World Languages in Our Schools

Schools are looking not only to expand offerings in foreign languages, but also in helping students learn more about the cultures of the people who speak these languages. As we become a global community and as technologies bring us closer together, it’s important for students to learn the languages of other cultures and to better understand these cultures. Today’s students can learn languages online, practice speaking/writing skills with native speakers/writers through the Internet, and learn about cultures through global social media, blogs, video conferences, video, and other technology communication tools. Teaching global languages today differs from teaching of the past because a great emphasis is placed on communication and culture—skills which our students will need to make their way in a global economy.

Should Schools Teach Social Media Skills?

Should it be the job of schools to teach the do’s and don’t of social media? Many educators think the answer to that is “yes.” One counselor, using a curriculum created by the non-profit Common Sense Media, talks with his students about “Disinhibition, reputation, anonymity.” He says that teens get right away that disinhibition means acting impulsively, without showing due restraint, in a way that’s aggressive or plays up another personality trait. He also talks about the number of fights that start at school that have their root in things that started online.

Others, though, including Dennis Kelly, president of the United Educators of San Francisco, a local teachers union, says teachers are already drowning in work — especially now with Common Core. While social media is important, Kelly says, so are other things. “It would be very difficult for schools trying to keep up with Instagram, Facebook, all of the apps that exist out there that are essentially market driven.”

The truth is that, while apps come and go, and the contingent issues and yet to emerge problems that come with them are yet to raise their ugly heads, social media is here to stay. The social media world boils over into schools every minute of every school day. Without schools keeping a finger on the pulse of what’s going on in the digital world, teaching online etiquette to students, and discussing the implications of what is going on in the social media world, it is like saying that current events shouldn’t be part of ongoing lessons. School, parents, and teachers have to get serious about talking about what is going on in this parallel universe or risk being seen as irrelevant.

Handy Social Media Commandments

You'll want to take a look at these social media commandmentsfrom Leaderswest: Fresh Perspectives on Social Media & Technology. Included are many suggestions I'm sure you already know, but reviewing the ideas with your students is wise. As always, it’s important to keep up a conversation with your students about their use of online networking and to stress use of common sense.

How Much Do We Use Technology?

The information-packed graphic, Graduating with Technology by LearnStuff.com, contains facts about the growth of technology use among our students. As you examine the percentages displayed in the graphic, think about what they tell us about where we should head in education in the future. Some of the statistics include: 90% “of students think tablets help them study more efficiently”; students read more books if they have a tablet to use for reading them; “there are 20,000 educational apps and 30,000 free lectures, videos, and books”; and 70% of children, ages 2-5, can use a computer mouse.  Statistics in the graphic were gathered from USA Today, Apple Computer, Cisco, Twitter, NACS (National Association of College Stores), NSSE (National Survey of Student Engagement), Venture Beat, and NCES (National Center for Educational Statistics). I think you and others in your school will find the graphic to be excellent.

Does Social Media Help Writing Skills?

Professor Terry Thaxton, University of Central Florida, believes that writing through digital media encourages students to omit “the interesting parts of a language.” Communication through texting and social networks usually features informal writing, not descriptions and imaginative ideas. This summer Thaxton is directing a summer camp that’s designed to help students, ages 9 to 18, work on their writing skills by creating a zombie movie or a mystery caper. They have to write the script before they film.

It’s not yet clear whether digital communication is hampering writing skills or if students are able to switch between informal online communication and more formal face-to-face and written communication. Thaxton, however, is certain that so much attention to digital communication isn’t good for language and writing skills. In fact, through one of his assignments, he learned that some of his students couldn’t recall any face-to-face conversations they’d had over a weekend, but they could check their text conversations.

When Cyberbullying Spills into Schools

Education Week offers the Webinar, When Cyberbullying Spills into Schools, on Thursday, February 23, 2012, from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. ET. The session will focus on online conflicts and negative comments that cause problems within classrooms and schools. We hear so much about bullying and cyberbullying these days, and parents and students often expect school administrators to solve the problems created by students outside school. Even when the problems spill over into schools, actions administrators and teachers can take aren’t clearly defined. The Webinar will take on topics such as: should schools be monitoring sites like Facebook, can action be taken against students who misbehave online, when should schools step in, and how can schools create cultures that don’t accept bullying? Leaders of the Webinar will be: Kevin Jennings and Barbara-Jane Paris, both national experts on the problems of bullying and anti-bullying programs.