Why Social Media Integration is Important to Gifted Education

Actually, social media integration is important to all education in the 21st century! Why should parents of gifted children care about this? Probably because it’s the best thing to come along in five hundred years … I’m thinking Gutenberg here!

For many years, gifted parents have fought to have specialized instruction for their children. They have offered up about a million different suggestions on how schools could adequately support their children’s needs. Too expensive. Not enough staff. Resource allocation must consider the majority of students in the class. No time to train teachers. You know the story.

Well, now there is a way to educate your child in ways unimaginable only a decade ago. Although the platform is firmly planted on the Internet – it is only a means to an end. An individualized education plan that will reduce costs to your school district and prepare your child for a future world that we can’t even fathom at the moment is the goal. However, the obstacles have not changed – backward looking administrators and school boards who fear the unknown, but I hope to give you some ammunition for your arguments … and boy does $$$$ TALK!

Utilizing social media in your school is an inexpensive , cost-effective means of delivering course content, building global communities, raising social and environmental consciousness, radically raising the level of motivation and interest in school, reducing the need to maintain expansive campuses or to continually purchase expensive textbooks that become irrelevant before they leave the publisher, pairs great educators with great students, prepares students to utilize emerging technologies, and reduce the incidences of physical bullying. How’s that for starters!

And now the rest of the story … Twitter can serve as a 24/7 source of professional development resource for teachers. Facebook pages for specific classes can allow teachers to communicate with students and parents, student to student discussions and collaborations, and interaction with students all over the world. University level courses can be delivered over the Internet in real-time, face-to-face, by college professors to unlimited numbers of students with the assistance of services such as Skype. No more lectures-on-a-disk with reliance on emails and static bulletin boards. Social media can also enhance the educational experiences of disabled students for who brick and mortar schools often means endless barriers. It can provide opportunities for students in rural school districts and remote areas without nearby schools.

Gifted parents must be flexible and willing to consider using all types of available technology to ensure their children receive a world class education without all the expense of traditional schools. Gifted students must lead the way on getting social media integrated into their schools. As their needs are met, it will open up possibilities for other students within their school districts. Finally, an avenue to the future that is right in plain view and attainable today!

Comments

  1. Great post! I'm such an advocate of social media in education. As a teacher, I have learned so much from networks like Twitter. Connecting with other teachers and experts in my field has transformed the way I teach. As I transition to gifted education, I want to incorporate social media tools in my instruction.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment