Caroline Elbra-Ramsay & David Scott 'The use of social media in developing students' knowledge of children's literature Any work with children and stories depends on a teachers knowledge of texts. This does not just mean knowing about the language, structures and narrative devices of stories; it means knowing who are the good writers most likely to stimulate your class. That, in turn, means reading a lot of
stories for children. Medwell et al (2011 p. 139) Why social media? Foroughi (2011) suggests specific benefits: Learning-related benefits: facilitation of collaborative learning, development of independent learning skills, problem solving, team work, reflective learning, peer-to-peer support/feedback, Social benefits for students: increased engagement in course material, development of a sense of community and of transferable skills that enhance student employability, increased sense of achievement, control, and ownership of their work.
studies suggest that learning with social media helps students develop metacognition, self-reflection, and communication abilities. Similarly, Greenhow and Gleason (2012) advance the idea of Twitteracy, a functional ability to use Twitter as a place to ex -change ideas and fashion oneself as a professional within a larger community. (Hitchock and Battista 2013 p.35) Bynum (2011)Certainly, the issue of digital divide, the haves versus the have-nots technologically, must be addressed in any discussion regarding technology implementation and is likely the greatest challenge with implementing any type of technology- talking about high school, but relevant to HE Some students are uncomfortable using social media and prefer to opt
out of participating on Facebook, Twitter, and other platforms for a variety of reasons, including privacy concerns, previous negative experiences with social media, or uncertainty about the effects (Hitchcock and Battista 2013 p.39) However, since so many of these primary professionals indicate that they rely on their own knowledge of childrens books to make decisions about classroom reading, the relatively narrow range of their knowledge of authors, poets and picture fiction creators, is a matter of considerable
concern. (Cremin et al, 2008 p. 18) Scaffolded Tasks/ Activities Scaffolded Tasks/ Activities Scaffolded Tasks/ Activities
Scaffolded Tasks/ Activities Scaffolded Tasks/ Activities I have enjoyed the idea of experiencing English on a wider scale, seeing how other professionals are using twitter as a valuable resource. I have seen many good ideas through scrolling down my twitter feed, and have had people helping with my queries. The idea that you can contact authors at your fingertips is amazing, and I love this instant connectivity. Overall the idea of using twitter was inspired. Because I don't have twitter on my phone therefore could not use it during class.
I found using twitter really beneficial. As well as gaining other ideas from class members, I used the account to contact children's book stores to gain information and recommendations of books to use with my class. Using twitter also meant that I could contact other people on the course to ask questions about books, rather than contacting tutors straight away. I did not enjoy having to use a public site for work. I would have preferred to use something which enabled more privacy. Contacting specialists - really enjoyed making wider links/connections which may come in useful later in my career
I enjoy using my professional account for asking authors and other people in the class help. This means we are all connected and everyone is willing to help over the internet. I have used twitter to help with literacy lesson ideas and I use it to keep up to date with educational news. I also used twitter for ides with my story sack and this gained a large response even from people who did not attend this university. I found it great help getting in touch with specialist authors and book stores. I needed to find a pirate story book for my 3 week placement so I went onto Twitter and asked if
anyone had any recommendations and had a reply from a book store which was really useful, it also saved me time. I've found that I have come across a lot more new texts for lower key stage 1 which I found useful I thought the task where we asked each other for specific books for reluctant readers was good. It provided lots of ideas to use.
I liked to look through the information being posted in my own time but I didn't like to have to post things or comment on other peoples posts. I preferred to spend time looking through things by myself rather than being under pressure during the Has your perception of twitter changed as part of this project? If so, how? I enjoy the instant connectivity I barely ever used twitter before the module I just didn't find an interest but now I enjoy asking for help and keeping up to date with educational news. It just makes me feel more in touch with the outside world and with
being at uni It has changed, I didn't realise twitter could be used as a tool to support academic development. I didn't think it would be useful but now I've used it independently outside the teaching sessions my perception of it has definitely changed. Yes, I used to just think it was something that celebrities argued on now I feel it can be used very well educationally. Context 2014/15
Y1 Level 1/4 20 credit English moduleTwitter feed linked to Moodle 180 students (6 teaching groups) modules York St John University Introduced Twitter #ysjenglish
PGCE Primary with English Level 3 /6 109 students (4 teaching groups) Twitter Set Twitter tasks
Tutors actively retweeted good examples of engagement 2014-15 How have we developed Twitter this year? How have the students engaged in its use? Positive response to set tasks and independent use.
Initial positive response but limited sustained impact. Impact on Tutors Enables tutors to see the impact of the module on student interaction and engagement. Widens tutor accessibility and gives tutor/students an opportunity to use a shared language to talk about
literature. Provides opportunities for other non-module tutors to engage with students and share knowledge. Encourages tutors to read more and provides a platform to instantly feed key messages to students. Allows for a broader discussion about subject related content. Impact on Student Teachers I feel that the Twitter has been very useful, it has allowed me to 'follow' authors in order to gain a deeper insight into the books they have
written and to share these ideas about books with other peers in the group. It has also allowed me to broaden my knowledge of children's literature as well as giving me ideas to use at my school placement. I feel it is a good way to contact tutors and peers as so many students and tutors are using Twitter, making it more accessible to share information regarding English school based tasks, SOL tasks and any other recommendations for books. I do feel it has made you (in particular) more accessible and again has continued the conversation about children's literature. This allows your passion for a subject/area to come through even more I think, and with children's literature I think that is really important.
Year 1 undergraduate students 2014-15 cohort Key findings/ Considerations
Enrichment not replacement IT skills, resources SEN e.g. dyslexic students, visually impaired Privacy, e-safety Enter a professional community and develop professional identity Resource rather than just communication. Using each other as a resource Tutor time-availability/ communication blurring of roles
Focus/purpose/scaffolding The social in social media professional discussions about childrens literature and subject knowledge References Baker, A (2013) Every child should be able to relate to their literature: Trainee teachers investigating cultural diversity in picture books, Write4Children Winchester http://www.winchester.ac.uk/academicdepartments/EnglishCreativeWritingandAmericanStudies/ Documents/w4cJune2013Diversity.pdf
Barnes, K. Marateo, R. C. & Ferris, S. P. (2007). Teaching and learning with the Net Generation Innovate: Journal of Online Education. Vol. 3, No 4 Cremin T., Mottram M., Bearne E., & GoodwinP. (2008) Exploring teachers' knowledge of children's literature, Cambridge Journal of Education, 38:4, 449-464 Cremin, T, Bearne. E, Mottram. M, and Goodwin, P. (2008) Primary teachers as readers English in Education Vol.42 No.1 2008
Dunn, L. (2013) Teaching in higher education: can social media enhance the learning experience? In: 6th Annual University of Glasgow Learning and Teaching Conference, 19th Apr 2013, Glasgow, UK. Foroughi, A. (2011). A Research Framework for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Implementation of Social Media in Higher Education. Online Journal of Workforce Education and Development, 5(1).
Gamble N. and Yates S. (2008) Exploring Children's Literature, SAGE, Hitchcock, L., and Andrew Battista. "Social Media for Professional Practice: Integrating Twitter With Social Work Pedagogy." Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work 18 (2013). Kelm (2011) Social Media: its what students do , University of Texas at Austin Business Communication Quarterly, Volume 74, Number 4, December 2011 505-520
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U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences (2003) Findings from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) of 2003 U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Sciences (2006) Findings from the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) of 2006 U.S. Department of Education Institute of Education Science
