Chances and dangers of social media in educational contexts
1. The Future is digital
Public
opinion is unanimous: our future is digital. The world and our lives
will be dominated by digital software, digital gadgets, digital media,
digital economy and digital algorithms. And, of course, digital social
networks. That’s why people suppose that education, of course, must be
and will be digital, too, and use digital gadgets, digital media and,
last but not least, social networks for educational purposes.
2. Digital education is better
It
is supposed that digital education will be even much better than
traditional education: educational software powered by artificial
intelligence will present exercises tailored to the individual needs of
every single pupil. Learning with tablet computers will be fun, visual
media will enhance learning to the max. Also, educational software never
gets angry at pupils and students, it never loses patience. It is
available any time and anywhere on the internet and tablet computers or
smartphones. And it never gets outdated, as updates arrive in real time
via the net. The role of teachers will shift to some kind of learning
companion who accompanies the students in their more or less autonomous
voyage of learning.
3. Social networks offer many new possibilities in educational contexts
Couldn’t
social networks revolutionise communication in educational contexts?
Why not use Instagram to present and interchange educational projects?
Can’t foreign language teaching make use of Facebook and Twitter when
German pupils communicate with their French exchange partners? How fast
and easy could communication be between teachers, students and parents
if everybody used WhatsApp on their smartphones?
4. Social networks must be used to teach media competence
Of
course, data protection, copyrights, digital media addiction, fake
news, cyber bullying etc. are known problems of social networks. But
don’t social networks have to be part of education in order to teach
their responsible and intelligent usage? Learning by doing means that
the use of social networks in class is necessary for teaching media
competence.
5. Smartphones are the ideal digital gadgets for educational purposes
Laptop
classes did mainly fail because they were too expensive. Smartphones
are already there, practically every student in secondary schools owns
one, so schools don’t have to buy them. “Bring Your Own Device” is the
ideal solution introducing digital media into the classroom.
6. Stop! Let’s think about what education really is about
Before
discussing the possible benefits of digitalisation, smartphones and
social networks, we should think a moment about the nature of education.
Education is not digital. Nobody learns “digitally”. The human brain does not rely on bits and bytes, it is not a solid
state disk that can be filled with information. Learning is about
humans, it’s about teachers and students. Teachers interact with
students to help them concentrate on problems, learn, acquire knowledge
and develop a free and responsible personality. Learning and education
are social processes. Before we revolutionise these processes using
digital gadgets and social networks, we have to be sure that this
revolution will be really helpful. There are reasons to doubt that, as
we will see.
7. Learning is more than finding information in a digital world
Learning
does not merely mean to acquire information about a subject. If it
would, schools wouldn’t be necessary, as it would suffice to know how to
google. Knowledge is more than information. Knowledge is the evaluation
of information and the extraction of meaning from information. In order
to know something, you have to be able to answer questions like: Which
information is false, which true? What is important, what irrelevant?
What is fact, what opinion? What is good or bad for me, for society, for
humanity? What are the consequences or the alternatives to given
situations? Learning means to assimilate knowledge and thus be able to
solve problems and conflicts.
8. The teacher’s role is central for learning
Every
single teacher has always known the fact, but John Hattie’s study
“Visible learning” massively confirmed it: The teacher’s role is at the
centre of learning. The teacher embodies the learning goals: His enthusiasm for the subject
ideally thrills or at least motivates the students, his professionalism
ensures the learning progress. The
teacher’s role cannot be delegated to machines, to tablet computers and
educational software. Degrading teachers to learning companions or some
kind of servicemen for digital gadgets ruins learning and education.
9. Education is more than making students fit for a digital future
Education
is more than making students acquire knowledge. Education means to help
students develop an intelligent and responsible personality, equipped
with the knowledge and skills necessary to lead a successful life in
human society. The human relationships and role models in the classroom
are the basis of education. Pupils cannot acquire social skills
interacting mainly with screens, educational software and social
networks. They need direct social interaction with their fellow students
and the teacher.
10. Digitalisation risks dehumanising education
If
human relationships are at the heart of education, digital media can
only be an occasional accessory, not the basis of education. Students
cannot develop a responsible and free personality, if they interact
mainly with screens instead of human beings. Screen use already
dominates much of the time students spend outside of school, so there is
no need to give students even more screen time putting digital media in
the centre of education.
11. Social networks present unresolved legal problems
The
use of social networks in education encounters legal obstacles. Social
networks hosted on non European servers don’t protect personal data
according to German legislation. That’s the reason why the educational
use of all relevant social networks, i. e. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter,
WhatsApp etc. is strictly forbidden by local legislation. These social
networks may only be used in class for demonstration purposes, that is
in order to show their functions, features and risks. The massive leak of millions of Facebook profiles recently illustrated
the data security problems. The danger of infringing copyright
legislation accompanies teachers constantly when using digital media in
the classroom. The introduction of an educational cloud to provide legal
access for teachers in Baden-Württemberg to royalty-free educational
media recently failed due to technical problems.
12. Social networks produce addictive behaviour
Addictive
behaviour patterns seem to be massively triggered by the use of digital
media. In South Corea, there are already rehab camps for internet
addicted teenagers. Statistics show that since the introduction of
smartphones and social networks, teens tend to spend less time hanging
out with friends, get less sleep and are more likely to feel lonely. The
addictive character of social networks is no coincidence: Developers of
social networks and Internet games know and, at times, admit, that
addiction is part of their design strategies. Media addiction entails other health threats like depression, obesity and even suicide. Introducing the massive use of digital media in school in order to
prevent media abuse seems contradictory, like a fire-fighter calling for
petrol.
13. Social networks produce distraction
Studies show that the mere presence of a smartphone lessens the capacity of concentration, even if it’s off. Learning is impossible without concentration. Without concentration, we
cannot solve problems. When schools prohibit the use of smartphones on
the campus, teachers and pupils often feel it clearly benefits
concentration, social interaction and education. In Germany, Bayern has
banned smartphones from schools, in France, president Macron plans to do
so next autumn.
14. Social networks produce a new level of bullying
According
to a study, bullying among students via social networks or
cyberbullying affects more than a million pupils in Germany alone. Cyber bullying and other problems related to social networks are widely
part of prevention programmes in German schools. All in all, social
networks seem to present much more of a challenge or even danger than
help for attaining educational goals.
15. Media competence is best acquired via traditional knowledge-based education
You
don’t acquire media competence by using Google, Facebook or Twitter.
Facebook, Twitter or other social networks provide no means of telling
apart truth and lies, news and fake news. Only a solid fact and
knowledge-based education provides the orientation students need in a
digital world. The distraction potential of smartphones and social
networks rather than help counteract most educational goals. That’s why
their use in educational contexts must be limited and well considered.
16. Digitalization and social networks – just another hype in education
The
history of education since the middle of the twentieth century is a
series of failed technical hypes: In the seventies, foreign language
teachers believed in sophisticated and expensive language labs that have
been removed a decade or two later. In the seventies and eighties,
film, TV and video entered the classroom. But the initial hope, that
massive use of high quality educational video per se would enhance
learning achievements did not come true. In the nineties, laptop classes
and the Internet seemed the new holy grail of education. They, too,
failed, due to high costs, small bandwidth and poor results. The new
hype are tablet computers, educational software and, perhaps social
networks. You don’t have to be a prophet to know: This technological
hype, too, will fail. Why? Because learning and education are not about
techniques or gadgets, they are profoundly social and human. And anyway:
Who knows whether we’ll talk about tablet computers or smartphones in,
let’s say, five years? Then, it’ll be perhaps HoloLenses or some other
new gadget.
17. There is a time for everything
Does
this mean, that we have to ban smartphones and social networks from the
classroom? Not necessarily. Although the high hopes we put in other
technical hypes did not come true, teachers still use TV, video,
computers or the internet in specific educational contexts, when those
media make sense, when their use yields an added educational value to
the class. This could apply equally to educational software, smartphones
and, eventually, social networks.
18. Legal prerequisites for the educational use of social networks
Before
using social networks in education, we need to solve their legal
issues. One way could be to regulate social networks effectively,
constraining Facebook, Instagram etc. to respect local legislation on
personal data security. Given the monopolistic power of those companies,
this seems quite a challenge. Another way is to emulate their features
on legally secure school servers.
19. Examples for the use of social networks in the classroom
A
meaningful example is the European project eTwinning: A platform for
the communication and cooperation of teachers and their classes across
Europe. It can be useful in foreign language teaching, because it allows secure
digital communication of teachers and students with their exchange
partners in another European country. Students can collaborate and
communicate via internet forums, blogs, chats or video conferencing.
Authentic communication via digital messaging can motivate students,
enrich teaching and foster language learning. International
collaboration of students across Europe based on digital platforms like
eTwinning can also train collaborative competences, intercultural skills
and international understanding, thus hopefully contributing to build a
better world.
Conclusion
Digital
media, gadgets and educational software cannot and must not replace
completely traditional ways of learning. More than to anything else,
this applies to social networks, as they present some very special risks
and side effect. But the dose makes the poison: Used in specific and
well considered educational contexts, social networks, like any other
traditional or digital media or technical gadget before, could make a
meaningful contribution to learning and education in schools.
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