn all the time to keep up with the pace of change in the types of social media that learners use. Part of using social media in the classroom is accepting that our role as a teacher is about learning too - what a great positive role model for your students.

If you want tips or some inspiration you can speak to other Teachers online eg tweet questions using #ukfechat or #ukedchat to see just how supportive the education community online is.

8 - Thou shalt always be the grown up, even if you are not in the room.

You are the teacher. You are the professional. You have a responsibility to care for and keep your students safe. Even though you are using social media to communicate with your students in a virtual space they are comfortable with, the same rules and sanctions must apply as in the classroom. Remember the Internet is a public place, and all interactions must be professional.

Safeguard them against harm online by role-modelling to them how to use social media to connect, promote, share, debate and discover - set the example. We have a responsibility to show how social media can enhance their reputation as connected, tech-savvy, professional citizens to their future employers.

9 - Thou shalt share

Find and share articles, videos, images, and journals and post them to your students.

Get your students to reciprocate - they can be Guest Curators each week using agreed tags on Twitter relevant to what you are studying as they share cool links and interesting material on an agreed topic. For example, our advertising work has been greatly enriched by all the #bcotad tweets that have come in from students, industry contacts, degree students, and others from around the country that have seen and joined in the debate.

Invest your students with a lifelong love of sharing and learning by demonstrating how you seek out and share new experiences. Your students want to share the great new thing they are into. That feeling of sharing and connecting with them provides us with so many chances to expand their own (and our own) knowledge and passion in a way that appeals to their interests, on their terms, and in what is becoming for many young people - their preferred way of communication.

10 - Thou shalt not think your learning is ever done.o

You need to defer to them as the experts of social media and show the intellectual curiosity you expect in return

Ask them what apps they are using. Ask them how they are viewing, reading, watching and/ or listening to their favourite things so you can understand how best to connect with them in the way that feels natural and fun to them.

Follow their lead - get them to show/ share you what they are into.

Ask them what they are into - always.

Made with Adobe Slate

Make your words and images move.

Get Slate

Report Abuse

If you feel that this video content violates the Adobe Terms of Use, you may report this content by filling out this quick form.

To report a Copyright Violation, please follow Section 17 in the Terms of Use.