In reflecting on our changed world in relation to technology and media, I believe the fact that over 9000 hours of content is uploaded to YouTube every day shows our desire to create and participate in this online community. It is important to recognize that our students also have these desires to participate in this community. For teachers, I believe it is becoming increasingly challenging to separate what is happening on social media and what occurs in the classroom.
Recently, we have seen the rise of Tik Tok, and with that, the rise of Tik Tok challenges. It may seem that this is a new concept; however, we can see that people sharing videos of themselves dancing and singing to a particular song is not new. Wesh reminded us of the viral “Numa Numa” videos that came out in 2004 and the number of people that learned the dance and participated in uploading these videos. Althought the platforms have changed, the idea of people wanting to connect in communities continues. People enjoy being a part of something larger than themselves and these social media outlets allow anyone to participate, regardless of location, culture, beliefs, etc. The internet and social media platforms seem to have created a culture of their own, that is accessible to anyone with access to these platforms globally.
The reality is that students will not only participate in social media platforms and online communities outside of the classroom, but they will be required to have these skills in the future. The majority of jobs today require some sort of online skills and avoiding teaching these skills in the classroom is doing an injustice to students. As teachers, we should be teaching students how to access online communities and resources in a safe and effective way. Educating students on how to participate in the digital world appropriately is important, as well as educating them on how to be critical of the information they are accessing.
By incorporating online communities, access to online resources, and opportunities to participate in our classrooms we are equipping students with the tools necessary to live in a digital world.