Intervention Points

     Up to this point in the SMLP, student perspective updates have been informed by personal engagement in the classroom and on Social Media platforms. Focusing on these first interactions is a form of introspective analysis which generates unique data and reflects how each student-teacher interaction is like no other. Although this is a significant point to consider when analyzing new information, it only serves half of an academic perspective. In order to remain balanced and objective, outrospective analysis must be considered. The question becomes, if the SMLP is trying to examine social media in an academic context, what can we learn from all that exists outside the student-teacher relationship?
        
     The first part of our answer to this question is found with an understanding that "context" here refers to social circumstances. Academic was defined earlier in this blog as relying on the student-teacher relationship where incentive is to realize student potential. Non-academic contexts would comparatively involve other relationships, each with their own unique incentive. Examples of these include but are by no means limited to: citizen-government, retailer-customer, firm-client, etc. Detailing the dynamics of each one would be fascinating, and perhaps worth discussing in the comment section below, but to inform the SMLP we must take a broader look to see what each of these relationships, including academic, has in common.
        
     One commonality between them is information exchange. Each relationship involves two demographics where both exist because of the need for communication with the other (ex. teachers and students can't exist independently). No matter which way the information flows, there are three distinct points. (1) The origin of data in demographic^a (2) The connection between a corresponding demographic^b (3) The processing of data by demographic^b. These three points represent the useful knowledge gained from asking the initial outrospective question.
        
     For those in academics, points 1, 2, and 3 can be pragmatically viewed as the focus of separate interventions for adapting to Social Media use. For example, a teacher needs to understand how they originate data, how that data connects to students, and how students process that data. Students need to understand the inverse. Doing this will balance our perspective of Social Media in an academic context. The more data is available, the more complete our perspective will be. The greatest contributions would come from long term interactions both in and out of the classroom, which take the form of a possible curriculum enhancement or focus.
    
     Each intervention involves more than just an increased awareness of what is happening on different Social Media platforms. Learning more about the origin of data will help inform regulation, written in the interest of promoting best practices. Learning more about the connection between students and teachers will directly contribute to the quality of education being supplied. Finally, an evaluation of data processing will reveal where school interventions are appropriate for both students and teachers alike.

Note: In the interest of making data more available, a new community service project will begin at Medford High School which involves census taking of student-teacher internet social culture. Please contribute any census questions or guidelines you would like by commenting below.