The One With Too Much Social Media
According to a UCLA Professor, "Many people are looking at the benefits of digital media in education, and many are not looking at the costs." As a teacher, I see the lack of social skills in our youth daily. Sadly, these students do not like to speak in class, do presentations, work in groups or socialize in school at all. With the growing popularity of social networking sites, face-to-face communication is decreasing, especially among younger generations. They feel they only have a voice behind their device screen and don't have the confidence or ability to share that voice in person.
While social communities are growing and allowing people to gain knowledge and information from people all over the world that they would have access too without the internet, it is also hindering peoples ability to make connections in person. While online you may feel more connected than ever, in reality you are very isolated.
A few of the major soft skills employers look for is communication, interpersonal skills, teamwork and leadership. All of those skills require people to be able to communicate, work with, and interact professionally and within social norms with other individuals. These skills are not necessarily taught in the classroom but they are acquired through socializing. While students spend majority of their childhood in a classroom, they gain these important skills through interacting with their peers. Today, students are able to hide behind their screens in virtual school settings or even go unnoticed in a traditional classroom due to all the technology imbedded into classrooms and lessons.
I am a big advocate for technology in our classrooms but can too much be a problem? Are we hindering our youths ability to gain important social skills that will carry them through life by allowing them to spend so much time on social media and not out in the world making friends and connections with others?
I had a conversation around this topic with a group of collegians a couple of years back. I was asking them if they saw the potential for social skills falling off due to more internet-based connections and less time spent together, but they did not agree. They said that they and others of their generation probably communicated in more face-to-face ways then Millennials.
ReplyDeleteIn the point-of-view of these collegiate women, Gen Z would rather FaceTime over call, SnapChat over text, and something else that I truly didn't know what they were talking about and can't recall it now. They talked about how they don't watch much TV, but love YouTube and share and dissect their favorite personalities together.
I agree with them to a point, I hate when my friends FaceTime me without warning -- I am almost offended! I have to mentally prepare to talk to people and let them see me.
A screen may be in between them, but it is still face-to-face communication. In communicating with the collegians, I never felt there was a social inability, per se. In my role within a women's fraternity, a large part of the education produced was around social excellence and communicating in genuine, values-based conversations. While it was challenging for some, I don't think it was a significant increase in those that needed extra practice from those a decade ago.
I could be wrong; as younger members of the generation age into their college years, we may see a significant problem in communication. I do not think we will though. Many are still involved sports and theater and political activism and even starting their own charities -- all of which require significant growth in personal communication skills along the way.
A very important topic! I valued and still value face to face conversations more than the online communications. One key reason being, during a face-to face conversation, I am able to gauge the person's mood, the emotions and feelings the person is having and accordingly change my tone. With online, this is difficult. People can hide their true feelings behind emojis and typed letters. How does one gauge the tone and mood of the conversation? But, then the Pandemic happened. And I realized that it is important that we find a way to incorporate the experiences of a face to face conversation to that of a virtual environment. Thats what I am hoping this course and the others that I am going to take during my Online Teaching and Learning certificate will help me learn and experience.
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