Pew Research Center found that "71% of teens ages 13-17 use Facebook as their primary social media site". They also state that "92% of teens ages 13-17 go online daily with 24% of those who stated they go online "constantly"."
USA today claims that "social media and modern technology destroying our interpersonal social skills". And that recent research and studies say "as more generations are born into the social age, social media will continue to be the favored communication form among young people. However, this shift may begin to affect their ability to properly communicate in person with peers." in their 2012 article "Why Social Media is Destroying Our Social Skills" article.
So what does all this mean for those of us that teach those 13-17 year old students who go online all day, every day? How can we combat the loss of social skills that result in constant online, but limited face to face interactions?
According to Zack Blois of Wowzers "Here at Wowzers, we tend to disagree with the notion that today’s kiddos are becoming less interactive with their peers as the number of tablet and computer screens increases. In fact, we feel that the recent advances in educational technology actually provide greater avenues for collaborative skill development within, and outside, the classroom."
How does Wowzers suggest teachers facilitate and develop these "greater avenues" you ask? Increasing collaboration and building student communication skills can be accomplished through the use of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and other innovative tools available online for free!
Discussion posts added to LMS allows students to communicate in a online environment. The discussion can be as structured or unstructured as the teacher permits. The topics can be broad to allow for varying opinions and addition of research findings, or narrow so that key concepts are hit and understanding is easily monitored.
Student led blogs are another way to increase student communication and collaboration. Blogs can be build through the LMS or the teacher can utilize an outside tool such as blogger or wordpress. Similar to the discussion post, the blog can be used as an open free write area, or it can be more structured with assigned writing topics. Students can work together to create a classroom blog, or they can serve as editors and researchers on a group blog. Teachers can open the doors further by incorporating students for other classes into the blog. Whether it is another section taught by the same teacher, students from the same school within varying grades, or students from across the country. Blogging provides students with the opportunity to express their feelings and thoughts, research topics that are interesting to them, comment on the work of others, and gain insight about different people places and cultures. Check out this teacher's video about her classroom blog. It will make you want to write about Walter too!
A LMS can also provide an opportunity for face to face conferencing between students and researchers, experts, guest speakers as well as other students in varying places. Video conferencing teaches students the importance of good communication skills, first impressions and professional demeanor. A colleague of mine recently setup a video conference with her 4th grade students and their fellow 4th grade pen-pals from a neighboring state. She detailed how there was excitement in the air all day before the conference and how proud she was of her students and their preparedness. She also commented on how well behaved and experience the other class was. They had conferences with scientists and authors throughout the year so they were very used to the dos and don'ts of conferencing!
Other ideas for increasing collaborating and communication skills in the classroom are suggested by the folks at Remind (have you heard of remind101, its them!) with their 5 ways to improve student collaboration article. "Encouraging group work" tops the list with "using the right tools" coming in second. So what are some tools that increase student collaboration? There are endless lists of collaborative project creation tools such as PowToon, Glogster and Prezi. And no web 2.0 article would be complete without mentioning Google and all of it's collaborative facets such as Docs and Slides. Check out this video on how to implement Google Docs in the classroom:
Next on Remind's list is assigning discussion homework to encourage frequent collaboration. Also, creating an environment that's conducive to collaboration is important for students in a face-to-face environment. Simply rearranging desks can allow natural collaboration and communication among students.
Lastly, Remind suggest "handing over the mic". Giving students the chance to share their ideas, suggest topics of study, or assigning a rotating discussion leader can help create a classroom culture where collaboration is normal, positive, constructive and helps students reach higher levels of achievement.
Collaboration among students is one concept that can be implemented no matter the subject area, grade or ability level. All teachers should strive to increase collaboration within their lessons so students are building the necessary skills needed for their future careers. Technology can be used to combat the lack of communication skills we see in our teens today and it can also open up doors for students to collaborate in ways previously impossible.
Excellent outlook! Right in line with the Horizon Reports and the draft ISTE Standards for Students (Summer 2016).
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