Newmarket Days on Facebook
NEWMARKET DAYS on FACEBOOK
Dear Parents and Guardians of the Class of 2019 -
As you can see by the link above, the Newmarket Days Project is now on Facebook. Please feel free to 'friend' us. This will be a great way for you and your student to keep up with developments. We are also posting much of the background material we will be using for our webquest here - the full list is posted on our Prezi site.
Students who are away from their computer, or simply find Facebook an easier platform to navigate, will be able to access important content here. You might find it interesting yourself: There are links to albums full of New Market Historical Society photos from the 18 & early 1900s, and I know that at least one or two of them include pictures of the great+ grandparents of some of our current students. It's also just fun to see what you recognise from back in the day!
It should be emphasised that this facebook page is here simply as another way to deliver program content to you and your student. We know that not all of our students and parents are on Facebook (though many are!), and we want to assure you that anything posted here will also appear on the Newmarket Days Website.
Social media comes with some concerns when used in school related projects. Cyberbullying and the disclosure of personal information are two very good reasons to proceed with caution (Lederer, 2012). The security setting on this page are such that it will only be available for viewing by people who are already "Friends". That friends list will be curated by teachers, and users of the site are responsible for adhering to the same internet guidelines and policies established by the school in our student handbook. Misuse of the site will result in serious consequences. Any issues or complaints should be addressed immediately to me.
Social media also brings some huge pluses into the classroom, which is why we are choosing to use it. We feel that by using electronic media your students are already familiar with, we increase their comfort level with the material, as well as creating impulse access points. It takes some time to log into the school's website, but if your student is already on Facebook on their phone, this makes it easy for them to check in with Newmarket Days. It is a tool to improve communication between students and teachers, and between the students themselves (Bynum, 2012)
We are choosing to use Facebook as a part of Newmarket Days for one other reason. Our students are already living in a digital world. Please take a look at the infographic below (Bard, 2012). As they move through school and prepare to enter the workforce, that digital immersion will only have grown (Lederer, 2012). As a result, State and Federal education standards are shifting to reflect a need for our students to be literate in all forms of online media. By using social media in this project we are creating a learning opportunity for your students whereby they gain experience, flexibility, and responsibility using social media.
As always, if you have any questions, comments, or complaints, please e-mail me right away.
Sources:
Bard, M. (2012). The social web. [Infographic]. www.mirnabard.com. Retrieved from: http://bpiwmecliteracyandtechnologypilot.blogspot.com/2012/07/social-media-enhances-classroom.html
Bynum, S.L. (2012). Utilizing social media to increase student engagement: A study of Kern County public schools. Bakersfield, CA: California State University. Retrieved from: http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED526312.pdf
Lederer, K. (2012). Pros and cons of social media in the classroom. [web article]. Campus Technology Journal. Retrieved from: http://campustechnology.com/articles/2012/01/19/pros-and-cons-of-social-media-in-the-classroom.aspx
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