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ISSN: 0022-8958 (Print) 2163-1611 (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ukdr20

Why Social Media Must Have a Place in Schools

Daniel G. Krutka & Jeffrey P. Carpenter

To cite this article: Daniel G. Krutka & Jeffrey P. Carpenter (2016) Why Social Media Must Have
a Place in Schools, Kappa Delta Pi Record, 52:1, 6-10, DOI: 10.1080/00228958.2016.1123048
To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00228958.2016.1123048

Published online: 06 Jan 2016.

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 In My View
Kappa Delta Pi Record, 52: 6–10, 2016
Copyright © Kappa Delta Pi
ISSN: 0022-8958 print/2163-1611 online
DOI: 10.1080/00228958.2016.1123048

Why Social
Media Must Have a
Place in Schools
by Daniel G. Krutka and
Jeffrey P. Carpenter

6 KAPPA DELTA PI RECORD • JAN–MAR 2016

 WWW.KDP.ORG

Abstract Benefits of Learning

While most young people regularly consume and produce social media content, Through Social Media
many schools focus on what students should not do with these technologies rather Educators using social media should
than address what students and teachers can do. The authors share ways that consider how the affordances of the
some educators leverage social media to enhance the who, when, where, why, medium can improve, alter, or trans-
how, and what of educational processes. form educational experiences. Affor-
Key words: 21st-century skills, educational media, elementary education, sec- dances are the actions that become
ondary education, technology in education possible because of a technology. For
example, the hashtag feature of Twit-
In just over a decade, social media obscene or harmful content), these ter or Google+ allows users to affiliate
has transitioned from a frivolous very issues justify the need for stu- around common interests (e.g., #stu-
diversion for adolescents to an dents and teachers to explore social voice). Of course, students and teach-
integrated part of personal, social, media toward the goal of becoming ers are not confined to the intended
and civic lives across age groups responsible digital citizens (Carpenter uses of any medium; they should also
(Duggan, Ellison, Lampe, Lenhart, & & Krutka, 2015; Ribble, 2012). The experiment with innovative uses (Dijck,
Madden, 2015). Americans not only majority of school policies related 2011). Social media platforms have
use social media sites (e.g., blogs, to social media still focus on what shown the potential to blur traditional
video-sharing services) and platforms students should not do with these communications among teachers and
(e.g., Facebook™, Twitter®, Insta- technologies, but we are slowly be- students, afford otherwise unlikely
gram™) for keeping up with families ginning to see students and teachers interactions, and stimulate enthusiasm
and friends, but also leverage these explore what they can do. for class activities. We will share these
new media in protest movements, Because social media platforms and other potential uses by exploring
democratic revolutions, charity are integral to the lives of young how social media can enhance the
fundraising, and disaster relief. The people (boyd, 2014; Lenhart, 2015), who, when, where, why, how, and what
changing media ecology means that educators should teach with and of educational processes.
today’s youth must both consume about social media. As Rheingold
information from other sources and (2012) said, “The ways people use Who
produce it (Ito et al., 2010). Yet, how new media in the first years of an Though schools have long been
well schools are preparing students emerging communication regime defined by classrooms where a single
to be savvy information consumers can influence the way those media teacher serves as the authoritative
and producers of knowledge in the end up being used and misused for expert for groups of 20–30 students,
21st century is uncertain. decades to come” (p. 1). Generally, social media platforms can change
When we (the authors) surveyed social media platforms are built upon
teachers who were using Twitter for an architecture of participation that Daniel G. Krutka is an Assistant Professor of
their own professional development, can support cultures of collabora- Curriculum and Instruction at Texas Woman’s
University. His research interests concern citizen-
many indicated that their schools still tion, draw on collective intelligence, ship education and the role participatory media
banned social media use for students and encourage users to give and might play in cultivating more democratic and ed-
once inside the building (Carpenter take according to their abilities and ucational experiences. He can be found on Twitter
@dankrutka. Email: dankrutka@gmail.com
& Krutka, 2014). While administra- needs (Jenkins, Purushotma, Weigel,
tors offer reasonable justifications for Clinton, & Robison, 2009). Although Jeffrey P. Carpenter is an Assistant Professor of
limiting social media uses in schools social media uses will differ depend- Education at Elon University in North Carolina.
(e.g., Children’s Internet Protection His research interests include collaborative learn-
ing on context, we believe that there
ing, social media, and 21st century teaching and
Act, parental concerns, cyberbul- are positive ways to employ social learning. He can be found on Twitter @doccar-
lying, distraction, privacy issues, media in almost any school setting. penter. Email: jcarpenter13@elon.edu

KAPPA DELTA PI RECORD • JAN–MAR 2016 7

 In My View
that dynamic. Social media can allow
students to access a variety of knowl-
edgeable peers, parents, community
members, children’s literature authors,
academics, and other people who
might not otherwise be available. For
example, Massachusetts world his-
tory teacher Michael Milton’s students
were assigned to write blog posts from
the perspectives of Enlightenment
philosophers (Krutka & Milton, 2013).
Students then created Twitter accounts
through which they shared their posts
and joined in dialogue with social stud-
ies educators from across the United
States and as far away as Australia.
Instead of just receiving feedback from
their classroom teacher, students also
enjoyed an authentic audience for
their work.
Milton is not alone in using social
media to expand who is part of class
discussions, projects, or inquiries. In
just 4 years, the Global Read Aloud
program has leveraged the connectiv-
ity of Twitter, Skype™, Edmodo®, and
blogs to encourage interactions around
common texts by more than 500,000
students in 60 countries (Ripp, n.d.).
O’Brien, Barker, and Ellsworth (2013)
described how middle school teach-
ers used a closed Ning site to cultivate
peer-to-peer problem-solving activities
among students from three schools. For
example, students considered questions
such as Why should nations go to war?
Social media can offer students oppor-
tunities to practice a second language
with fluent speakers, crowdsource class
questions, or post artwork to Instagram
for feedback from amateur and profes-
sional artists. Unfortunately, while social
media holds the potential to connect
young people across racial or cultural
lines, without intervention from educa-
8 KAPPA DELTA PI RECORD • JAN–MAR 2016
tors, students’ use of many platforms has
often maintained segregation between
groups (boyd, 2014). Educators should
help students consider whom they might
benefit learning from and with, and
leverage the affordances of social media
platforms to facilitate such experiences.
When
Social media can expand when
and where learning occurs beyond
the designated time spent in physical
classrooms. For example, New York
teacher Melissa Seideman has held
synchronous review sessions for her
Advanced Placement (AP) Government
classes at night via Twitter. Conducting
this activity on social media afforded
Mrs. Seideman and her students extra
time for interactions, questions, and
clarifications (M. Seideman, personal
communication, July 29, 2015). In
their research on the use of Twitter to
discuss literature in two urban high
school English classes, Hunter and Car-
raway (2014) reported that many stu-
dents sent class-related tweets during
weekends and even between midnight
and 5:00 a.m. Explaining this engage-
ment with educational tweeting, one
student commented, “Intelligence nev-
er sleeps!” (Hunter & Carraway, p. 78).
The ability to participate in class activi-
ties asynchronously can allow students
an easy way to engage when they are
studying, motivated, or confused—not
just during a certain 60- or 90-minute
period of time each weekday.
Where
Aside from creating new op-
portunities for when students learn,
social media also can expand where
students learn as well as the locations
of those from whom they learn. Dur-
ing the 2011 Arab Spring revolutions,
Illinois world history teacher Shawn
McCusker and his students turned to
Twitter to view and analyze the “real
and personal” perspectives of people
taking part in these events. McCusker’s
students exchanged tweets with both
protesters and government supporters.
He said, “Our classroom discussions
were more meaningful because we
knew that somewhere in the crowd of
protestors were the people we were
speaking to” (S. McCusker, personal
communication, July 12, 2015). Social
media afforded his students unique
opportunities to hear unfiltered voices
that he could not otherwise bring into
his classroom.
Educators have identified numer-
ous creative ways to connect students
to people around the globe using
social media platforms. Teachers have
leveraged Twitter to link up with part-
ners for activities like #MysterySkype,
where students in two classes deter-
mine each other’s location by asking
questions via videoconference. This
activity can offer a stimulating way
for students to share and learn about
geographic regions, cultures, lan-
guages, and more. Kenneth Carano
used Skype videoconferencing ses-
sions and a Facebook group to facili-
tate regular interactions between his
students and Gaza counterparts over
the course of a semester (Krutka &
Carano, 2016). Carano’s students de-
scribed the experience as profoundly
different from, and more humanizing
than, simply reading textbook and
news accounts about Gazans. Social
media services can afford students
and teachers experiences that expand
the classroom beyond typical tempo-
ral and geographical constraints.

Why
Social media can provide some
alternative motivations for why
students might learn (e.g., Hunter &
Carraway, 2014). Because students
know their work is being shared with
extended audiences (Ramsay, 2014),
they may be encouraged to produce
higher-quality work (Grisham & Wol-
sey, 2006). Students know that family
members can follow a class Facebook
page, private YouTube channel, or
Instagram account to see examples of
their learning that they or their teach-
ers post. For example, first and second
grade teacher Jeff Kurtz (2009) and his
students used a class Twitter account
to share about class activities and offer
families “windows into their children’s
days” (p. 2). Students not only found
writing for an authentic audience em-
powering, but public writing became
a recurrent part of daily activities and
discussions. Aside from these ap-
plications, social media can provide
a means for government students
to observe and engage in political
discourse (Journell, Ayers, & Beeson,
2014), world language students to
interact with native speakers, and art
students to receive feedback on their
latest creations.
How
Social media can impact how
learning occurs by facilitating new
means for all students to participate
in class dialogue. While discus-
sions are critical to learning in many
classrooms, traditional formats often
engage only a minority of students.
Within classes, social media sites such
as Twitter, TodaysMeet™, and Padlet
can be used for digital backchannels
that offer students the opportunity
to ask questions of peers and teach-
ers, contribute to class conversations,
and receive feedback (Carpenter,
2015). By providing another way for
students to communicate with one
another and the teacher, social media
can help bring a more diverse set of
perspectives and experiences into
the larger classroom discourse. Use
of social media can help shy students
feel more comfortable in various
types of classroom interactions (Chen
& Chen, 2012; Voorn & Kommers,
2013). Studies also suggest that social
media use with students can improve
student-teacher relationships (Nowell,
2014), learning among peers (Mao,
2014), and students’ perceptions of
their ability to contribute to meaning-
ful academic discussions (Hunter &
Caraway, 2014). Of course, educators
should choose media that are best
suited to meet their aims and prepare
students to use them appropriately.
What
Although in some cases, such as
the state of New Jersey, students take
a class in the appropriate use of social
media (DeNisco, 2014), learning to
use social media can be part of what
is learned in any class in which it is
used. Numerous states and organiza-
tions have added, or are considering
adding, cross-content technology
elements to their standards, which
might, before long, encourage the
use of technologies such as social
media. Rheingold (2010) asserted that
students need to cultivate social me-
dia literacies concerning how, when,
and where to focus their attention,
how to effectively participate and col-
laborate in online spaces, and how to
critically consume digital content. Lan
WWW.KDP.ORG
(2013) further argued that students
should practice democratic media
skills such as evaluating the credibil-
ity and reliability of content across
various digital media, participating
in online communities with diverse
perspectives, and taking social action
using new media. By using social
media in classes, teachers can mentor
students, during planned or spon-
taneous opportunities, concerning
their digital lives. Young people often
need guidance regarding issues such
as cybersafety, cyberethics, attention
shifting, and digital media credibility
(Cranmer, Selwyn, & Potter, 2009;
Pusey & Sadera, 2011–2012).
Contrary to the popular narra-
tive that characterizes young people
as “digital natives” who effortlessly
and intuitively know how to harness
technologies’ affordances, many
K–12 students are neither savvy nor
mindful social media users, particu-
larly when it comes to academic uses
of these tools (Luckin et al., 2009;
Nowell, 2014). Teachers, even those
with limited technological knowl-
edge, can help students consider
wise uses of social media by posing
thoughtful questions, encouraging
reflection, and exploring possibilities
and challenges.
Conclusion
We do not believe that every
teacher in every class must use social
media, but educators must ensure that
students’ overall school experiences
help them (re)consider how these
platforms can enrich and diminish their
personal, social, and civic lives. Most
young people already are consuming
and producing media content, and
educators should encourage them to
KAPPA DELTA PI RECORD • JAN–MAR 2016 9
 In My View

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10 KAPPA DELTA PI RECORD • JAN–MAR 2016