Most
teachers want to have an easy way to communicate with students and
their parents. We need a way to send information and assignments so
that everyone will receive them. At the same time, students need
somewhere to be able to ask questions, both to the teacher and their
peers. All my students have mobile telephones and all of them use
The only
thing left to do now is pick a name for the group; for example, the
name of the school and for which class and year the group is meant.
Choose to have a closed group, and then it is finished. The students
do not need to be friends to the group creator on Facebook to be able
to join the group. The teacher can invite the students or parents by sending an email to each of them;
then the students/parents will have access to the group. It is easy to post
information, assignments, videos and whatever else the teacher wants
to share with the students or their parents. It is also easy to see
who has read or seen what, as it appears next to each of the posts.
The teacher
can choose to use a group for only one subject or for more. The class
teacher can use a Facebook group to share information with parents. A
potential problem is that not all parents or students have Facebook
accounts. However, it is easy and free to create an account. For
students who struggle with homework or other assignments away from
school, the Facebook group can be used as a discussion between peers
or to ask questions to the teacher. The group can also be used to correspond with other
students, in other parts of the world. There are many possibilities.
It is important that the teacher and the students discuss what purpose the group has, so that everyone agrees on how it should
be used.
Malin Holmén
I totally agree upon the challenge to find the best way of communication, with both parents and students. Facebook seems to be a great platform for two-way communications. There is in fact one problem thou the minimum age of using Facebook is 13 years old, how did you manage that?
ReplyDeleteThe closed group is to prefer, this means you don’t have to worry about the confidentiality. These who join the group also agree upon the policies. How do you cope with the ones who don’t want or have the possibility to access Facebook?
As you say it is important to have a dialog about the purpose, what, how, how often… and I strongly believe a discussion with the parents would be wholly appropriate.
I like the easy and fast way of chatting and sharing e.g. information, problems, ideas, pictures and movies. Most students are already using their private Facebook to do these collaborations with their peers, why not be a part of it. It’s also a forum where you as a teacher can follow the discussions and see what the students are struggling with and if there is something to explain or talk about in school.
You have a good point when you say that “It is also easy to see who has read or seen what, as it appears next to each of the posts.”
As a parent it is a great place and chance to find out more and take part in what’s happening in school or the parents group where I can think of many interesting subjects to deal with.
Thanks for the hint about closed group; I thought you had to be friends to join such a group.
/Christina Olsson :)
Hi Chrisitina!
DeleteI work as a teacher at Gymnasiesärskolan, so my students are at least 16 years old. Teaching younger children, I would use Facebook to communicate with the parents, if that is a forum that most of them are using.
I haven't been using Facebook in to many groups yet, but so far all the students have joined our group, because they thought it was an exciting way to work. But it could become a problem if not everyone agrees to join. However, I have found it easier and quicker to get response through Facebook then through the school's mail system, because I can't get my students to check it as often as Facebook.
Malin Holmén :)
This is a very interesting and important topic. Facebook can be good for many of us and in many different contexts. It is important that it is used properly. I agree with you about Facebook in an educational context can be good.
ReplyDeleteLast year I had a discussion with a 17 year old senior high school student about Facebook. The student had a teacher who created a closed Group in the subject that he taught the students in. There were some students who did'n have Facebbok accounts, there were also some who had an account bud didn't wanna be included in the current group.
The teacher felt that he wanted to keep up with the forum where he thought the students devoted themselves to. The downside was that he put out the current homework and other material only on Facebook. Another senior high school teacher was totally against the use of Facebook in this context. He belived that personal interaction was more important. He wanted to give all the material orally and only on paper.
Yes, here we have two different ways of thinking. I think both teachers think and act right. I also think that both approaches can be complementary. One need not exclude the other. Again, it is important that all involved are aware of the opportunities and risks.
I think that it's a good idea to create closed Facebook groups, at senior high school level, on various topics where students and teachers can reach each other and that students know where they can pick up materials needed if they would have forgotten about it in school. Facebook has an minimum age of 13 years wich I think is still relevant. I know there have been discussions that it may be changed for even younger ages to use.
It is as you say important to discuss the purpose of the created Group so that it is not used in an inappropiate manner and lose the purpose of the Group on Facebook.
I wonder if there are anyone who has any knowledge or experience of using Facebook in this context at secondary level?
As a parent you can get a lot of information from the schools website. Many teachers also send weekly letters to the parents. If a teacher creates groups on Facebook, it may mean that it is a lot for the teacher to keep track of if the teacher teaches many differnet classes in their subject. There is a risk that both students and parents don't have the time, or either bother to check all the forums that are relevant to schoolwork. the expectations of the parents are different at elementary and secondary school in comparison with senior high school.
Pernilla L
I think using Facebook in the way that you proposed is a very interesting and important topic too. After all, my pupils spend a huge amount of time on Facebook, so why not take advantage of that and meet them in "their world". I believe that would definitely be a good way to show that Facebook can be used in an educational context, and not only for fun.
ReplyDeleteAs mentioned before it is important to include the parents in the discussion, what the purpose of this group is and how it is supposed to work. However, I disagree on using it as a forum for the parents. I believe they are already busy taking part of all other information that comes from the school. It is also likely that there are some parents that don’t have a Facebook account at all. I have met people that are strictly against Facebook as a concept -how would they be able to participate? Possibly, by letting the parents have access to the group it could make some of the pupils less active, or not active at all, which would be a problem.
In my class all pupils have Facebook (and they haven’t even turned 13 all of them…) so that wouldn’t be a problem. I’m not sure I’d like to use my private Facebook account though. But I have heard of teachers that have created a teacher account, when pupils want to befriend them on Facebook, where they’re called “Teacher First name, Last name” so I guess that could be an option.
I definitely think my pupils would enjoy working through a Facebook-group. As Malin said above, one probably will get response much quicker on Facebook than through mail. The way you can follow the discussion in the group threads, is a great way of keeping track of what the pupils talk about. And since they know that the teacher can read everything, they’ll probably keep to the subject and hopefully keep a nice attitude towards each other.
/Anna A.