A L I S O N BY R D , S T E P H A N I E C H A D W I C K , L A U RA M A S O N , C H E L S E A O L I V E R , & K R I S T E N S I M P S O N

CULTURAL AWARENESS PROJECT: GROUP 2

PROS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

• Most students are familiar with social media

• Students excited about using social media

• Encourages interactive learning

• Social media is readily available

• Students are able to share opinions quickly and in real time

PROS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

• Students can share materials such as videos and pictures

• Social media gives every student a voice

• Gives students the ability to think through their posts and construct insightful comments

CONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA

• Face-to-face communication is often limited

• Students can become easily distracted

• Teachers need to fully understand social media to monitor

• Can be difficult to understand each other with a language barrier

E-LEARNING SKILLS

• Blogs• A main discussion question is posted for the group to see. Each

individual within the group will then respond to the question publically so that others may comment on their response.

• Discussions• This method is very similar to a blog. A main discussion

question is posted and each individual creates a thread with their response. Other individuals in the group are able to view and respond to each other’s responses in an email-type setting.

• Facebook• For this method, a group page was created so that members

could create their own discussion questions, comment on each other’s post, and even post pictures for others to view and comment on.

BLOGS

DISCUSSIONS

FACEBOOK

SUCCESSES

• Learning things from classmates that would not have been learned through normal classroom interaction.

• Our group members live in many different places, therefore the ability to communicate from afar was a success of using social media to communicate.

• Interaction between people from different cultures

that would probably have never met without this project.

SUCCESSES

• Easy to navigate and use.

• The ability to share pictures and videos with each other added an extra dimension to our online conversations.

• Social media is always open. We were able to respond when it was convenient for our schedules.

CHALLENGES

• Limited responses from the Chinese students. Why was this?• The Chinese student that participated the most is

a part of our program, however the other Chinese students are not. The fact that the other Chinese students could have felt less connected with us might have prevented them from participating as much. • Some delays in responses.• Properly translating any implied emotions through

text.

SOCIAL MEDIAIN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM

• Blogs, discussion boards, and class Wikis are types of social media that would be appropriate for elementary classrooms.

• Teachers can collaborate with other classrooms in their school, other schools in their state, or even schools in other states or countries. This will widen the cultural diversity, and students will benefit more from a project like this.

• Having students blog or discuss with students in different parts of the world is not only a great experience for them, but for the teacher as well.

SOCIAL MEDIAIN THE ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM

Ways to collaborate with other schools:

•Visit other school in the community or nearby communities and meet with faculty to discuss the possibility of collaborating for a social media project.

• Write letters to different schools in the state and other states asking if their school would like to participate in a social media project to promote cultural diversity.

•Visit Epals: http://www.epals.com/ This site is a Global Learning Network that provides schools all over the world a safe and secure place to build educational communities.

SUMMARY

The Pros and Cons of Using Social Media • Students can share ideas quickly and instantly

because these tools are readily available.• Students are able to think through their posts

before posting them.

• However, face-to-face communication is often limited.

• This may have affected the level of bonding that could have happen between students from different cultures and speaking a different “first” language.

SUMMARY (CONT.)

E-learning Skills (Learned or Refined)• In discussion thread, once a message is marked as

read, it hides and only unread posts show up the next time you visit.  • You have to manually mark a post as read or unread. 

• In Blogs, you can add pictures and / or video to your posts.  • To make sure posts are not missed, click on the link

to view one week at a time on Blackboard on the right side of the screen. 

SUMMARY (CONT.)

E-Learning Skills (Learned and Refined)• With Facebook, all group members seemed to feel

very comfortable since they already use Facebook on a regular basis.

• While few pictures were posted on the Blog by group members, they gladly and easily shared pictures with all project participants on the Facebook group page.

SUMMARY (CONT.)

Successes of the Project• Social media is always open and was available when

our individual schedules permitted each of us to participate in the project. • Social Media allowed for instant communication with

group members all at once even though we all live far from each other.• The ability to attach pictures and / or videos

enhanced our interaction.

• This project encouraged communication between students from different cultures who would otherwise have not had a chance to meet.

SUMMARY (CONT.)

Challenges of the Project• The one Chinese student who participated the most

is also a student in our alternative master’s program. Could the other Chinese students have felt less connected to us?

• English is a second language for the Chinese students. Did translating our English posts and then responding in English become too overwhelming? Would they have preferred more face-to-face time?

SUMMARY (CONT.)

Social Media in the Elementary Classroom• Blogs, discussion boards, and class Wikis are appropriate.• Teachers can collaborate with other classrooms school-

wide, statewide, nationwide or even worldwide.

Ways to collaborate with other schools:

• Visit nearby schools and meet with the faculty to discuss the project.

• Write letters to schools state-wide and / or nationwide.

• Visit Epals: http://www.epals.com/ To make worldwide connections.

OUR PRESENTATION

To discuss and prepare for today, we used:• Messanger on Facebook • AUM email

These forms of communication were highly effective at contacting all group members at once. Messanger on Facebook allows for cell phone notification too.

I shared the Primary School in China video in a closed group on Facebook (AUM / Auburn teachers to be Association). New group members are welcome!