On The Question of Access

Week 4 is here almost gone and the buzzword of the week has been application and the instructional design for social media. As I’ve mentioned before in previous posts, the social media landscape is vast and the arrival of each new tool can seem a bit like a drop in the ocean. So how can we actually make use of these vast tools to promote and support learning?

There is an ever increasing body of research devoted to studying the use of social media to support learning such as this one that looked at what motivates students to use Facebook groups and the benefits they receive from doing so and this one that looked at Twitter as a means to increase student engagement. Both studies found evidence that supported the use of these tools in the classroom and they are hardly an exception. Many more studies are coming to similar conclusions about the benefit of these tools and it’s easy to see why.

It’s called social media and when applied to education it can make learning a more social experience. Rather than a one-way flow of information from the teacher to each student, social media tools can disrupt this flow and give students the opportunity to be creators and collaborators in the learning content. And because these technologies operate in real-time, they are excellent for reading and discussing about real world current events as they are happening.

But with all the hype that can accompany new technology tools, one of the things that gave me pause is the issue of accessibility. It turns out I wasn’t the only one that had this thought as Leah also blogged on the topic and I recommend you check it out if you can. But while her focus was on assistive technologies for people with disabilities, I was thinking even more basic to just access.

I came across this video a while ago about the “homework gap” and while the message is specifically aimed at the broader topic of internet access, the point it makes is very much applicable to this discussion about use of social media in education. According to the video:

"70% of teachers assign homework that requires access to the internet. Yet, 5 million families with school aged children do not have access to high speed internet service at home”

While the numbers keep getting better with each year, we have yet to arrive at universal high speed internet access for all students. And as the world becomes more technology-centric, digital literacy and fluency will becoming increasingly important for long-term success. When incorporating social media tools in the classroom to capitalize on any of the positive benefits they provide, we should remember to stop and consider the important issue of access as it relates to all of our students.