Social Media in the Art Room

Hello world and everyone!  My apologies for the late responses that are coming both today and the rest of the week.  I have been very unwell and it has been an arduous task to read and write while being ill--hopefully my discussion still finds itself relevant.  I am, as I have previously expressed, a firm advocate for using technology in the classroom.  Though I hardly consider myself to be a connoisseur or innovator of such technologies, I think I am on a good path to inspire others to branch out to it.  Earlier this year, I started a Twitter account for my classroom.  It has started very slowly (and I still don't have many followers), but I some really amazing things have begun to emerge that would have never occurred had I not gotten an account.  I often tweet out inspirational messages, facts about art/artists, and questions which, when responded to, elicit extra credit opportunities.  Many of my students take part in the discussion of questions I ask, and it always warms my heart when they favorite something I write to them.  However, the great and amazing thing that has happened is that my students have started to tweet artwork and artists to me.  They take such pride in discovering something that goes along with what we are learning, or even something totally new.  I have found that Twitter, as a classroom social media, has gotten my students interested in art outside of my classroom and has reached students that I may not have otherwise.  Social media seems, to me, to be an extremely powerful motivator to get students truly interested and engaged in what they are learning.  As far as I am concerned, there is little risk in my communication with my students.  I don't follow them back on Twitter, so I don't see what they are writing to friends and I never post pictures of the kids without asking permission first.  This way, the risk of getting myself into trouble is miniscule.  The reward of seeing my students excited and happy about making discoveries on their own far outweighs any tiny amount of hesitation I have with using social media.  You can follow me on Twitter @MsEvansArtRoom.

When doing the reading for this week, I was most struck by the importance and weight of customization and social media (which also showed up in an article a few weeks ago).  The Brooks-Young chapter on social media notes that, "Members create a profile by completing a template where they can add information 'about me,'...and select emoticons to depict the member's current mood, and write blog posts"(49).  While that information may seem obvious and a bit outdated to most, I find it to be an intriguing little morsel.  The craving to customize is seen everywhere--in phone cases, in jewelry, in clothes, and it even rings true in the online realm.  The point of social media is to connect with others while sharing parts of yourself and highlighting what might be different or unique.  It's important to be able to showcase your personality within the social media of your choosing.