Explaining Social Media (a class activity for teens)

Some days ago, I saw this picture on Facebook.

I thought it might be funny, to use this picture in my class. So I created an activity for my teens students and I want to share it with you.

• 1) After watching the image the teacher gives Students some words, could be anything like: music, Adele, shoes, Nokia, books, etc.
• 2) In groups, students select five social media and think about presenting the word given in the social media selected
• 3) Students present their ideas in a piece of paper for proof reading and editing.
• 4) Once the ideas are checked, Students select only one and post the idea in the chosen social media

This activity may sound a bit basic, but could be a very interesting way for writing activity, it can also promote the use of social media in the class and explore their creativity.

 

Digital Natives

   I have to think about my new students, my lesson plans and the techniques I will use this year in the classroom. After selecting the contents and checking my students´lists I realize that one of the most important things to take into account is that all my students are DIGITAL NATIVES (Mark Presnky) .

But what is a Digital Native? Most of us have met them! They are exposed to an environment which is media rich, fast, dynamic, instant. They are engaged and motivated by the use of digital technology.

They can also access to a lot of multimedia sources. They are  multitask students who can pay attention to different things at the same time. They need to “see” or “listen” to understand what they are reading, they process the information by images or sounds instead of written text. They can interact to many and they feel comfortable if they are exposed “digitally” to thousands of other DN by the use of social media.

Another characteristic of the DN students is that they need an instant reward. They are used to instant access to information as well as instant gratification. For them, learning should be relevant, instantly useful and fun.

So, this year I not only have to think about lists, contents, songs and worksheet, but also how to keep on introducing digital activities in my daily classroom activities.