Many
grade- and high-school teachers remain hesitant to use social media as a
learning tool. Just 16% of the 1,000 K-12 teachers who responded to a survey from the
University of Phoenix said they use social media in the classroom, while 56%
said they don’t use it at all and have no plans to start.
Most
teachers in the survey (83%) worry about conflicts from social media
interaction and 35% said they had experienced issues with either students or
their parents through social media. At the same time, some see the classroom as
the right place to discuss social media.
“In
the classroom is the perfect opportunity to talk about how we behave, what is
ethical inside and outside our classroom, and what that entails,” said Pam
Roggeman, academic dean at the institution’s College of Education. “Its fun and
it’s interesting, but it brings with it a large responsibility.”
The
survey also found that 63% of teachers said they use technology every day and
another 25% use it at least once a week. At the same time, about a quarter of
the teachers admitted being at least somewhat intimidated by their students’
technology knowledge.
“That
surprised me,” Roggeman said. “If there was ever technology in my classroom I
didn’t understand, I’d ask students for help and invariably five hands would go
up. One of teachers’ greatest classroom resources is their students.”
