Social Networking and SLMCs - We’ve come a long way baby!
Yes, we have come a long way, but even as far as we have come, is this the best we can offer our students? Facebook, Twitter, SnapChat and numerous other social media outlets have so much to offer, yet are unavailable to them. Blocks on youtube and itunes for video and music exclude them further. After reading through all the articles from 2008 two things became very apparent to me. One, we have definitely come a very long way from the use of technology 2008. Today, for most students, technology is almost 2nd nature. We use it in our homes, in our cars, in our businesses, on our phones, and even in our schools. The second thing that was painfully obvious is that then and now, technology is not being used to its greatest potential. It was interesting to see how much technology was being used seven years ago in the school setting. However, I can testify to the fact that there was not a great use of technology and social media on my side of town back in 2008. We simply did not have the hardware, software, or even a strong enough network connection to allow us to benefit greatly from the technology around us. As the years have rolled by, availability and ease of use has improved for us.
The school library media center should be “the place to be” in regards to all media related materials. Most times it is the last place that students go for insight to social media. The center may have dated materials or have too many limits in place. In the article from AASL’s second longitudinal survey reveals schools’ acceptance of social networking tools, they sited in 2008 that texting, chatting, virtual worlds and popular social networking sites like MySpace are the tools least utilized in elementary, middle and high school curricula.(AASL 2008) Thankfully most of these are in use in our schools and libraries. LMC are trying to fill in the gap with excellent tools such as blogging where students and teachers can share ideas and collaborate to gather information. Texting and chatting are used often to keep up with school news and events. Virtual worlds for field trips and experiments are used everyday.
Even with all of these improvements, it is unfortunate that the majority of social media use is done after school hours. There are so many restrictions on its use in the school that many times students and teachers alike become discouraged by limitations to its access. We all know that it is difficult to police and safeguard our students with total open access to the World Wide Web and these concerns compel us as parents and educators to advocate for walls that protect our students from dangers seen and unseen. The issue with this is that these tight restrictions shut out valuable learning experiences and immeasurable potential growth. Social media access to sites such as Facebook and Twitter can allow students to create, collaborate, share, and research just about any topic you can imagine. I have personally gotten an opportunity to gain access to and share historical information about my own family history, through social media. Three years ago a distant relative, using facebook, connected the dots of our family tree after utilizing family documents and other information she had researched. I was one of those many dots and it has opened my life to a rich family history that none of my immediate family knew existed. On another occasion recently, a page named Vintage African American Photography showcased a photo of a picture of what they listed as an “unknown woman circa 1910”. That picture was a photo of my 5x’s great grandmother, Mariah Wise Parker. The fact that Facebook had provided the tools for us to be found we were able to identify the photo for the group and share her history with them. All of this being said, there is no limit to how much invaluable information our students could collect with social media access! By blocking most or all social media resources in schools, we rob students of the opportunity to experience “best use” of these resources. ( Storts-Brinks, 2015)
In my current school system all of these social media resources are blocked from student access and I get it, total open access leaves our children vulnerable to various dangers. predators, bullying, and pornagraphy. It amazes me though with the rapid pace of advances that there is no way to protect them and still allow them the benefits of sharing and collaboration around the world. I do feel like there is hope in the near future. Public libraries have made the shift to the world of social media. I even checked for my local public library and they are out there in the land of Facebook and Twitter gaining followers and highlighting events within their program that attract readers and nonreaders alike. In my opinion School Library Media programs will be able to catch up with the social media movement as soon as there is a safe way to expose our students to it.
American Association of School Librarians. AASL's second longitudinal survey reveals schools’ acceptance of social networking tools. American Library Association, 2008
Unblocking Opportunity: Social Media Access in Schools." Karen Storts-Brinks. School Library Monthly. 31, 7, 30-31, May 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
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