Student Perspective Update

    With a better perspective of why students should invest their time in the SMLP after the first cycle of classes, second cycle research primarily analyzed social data produced by the first students to involve themselves. Overwhelmingly, this took the form of tweets in relation to the @Medford_High account. Early observations confirm that students are actively involved in the Twitter-verse and engaging in an academic relationship with them has potential. This is not without concern as data analysis uncovered issues with both transparency and generating an audience. Ideally, this will be resolved when meetings with specialized student groups contribute to the school's social media profile. 
    Research up to this point has focused primarily on the Twitter account because of bureaucratic issues with establishing the Facebook page. These should be resolved soon and further information on my interaction with Facebook's Page Operations Team may be inquired using the comment section. This issue has not been a concern because Medford High's student body is much more invested in Twitter.
    As of this post time, the @Medford_High account has eighteen student followers, one faculty follower, and two alumni followers. After eleven in-class presentations I was hoping for a larger sample size but from this data some conclusions can be drawn. Student use over these two weeks varies dramatically with some followers inactive and some tweeting more than thirty-five posts per day. This demonstrates how keeping up with all student activity is unreasonable to maintain as even the small sample size generates too many posts for one person to view completely. From the account's own perspective, six outgoing tweets were viewed by all followers and reciprocated two interactions. Again, I had expected more results but these low numbers are not discouraging. Student reception in the classroom suggests an audience is there, with the big question being what may spur academic discourse.
    Outside the numbers, there are also ideological concerns. I assumed in the beginning that students would not like Medford High to follow their personal accounts for privacy reasons. This would have been fine as long as they followed the MHS account themselves. Surprisingly, students quickly made me aware that in order to have followers, the @Medford_High account must follow-back, which opens up access to their non-academic posts. Etiquette like this is great for promoting transparency but the illicit nature of their day-to-day activity, at least by a small percentage of students, causes concern. It is outside the program's purview to react when students post questionable content that does not interact specifically with the school account. On the other hand, the worst case scenario of a student post requiring immediate intervention is a very real threat to what will hopefully remain amicable interactions between students and the program.
    A mission for the next cycle will be to speak with more specialized student groups who share a common connection in social media. The MHS Mantra is an active blog for student reporting and the school's yearbook club has more material resources than they know what to do with. Hopefully students can see the incentives in using Twitter and Facebook platforms as a tool to promote their hard work.

Curricular Enhancement

     If the primary focus of this blog is to analyze social media in an academic context
and the top priority is assessing the interests of students, it is also important to know the
interests of other actors involved. This is the only way to understand the social dynamics
of groups involved in campus life. The broad perspective used in the previous post to
analyze students becomes narrow and focused when considering the interests of an
individual so, to maintain a standard of transparency, this post will focus on my own
personal interests at stake in the SMLP.
     It is important to realize that when I refer to "my interests" it means any material
benefits that pertain exclusively to me. While the growth and understanding of social
media by students and faculty is something I'd very much like to realize, it is a mutual
gain and does not entirely demonstrate why I've invested so much, myself. To describe benefits serving only my interests it would be appropriate to label them as professional in nature. Thus,
upon completion of the internship, I would like there to be a place for me to continue this
kind of work with the support of a living wage.
     Achieving this cannot be done with only the meta analysis found here or by
forming relationships with students in a classroom setting. I must also make a tangible
contribution to the academic environment. Thinking about what form that may take, I
realize the most significant writings with an influence on the student-teacher relationship
are course curricula. The most effective way for me to serve my own interest would be to
draft a curriculum that utilizes social media and aligns itself with contemporary standards of
public education.
     Developing a high school curriculum involves many steps but the first is drafting
a proposal. An effective proposal must be highly specialized in order to fulfill New
England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) requirements as related to an
individual school's mission statement. My first draft in compliance with NEASC Curriculum Overview: Indicator 3 with respect to the Medford High School mission statement attempts to outline what a grade 9-12 Ethics course may look like as part of a Social Studies department. In summary, the teacher would use a historical perspective to design lesson plans that teach students the development of globalization and how human innovation played a role. A copy of this proposal, available upon request, is currently under review by the MHS administration.
     This proposal recognizes the potential of using social media as a tool to enhance
the classroom environment. Many have asked how social media may be added to existing
curricula and while MHS teachers are well on their way to incorporating it in their lesson
plans, to reach the greatest potential gain it must be apart of a course's foundation in the
curriculum.

Note: Another idea to be explored in a future post is how social media may serve as the
focus of high school student analysis, rather than as a supplement enhancing other course
objectives. Again, please use comment space below to inquire more about the proposal
described above or to offer curriculum development advice. Thank you.

The First Question

            After discussing what went into building up the Social Media Literacy Program (SMLP) in the first two posts, updates will now attempt to analyze results from the first completed cycle of school days. Giving six presentations has been a significant step in my own development of the program but it is a small one compared to those the school had already made. I’ve learned that the use of social media was far more prevalent than initially anticipated and the resources available to develop are reliable. Results from each class varied but a common characteristic did present itself. After concluding the 20-30 minute lecture portion, the first question asked by most who listened was “Why?”

            After resisting the temptation to say, “I just told you,” I realized the discussion will inevitably evolve into a more personal one. Setup to now was about identifying incentives for all actors involved. This type of transparency is understandably unnerving because anyone with previously veiled incentives risks exposure. The most difficult leap for an individual to make in the interest of promoting equity, collaboration, and innovation in any environment is convincing the status quo  there is nothing to lose. This task has been made easier upon finding other students, faculty, and staff who are enthusiastic about building a program to promote these ideas.

            In all future endeavors to advance on this blog, analysis will focus on the reactions of those who's interests we value most, the student’s. When they ask “why,” at the presentation’s conclusion, they want to be convinced their interests are the top priority. Conveying that interests are universal in the student-teacher relationship requires a mutual understanding; although teachers are more experienced in life and thus possess more knowledge, students are recognized as having more potential and developing them promotes a symbiotic relationship. A handful of students have understood what I mean by this answer to their question and are pleasantly building on the now official Medford High Facebook and Twitter(@Medford_High) accounts.

            I can reasonably expect this trend of connecting with a few students per class to continue over time. This is especially true considering my presentation technique can only improve. Guidance classes have offered the perfect environment for these first days of the SMLP because they are an equitable sampling of the student population. I would go so far as to say they can represent the baseline or control group because future meetings with different student organizations will by nature be more specialized.

            Medford High’s six day class cycle, on an A-F schedule, will become much more crowded as new opportunities present themselves. However my substitute teaching responsibilities change in response to cold and flu season, daily guidance classes will be further supplemented by meetings in classrooms with students who share more of a rapport. This is exciting because if those groups can understand that their interest is apart of a collaborative one, their established relationship will encourage the promotion of equity while fostering innovation.

Note: 500 words will be my target for these once-a-cycle updates. If readers have any questions, please post in the comment section below. Think of posts as abstracts, each summarizing the thesis of whatever research conversation can be extrapolated below.

Entering The Classroom

            Having spent the better part of two years developing the ideas featured in this blog’s first entry, future posts will reflect analysis of student interaction in the SMLP on a weekly basis. Frequent evaluations of the program’s development become necessary because the SMLP’s proposal will be introduced to students in the classroom for the first time. Medford High School’s guidance department is sponsoring a lecture series that will feature a presentation promoting collaborative interaction on official, school administered Social Media platforms. Data produced on these platforms will be the focus of what’s to come.
           
            This presentation attempts to put the development of social media into an academic context that grade 9-12 students can relate to. The histories of social media and primary education will be compared to show how their relationship can be mutually beneficial. To begin, the term “social media” is defined so all involved can share a common understanding. Definitions and examples of social networking, blogs, digital publishing sites, wikis, podcasts, and cloud computing are all somewhat familiar to those who interact with social media but most cannot communicate their perspective to others because they never had to. After establishing this shared vocabulary, students will be told how institutions other than schools have been utilizing social media as a tool to communicate information. Demonstrating that corporations, government, NGOs, and grassroots organizers have already invested significant resources in social media campaigns will show how what most consider to be personal use is really a part of a larger social influence. This is when the presentation will transition to its second part which focuses on education’s role in understanding social media.

            A ten minute video will be shown which details how schools have developed up to this point. It is an illustrated lecture by Sir Ken Robinson, an English scholar who advises educational development around the world. Titled “Changing Education Paradigms” the video can be found on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch) and puts forth modern educational concepts that incentivize collaborative learning in an effort to equitably foster scholastic innovation. The message is that schools today are struggling to realize their potential and must welcome change.

            The third and final part of the presentation will show how social media can play a role in making changes at Medford High School. An effort to engage with students using social media in the same way that other institutions have been doing for years is necessary if academic interests are to fully embrace technology. The scope of this appears overwhelming but small first steps, like the creating official MHS Facebook and Twitter accounts, are appropriate for establishing a relationship with students. This along with blogs and wikis already in use by teachers on campus can enable students and faculty to begin having meaningful educational correspondence on-line. The parameters for this interaction will be evaluated using the NEST criteria designed to foster innovation. Explaining this will be the conclusion of the presentation and the floor will be opened for student questions. The question of how this presentation affects student conduct on Medford High School’s official Social Media platforms will be answered over the following weeks.

An Academic Context

Introduction

 

            This blog is my report on the analysis of data produced by the Social Media Literacy Program (SMLP). In the interest of understanding how Social Media can be used as a tool to enhance the classroom experience, resources will be evaluated on a first hand basis. Development of the ideas expressed in this space represents a collaborative effort which began from my perspective a little over twenty-four years ago, and from the academic perspective many, many years ago.

            Social Media as a topic of discussion within Medford High School (MHS) seems to have permeated every department, office, and classroom while remaining undefined. The term itself cannot be found in any of the district’s student handbooks but the amount of information shared by students and staff who utilize it is already influencing decisions being made on a daily basis. This internship through Suffolk University’s Ethics and Public Policy Department will be served in the interest of all parties that may benefit from a better understanding of our current situation.

            There are many ways the 2012-2013 academic year will present new opportunities for innovation. All of this is due to the commitment staff and faculty have made to giving students access to the best tools possible. The adaptability necessary to use Social Media as a tool is a characteristic that Medford High now has. The new technology being brought in by the support of our community is just what’s needed for Social Media to find a niche in both the classroom and office environments.

            Calling it the Social Media Literacy Program means to imply that this is a purely academic exercise. Outside of education, corporate and government organizations have been paying attention to Social Media developments and can now enjoy the returns on their initial investment. Early experience is helping them serve customers and constituents in new, innovative ways. Although late to the game, educators in all forms can quickly learn the basics from recent Social Media campaigns to better serve their students.

            All of this jargon is typical of most conversations surrounding Social Media in schools. In simplest terms, this internship will attempt to study and inform standard making where none currently exist. Under the supervision of program advisors at Medford High School and Suffolk University, the program’s properties will generate new information for the schools to better know a misunderstood subject.

  

Intern:

Curtis Tuden

MHS Substitute

Suffolk University EPP

781-572-7196

curtis.tuden@gmail.com 

Program Advisors: 

Suffolk University

Nir Eisikovits, PhD, LLB

Director, Graduate Program in Ethics and Public Policy

617-994-6464

neisikov@suffolk.edu

Medford High School

David Blauch

Support Service Specialist

781-393-2303

dblauch@medford.k12.ma.us

 
Requirements

            The internship requires that research be produced on a regular basis. What’s produced is capable of taking many forms but will begin with the creation of this blog where new information is shared, culminating in a final report to be presented in the Spring of 2013. Content will depend on how the program develops with respect to student participation. Any suggestions on behalf of departments within Medford High or Suffolk will be incorporated. The program’s amorphous structure is predicted to remain a characteristic of the program because unexpected future developments are bound to make preconceived plans obsolete. All steps forward will be taken with a research mentality. The end product will be information that can supplement a rewrite of the student handbook that addresses Social Media. A number of schools have already attempted this and results have varied. Medford High is capable of becoming a leader in this arena. Having spent all of the last twenty years in either the student or teacher role, it is incredible to see the amount of behavioral changes made by the student population in reaction to increased communication. Today’s generation of students is consuming more information than ever before and has an established presence in Social Media. The significance is realizing these changes will only grow in complexity.

             Progress will be evaluated in accordance with the following "NEST Criteria" which is designed to place incentives on scholastic innovation and can be applied at many levels within the Medford High Community in the effort of specializing the administration’s knowledge of Social Media:

• Its novelty, the degree to which the information demonstrates a leap in creativity
• Does the data represent a fundamental change in the governance, management, direction, or policy approach of a particular jurisdiction?
• Does the data represent a significant improvement in the process by which a service is delivered?
• Does the data introduce a substantially new technology or service concept?

• Its effectiveness, the degree to which the information has achieved tangible results
• Does the data respond to the needs of a well-defined group of clients?
• Does the data demonstrate its effectiveness in meeting its stated goals and objectives quantitatively and qualitatively?
• Does the data produce unanticipated benefits for its clients?
• Does the data present evidence of already completed, independent evaluation?

• Its significance, the degree to which the information successfully addresses an important problem of public concern
• To what degree does the data address a problem of national import and scope?
• To what degree does the data make substantial progress in diminishing the problem within its jurisdiction?
• To what degree does the data change the organizational culture or the traditional approach to management or problem solving?

• Its transferability, the degree to which the information, or aspects of it, shows promise of inspiring successful replication by other entities
• To what extent can this program be replicated in other jurisdictions?
• To what extent can this program serve as a model that other jurisdictions will seek to replicate?
• To what extent are program components, concepts, principles, or insights transferable to other disciplines or policy areas?