Social Media in Schools

Use of Social Media in Schools

At the Cilip Umbrella conference in June I attended the session on young people’s access to social media. The presentation was from Emma Hadfield, the Learning Resources Manager at Thomas Rotherham College, a sixth form college in South Yorkshire. Headed “Young people’s access (or not) to social media in school or college libraries” Emma took us through the well-known statistics for social media use by 4-18 year olds. She has been conducting some research into the use or otherwise of social network sites in schools, from the point of view of the staff and students. The figures are from my notes taken in the session.

A major part of the lives of this age group centres around social media sites, so how can this be harnessed positively? It is often frowned upon in schools and in the survey 82% of schools asked restricted access to social sites such as facebook, 40% restricted you tube and 24% restricted Flickr. So there is quite a debate about the tension between leisure and learning. When asked why they restricted use 54 sited concerns about safety, 49 felt it was not educational, 71 that it causes disruption and 17 had a bandwidth issue.

 Students Use of Social Media

Most students use some form of social media, usually facebook. When asked what they used it for most used it for communicating with their friends. Some used it for study help and collaboration on work. You tube was cited as mainly being a source of entertainment but was also used as a study aid. Unsurprisingly the students questioned objected to having their access to these sites restricted and felt it was useful as a research and collaboration tool for their schoolwork as well as a source of entertainment.

Student safety

Does the restriction of access to these sites actually make students any safer or does it actually increase their vulnerability? There is an argument that without proper guidance and instruction in a relatively safe environment, students will not learn to identify and avoid risks they will encounter when using the internet in an uncontrolled environment. Also the small number of students who do not have access to the internet outside school have no way of learning the skills of managing social sites which will be vital to them in later life.

E-safety policies

There seemed to be little consistency about e-safety policies and it was not always imbedded in the curriculum. Where they existed the policies seemed to be developed by the senior management team in consultation with the computer managers. Library staff were rarely involved as were students themselves.

Educational Use

Chatting or collaborative learning? There is a fine line but it is undeniable that the use of social sites can help build team work and communication. Development of blogging skills is an enjoyable way of finding self-expression in writing. Media students can use sites to show each other their work and get feedback. There are a host of potential uses for social media which could be exploited by a creative IT savy teacher, especially as more schools get involved in VLE.

It is necessary to show students the positive uses they can make of these sites for research.

Emma’s main conclusions were that there should be a three step programme for releasing restrictions on social media use.

1-Staff Training – to increase knowledge among staff of its positive potential 

2- Regular and embedded E-safety training for staff and students

3 – Once 1 and 2 have been put into practise restrictions on the use of social media could be relaxed to allow a freer use of social media.

My feelings are that the social media has taken off and is running, leaving most of the adult population panting along behind, trying to keep up. The important thing is not to stifle the creative and social potential of this new world.

How silently, how silently

Very short blog or rant about paralells between youth work cuts and library cuts.

Youth work should be a statutory responsibility of the state, like libraries.  I can see the parallels between the dissolution of  local youth work and its impact on young people’s moral and the chipping away at the foundations of our libraries with the inevitable consequence that will have on education and culture. Youth work needs professional qualified youth workers just as libraries need professional qualified librarians. Volunteers have their value in both settings but cannot replace the need for trained professionals, to suggest they can undervalues the importance of both services and cripples future development. The youth service in Waveney was dismantled quietly and quickly with barely a whimper. Partly it was our fault because we weren’t watching. My new academic year’s resolution is not to let that happen again. If we lose our libraries it won’t be without a lot of ineffectual shouting and banner waving, but it won’t be silently.

Pam Riley (Signpost Gunton  Trustee and occasional Dreamworx volunteer)

Silence in the Library...Stay out of the Shadows!

Spot the Dr Who reference, I am not that kind of librarian but I am feeling a bit disenchanted. Call it post conference blues. I had a fantastic time at umbrella, met some great people and came back thoroughly inspired only to encounter the cold shower of reality. It's all very well to believe yourself that the library is the heart of the school/college, but sometimes difficult to get that over to senior management, who barely know it exists. Moan over, Umbrella was great, courtesy of the Affiliates Group who gave me sponsored place. Now I have the summer holidays to mull over the lessons I have learned, develop my online presence and formulate my plan of attack for September! That is if the kids, selling the house, and all the other things which rush in to fill my life when I am theoretically on holiday don't completely scupper my good intentions.  Thing 5 is reflective practise - some thing I think I am ok at to the extent that I spend too long examining my own navel rather than getting anything concrete done! Like most things it is all a matter of balance. Although I came back from Umbrella all fired up about Twitter and Facebook, I am still quite a long way from feeling entirely comfortable in this world. RSS feeds is ok, I like reading blog posts from people who interest me (at the moment Alan Gibbons campaigning against library cuts is good to follow) I also like checking out how libraries use facebook (Swansea library is a superb example) but on Twitter I am a follower rather than a tweeter, unless something comes up I really want to retweet or shout about. I seem to be taking the road of following everyone in sight until I realise that many are really not saying anything interesting anyway. Hopefully by a process of selection and judicious pruning I will end up with a list of tweets that is interesting and illuminating. I don't particularly like facebook for my own use but quite a few friends have twigged that I am on it and keep sending me loads of junk I don't really want. I will be interested to see if Google plus is any easier to control with it's groups and circles, although I have seen quite a few comments which indicate it might not be. At least I can choose my friends on facebook even if I don't really need to know what they had for dinner.  Sorry, not so much reflection as mindless rambling, it is the sun, I'm not used to it.

Off to Umbrella

I was fortunate enough to get a place at Umbrella sponsored by the Affiliates Group. I am a little nervous and excited, partly because it is my first library conference and partly because I can get some quality reading time on the train (a rare commodity). If anyone is going, please say hello. I am currently undecided about lugging the lap top on the train. I might just settle for a notebook (paper variety). But I am looking forward to it. I haven't finally decided on the sessions I'm going to - another job for the train journey. But one of the things I am hoping for is to meet more 6th form library people and to pick their brains, especially about - does anybody have MOODLE? How does it work with the library, we are getting it next year and nobody seems to know much about it. Also, what are the best online newspaper resources to subscribe to? Anyone got any good MANGA recommendations? In short, I'd advise you to avoid me, No I don't mean that. I will no doubt be blogging ad nausea when I get back.

Why I am doing this

I have loved reading ever since I discovered that words in picture books could make sense and there was more to Janet and John than a series of nice pictures I could colour in or scribble on. I was pre-school and my Mum was bored and her sister in law was a primary teacher and sent her some school materials, so she decided to teach me to read. It was like giving a kid a box of matches, once I had lit one and been dazzled by the magical brightness, I had to light another and another, even if I occasionally burnt my fingers. One of the local libraries she took me to was based in an old hall of medieval origin full of dark wood and odd little corners, I wouldn’t have been surprised it there had been secret passages. It had a magical atmosphere; I remember a set of beautifully illustrated fairy books. They seemed to fit in to that library as if they had always been there.

 By the time I went to school I was annoyingly literate to the extent that I kept getting undeserved gold stars for reading the same books my Mum had introduced me to the year before. I do remember my Mum was horrified by the fact that my school had elected to use ITA and I was being taught how not to spell. She trotted up to school and complained resulting in me being taken out of that class. I had no idea what was going on, I thought the weird words were rather interesting. Anyway I have strong memories of being an early book addict, sneaking books and reading them under the desk during maths and French lessons, an eclectic mix of fantasy and animal books, a guilty pleasure.

 One of the first books I got out of a public library myself was Born Free by Joy Adamson. I think I was attracted by the photographic plates (black and white unfortunately) I loved the lions and my earliest ambition was to be a wildlife ranger in Kenya. I read it and the sequels even though I probably didn't understand a lot of it. I got the excitement of living in a camp in the African bush and the character of Elsa and the passion for wildlife of the Adamson’s. I was fortunate in being able to roam freely and not be restricted to the children’s section. And I do remember finding a rather gruesome book on pet first aid with rather graphic  advice. I also remember Orlando the Marmalade Cat from that period and I read the Narnia books, although the spiritual significance of them was lost on me at the time. I think I was about 8, and the library was a place of many treasures.

I never thought I would work in a library, I was going to save lions and tigers and camp in dangerous places. I was fascinated by the world, how it worked, the physical framework of the planet, I remember being introduced to the theory of plate tectonics, then quite a new and novel idea in schools. So I became a geographer and  went on to take a degree in geography at the only place I could find that would accept my rather arty A Levels on a course which would allow me to study physical geography as well as the rather tedious sociologically based human geography. I thoroughly enjoyed the course although I had no real idea of what I would do with it. My dream was to become a writer and create the magical worlds I had enjoyed in books, but I was and am a realist and knew the chances of that dream being fulfilled are remote. However, although I found  human geography tedious, I was interested in the nature of human communities, especially urban communities and somehow wound up doing a master’s degree in town planning at Oxford Polytechnic. I completed it and worked in housing for the next four years in an old coal mining community in Northumberland.

Then we moved south and while going through the roller coaster of infertility treatment, I took a step back to my degree subject and became an environmental science lecturer at the local FE college. I did this for 6 enjoyable years part time while adjusting to the consequences of successful IVF. I trained as teacher at this time and took my PGCE.

 Yes, I am an eternal student, I love to study and absorb information. When, after a career break,  I took a job in a library I felt as if I had come home. I have worked as a library assistant in a sixth form college library for the last five years. As I consider this to be where I belong I started looking into my status as a library professional. No one I worked with had any librarianship qualifications and although we were encouraged to look out for professional development (cost permitting) I had very little guidance as to what I should be doing to further my career.  After talking to the Cilip I was informed that because of my experience and past qualifications, I should be able to register for chartership .  I got myself a mentor in a local FE college and we have met twice. I also attended a portfolio building workshop in Cambridge last May and was fortunate enough to attend Umbrella 2011 courtesy of a sponsored place from the affiliates group. All in all I have had a busy year and if anyone out there is thinking about building up their career, being acknowledged and respected for what you already do and expanding your skills, meeting like minded people, don't hesitate. All being well I should submit my portfolio next September.

more thoughts on branding

I was watching Murray and contemplating thing3. It occurred  to me that my one line presence is not something I can manufacture. It will evolve along with my involvment and interactions with others on the web. I was getting abit uptight about presenting an "image" and being careful how I appear in case I damage my professional persona. To be honest I am not interested in appearing as some kind of "super library advocate" I believe in the value of libraries, the value of education and the importance of breaking through into the digital age however painful it may be in the short term. Every part of my life feeds into every other and so it would be unrealistic to attempt to compartmentalise them. I missed the end of the match, but Murray is through to the semi!

Personal Branding? sounds painful!

I know having a positive online presence is what it is all about, but I do struggle with the notion of self promotion. I'm a bit too reserved English to feel comfortable with that. I did try to find myself and was quite pleased that none of the Pam Riley's in the world had anything to do with me. However, I will try. Another issue I have is that much as I am a committed library professional,  a lot of my life involves things very much apart from library stuff and I would be afraid of boring people with my ramblings about dogs, church, teenage daughters (who would kill me if I wrote about them anyway). Maybe I should have different blogs for different things? I'm not sure I could manage more than one at a time. By the way, is anybody out there going to Umbrella? I landed myself a sponsored place and it would be nice to have someone to say hello to