School Leaders Share Their Take On Social Media Usage In Schools For Learning

The social media for learning and implications for school policy roundtable, part 2 in the black girls and social media literacy series, was held virtually on January 25, 2023. The goal of this roundtable was to bring together state school board members, principals, and district leaders from across the country to discuss findings from roundtable one, and to explore implications and recommendations for school policy. The diversity of the nine participants allowed for insight from multiple perspectives based on locality in the United States and leadership positioning on the school, district, and state level.

Participants were asked to review findings from the first roundtable, What Can We Learn about Black Girls’ Use of Social Media for In-School Learning?, which spotlighted the strengths of social media as a tool for skill building, exposure, and engagement with students. Conversations with adolescent Black girls, teachers, and researchers from roundtable one showed the positive benefits and challenges for Black girls and literacy that social media provided. Addressing the shortcomings with social media use with students was recommended by roundtable one panelists to create opportunities for integration in schools and to support equitable digital learning outcomes.

Thoughts On The Findings From Roundtable One

Participants characterized the findings from roundtable one as being practical, concernful, and insightful. One high school principal shared that although she enjoyed reading the positive uses of social media, the reality was there are more challenges with addressing the negative influences on the school environment and prevents the opportunity to consider the positives. “But we can do this,” she stated, “with parameters and safety nets in place.” Participants also shared that it was insightful to read about the benefits of representation and exposure. A middle school principal stated,

“We have spent so much time at school talking about representation in literature and we’ve made progress there -- realizing we need more than the usual canon. The ah-ha moment for me with reading the brief was learning from students how social media provided such an outlet for finding more representation that they typically don’t get in school. That was huge.”

Participants also understood the need to meet students where they are. A state school board member reflected on her role as a parent and leader in her educational community. She shared that as a parent of a 13- year-old daughter, she limited social media exposure without thinking about what young people can learn. She expressed that from the brief, it was insightful to read how social media allowed children to create and connect on content creatively attached to their own identity in ways that we don’t see as much of in classrooms. Another district leader who also teaches college students, noticed how most of her students used Twitter or some form of social media to find information. “It is the place young adults are using to gather information and it is relevant to them,” she stated. Another participant added, “that is why it is important to meet students where they are and educate them on how to use the tool appropriately.” Participants mostly agreed that it was important to look at social media as a tool differently based on its affordances. “But how? And more importantly, where do we start?” one district leader inquired.

Perspectives On Social Media Use In Schools

“There is such a negative connotation on social media with so much bad stuff that happens in the schools!” one principal expressed. One concept discussed among participants is the lack of an ethical framework that exists for social media which makes it problematic to position social media positively. School leaders felt that if students were able to learn how to use social media well and “humanely,” it would alleviate many concerns with implementation. Unfortunately, most of the participants expressed that students were not knowledgeable of how to use social media for good and have only used it the way they have seen others engaging with it, which they felt was mostly negative. Factors that caused concern by participants with implementing social media for school use include the following.

• Safety Protocols

One principal expressed that privacy policies were a priority, and indicated the need to follow the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and that backend logistical matters need to be considered with implementing social media. A district leader stated,

“There are some schools that don’t allow devices. I agree that there are times when devices are useful and times when they are not. I don’t have the answer, but these are the topics that come up.”

Related, principals shared that most fights that happen during the school day are due to social media. They also stated that when fights do happen in the schools, the students are filming the violence which ends up on social media, and can negatively reflect the school. These principals indicated that they do not know how to move to a place where students could perceive social media as a positive tool because of these challenges.

• Teacher Management

Teacher buy-in and management was another area of concern shared by participants. They expressed that social media implementation in schools would need to involve teachers at the decision table from the beginning. For positive social media implementation, it was mentioned that teachers need education by an innovative tech specialist on how best to help alleviate barriers and provide support. One school member stated that technophobia was a real issue with some teachers. “If we add this to the teachers’ plate, what are we removing?” one principal asked. “Teachers don’t have time to also be content reviewers,” a principal asserted.

• Parental Support

As the conversation continued with participants, teacher buy-in was not the only audience they felt needed to be onboard with supporting social media use in schools. “Sometimes… the parents are the barriers,” one principal expressed. In agreement, another principal shared that they have had instances where a teacher wanted to start a Facebook group for communicating with parents and another teacher wanted to incorporate TikTok in a lesson, yet some parents said “absolutely not!” Some kids have secret phones that their parents who are against device usage find out about later, one district leader shared. A school board member expressed a need to figure out a way to help parents feel good about how their children are using social media. Training is needed not just for teachers, but for parents as well on how to help kids navigate social media in a way that is productive. Participants agree that if there was no parent buy-in, that social media implementation in schools would basically be impossible.

• Rapid Growth of Technology

Participants also conveyed how frightening it was to deal with the fast changes of social media and online content while living in an unprecedented age of technology advancements and misinformation sharing. “We have lived through LPs, 8 tracks, cassettes, CDs, and MP3s all in our lifetime,” one state school board member shared. A district leader concurred with the statement and emphasized that acknowledging the dynamism of the environment was important but it was also now normative. Another district leader countered the previous statement by adding, “students know how to use and figure out technology today in more savvy ways than their teachers, which would make them feel less confident in performing their job and places them at disadvantage.” She continued, “this is why banning and restrictions are in place, until we are able to train school staff and provide them with the knowledge, many schools are not equipped to take on social media integration.”

• Data Access To Corporations

Another area of concern mentioned was the accessibility of student data to large corporations. Participants voiced that social media corporations and affiliated companies may not have the same moral protocols as school districts and educators. A state school board member commented, “as much as we want to protect young people, we must be aware that social media platforms are motivated by money from companies and don’t have to think about caring for children the same way that we do.”

The Opportunities

While it was easy for the group to focus on all the concerns they have experienced with social media, the majority of the group admitted that they very rarely consider the positive aspects for students and their educational community. Participants were then prompted to discuss what opportunities social media could have for students through in-school use.

• Connection to Career Technical Education (CTE) and Career Pathways

When exploring the opportunities for social media use in schools, one district leader explored how the current curriculum could support social media integration.

“As a director of CTE in my district, we are looking at sports marketing, event marketing, and how to teach students salesforce. So when discussing social media use in schools, I see it as beneficial to support career pathways for students.”

Another district leader agreed with the idea of incorporating social media use in middle and high school courses as she acknowledged there were no courses in her district she felt utilized this lens with marketing, branding, or entrepreneurship. Making a connection to careers that incorporate social media as a part of teaching job skills was deemed a great strategy for supporting its use in schools.

• Tracking School Incidents

While the concern of safety with social media contributing to school fights was previously mentioned, one principal provided a different perspective. She stated, “on a positive note, because students have filmed and posted acts of violence on school grounds, my team has been able to investigate each incident quickly and identify those involved.” She considered the usage of social media by students as a tool to help with monitoring and addressing incidents that take place during the school day. As incidents may arise on school grounds even without devices and social media, some participants agreed that it was beneficial to have access to recordings, footage, and photographs for documentation purposes, taking action immediately, and for retaining safety on school grounds.

• Increase Student Engagement

Another positive social media use opportunity shared by participants was its ability to increase student engagement. One principal shared how during covid, her teachers were able to use social media to keep students engaged who were inactive in their remote learning classes She expressed how creating TikTok videos to apply content was enjoyable to students, and helped them remain focused on learning.

• Building Community and Student Collaboration

In addition to discussing student engagement, participants saw social media use as an opportunity to build student collaboration and grow their school community. A district leader added that social media has the potential to eliminate barriers of classrooms, other countries, or even expose students to a different part of town while incorporating learning. Participants felt that social media use would extend learning exchanges outside of their school walls with the community, other districts, and even states. Creating opportunities for a student group or club to collaborate and manage the school’s social media accounts as content creators was another idea that was shared with the group.

• Literacy Development

Lastly, one principal shared that the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) has provided a position statement asserting that alphanumeric literacy was outdated and that visual media literacies were a part of students’ everyday literacy lives and should be embraced. The participant further suggested that social media integration would support opportunities to broaden literacy experiences for students in schools as stated by NCTE. A state school board member agreed and expressed that multiple modalities have always been important to students and an essential part of the human experience, and education should reflect this in practice.

School Policy Recommendations

Following the discussion with school leaders on foreseeable opportunities with social media use in schools, they were asked to provide policy recommendations that schools and districts could implement to address areas of concerns and alleviate barriers to access. Below are five policy recommendations that were provided by the group of participants to support social media integration in schools.

• Required Media Literacy Education Course for Students

Critical discourse on the structure of media and how to analyze content and messaging is essential. Understanding algorithms, online netiquette, how to use the tool for learning, and identifying online misinformation are important skills that students need to acquire before granting them access to social media in schools.

• School Waivers Are A Must

Waivers would be needed to protect the schools and districts from harm and liability. Districts and schools would need to have parents and students sign waivers for social media usage in schools for learning and academic purposes only.

• Teacher Training Has To Happen

Teacher training for social media use in schools should be a part of pre-service and teacher preparation programs for new teachers. Continuing education courses and training for in-service teachers should be provided. For instance, in North Carolina, a digital learning plan has been implemented which provides a model for training teachers and integrating technology. Social media integration should be incorporated in digital learning plans to support professional development.

• Manual And Policy Guide is Needed

Developing a manual and policy guide for schools and districts is important. A great start would be exploring Khan Academy’s guides and manuals for social media use in education. Prior to developing the guide, there may need to be a conversation with district leaders and legal personnel regarding protection and privacy policies for students and staff.

• Trained IT Support Staff For Teachers and Schools Is Essential

Similar to how companies hire a Social Media Coordinator to manage and monitor their accounts, schools would need to develop a similar role. Having a trained Social Media Coordinator with a background in education as an instructional leader to help teachers appropriately integrate social media in curriculum and manage activity for the school would be a necessity.

Conclusion

As students in the United States have become acquainted with spending time daily on social media platforms to gather information and make meaning of the world, it is now critical for education stakeholders to explore the necessities and opportunities to invest in its integration for learning and positive use. Roundtable 2, social media for learning and implications for school policy, was the last convening of a two-part series, and built on the findings uncovered in roundtable 1. Participants shared their professional insight on social media use for learning and discussed implications for micro-level policies in schools and districts. At the conclusion of the convening, a principal closed out the conversation with these final thoughts:

“Social media use in schools is not a black and white issue. We need to keep having this conversation. Yes, we are overwhelmed with the information and we need to embrace that. Today it might be right [the way these issues are addressed] but tomorrow it might not be. Either way, we can figure out how to do this together. We can figure out how to learn with this tool and teach our students to do the same.”

Enjoy what you read? Subscribe to our newsletter to receive updates on what’s new in Education Policy!