Yesterday I read an interesting blog post about the connection between social media, education, and the introverted child by Susan Cain, author of the forthcoming book, "QUIET: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking" (Crown in the U.S., Viking/Penguin in the U.K., 2012).
The blog was an interview with Royan Lee, a middle school literacy teacher with experience teaching all elementary grades. He had some fascinating things to say about the role of literacy and social media in the classroom.
Susan’s position is that, "every school, and every teacher, needs to be reminded that 1/3 to 1/2 of the kids in their classroom are introverts, and in too many cases these kids are poorly served.
Social media allows shy/quiet kids to express themselves more clearly without having to transform into a bombastic or extroverted individual. Everyone becomes more diverse in the way they communicate and connect with one another. Labels then start disappearing in your class. It allows students to communicate with classmates they do not normally communicate with."
This got me to thinking about the practical applications of social media in the classroom, and how it could be applied to improve the reach and effectiveness of literacy. I believe that under the right supervision, social media has the power to enhance the learning experience of every child - introverted or not.
For example, students could read about insights into history by following select handles on Twitter. Classrooms could start, contribute, and monitor a book club as a Facebook Fan page (to protect the children, only the teacher would update and administer the children's comments on this site).
Classroom forums and other discussion groups allow everyone in class to participate in a discussion about classic literature. Using social media, a middle school classroom in Pennsylvania could connect with a classroom in Korea and share poetry. Now the opportunity to share and collaborate becomes global and accessible to all children in the classroom.
Reading Horizons is a proponent of social media and has a forum for teachers who are passionate about literacy. I hope you’ll join the discussion.