Social Media & Professional Practice with Jesse Miller
It was such an honour to learn from Jesse Miller!! Coming into this class I carried a lot of anxiety towards the vast online world and its uncertainty. He eased my worries around this, bringing in a bit of boundaries and order to the chaos. It’s not a question on if people are using the internet, (it’s here to stay), but it’s how are we using the internet? Can we approach it with boundaries, and teaching our students the same, so it can be used for good?
Here are some of the following guidelines that can help contribute to healthy online relationship:
- There’s preventative moves we can take in our online citizenship as individuals. Asking ourselves, is this something I would want future parents of my students to see? Will this follow me in my career and effect the way people see me?
- There’s preventative moves we can take to protect our students as teachers! Not posting photos or using students to grow our online platform for ‘likes’. We have an obligation to ask for permission before taking photos of our students (and even their work!) and using it only in appropriate ways, such as updating parents through newsletters.
Furthermore, the presence of the internet has had an impact on our students, and it’s important to keep in mind as a teacher, to protect the mental health of our students. Here are some further awesome helpful facts:
- Adolescents engaged in extracurricular activities reported significantly less recreational screen time
- Extracurricular participation was associated with better mental health in boys and girls
- Two or more hours of screen use after school was linked to poorer mental health, especially for girls
- Mental health was best when youth participated in extracurriculars and also had shorter screen time
- (all facts taken directly from Jesse’s slideshow)
Much like anything else, when we learn more about the world of the internet, it can ease some worries. As a teacher, I believe I will have a “healthy fear” of the consequences of the internet, and will filter my involvement with all students, parents and the community in mind.
– weekly reflection 3.0