Unit 3: Facebook in the Social Studies Classroom
Objectives
- Participants will provide the most useful aspects for students and teachers after reading the accompanying article in their journal
- Participants will create a Facebook page for a historical figure, group or nation that demonstrates historically accurate information.
- Participants will create an event or group that links two or more Facebook profiles together to demonstrate a significant event in history.
Mini-Lecture
This mini lecture is meant to act as a tutorial as opposed to a lecture on the uses of Facebook in the classroom. You have already been exposed to Twitter and its uses. Facebook varies only in the ability to do more creative lessons with it. Facebook has the ability to share more forms of media and as a result, has become the dominant force in social media. We are examining a way to utilize Facebook as a project for the classroom.
Creating A Social Network for Famous Historical Individuals, Groups and Events
This project is meant to demonstrate the connections between nations and individuals during important parts of history. This is a lesson plan that should be divided into multiple days and should be the capstone of a particular unit. I am keeping it general so that you can apply and edit it for your own classroom.
Classroom Objective Part 1 (2-3 periods)
- Students will choose and create a Facebook page for a famous individual or nation.
- Students will research 5 characteristics that made this entity significant and create 5 wall posts demonstrating them.
Classroom Objective Part 2 (1-2 periods)
- Working with other groups, students will create events that demonstrating the interactions of the historical period. This will create a social network of and link the groups together.
An Example: FDR and US Declares War On Japan
After this is done, the teacher can observe the students work and create quiz to test the students knowledge on the events that will require them to navigate the pages to answer all of the questions. Now that we have a demonstration, it is your turn to give a test run!
Readings
Do
- Create 2 Facebook pages of link historical figures that demonstrates your ability to use Facebook.
- Create an event that links those historical figures together and explain their significance.
- Post your page to the shared Google Doc
Bonus
- Combine your topic with another classmates that shares the same historical time period.
Additional Resource
Feel free to try out Fakebook as an alternative to Facebook if it is banned in your school. Similarly students can create profiles to demonstrate knowledge.
Reflection/Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully completed the mini course on Social Media in the Social Studies Classroom. Now we covered some of the basics in this and course and hit the two largest social network currently, but what are some other areas that you could explore. Social media sites like Instagram, Pinterest and more are available to be explored for classroom use. In your reflection, come up with a couple of ways you could use other forms of social media, or share them in the discussion tab.
Using the reading, reflect on some of the best practices for using Facebook as a Teacher and as a Student. How do you plan to use Facebook in the classroom?
Also reflect on the class as a whole? What aspects about social media do you like for the classroom? What don't you like? Have you seen anything shared by your fellow classmates that has given you ideas of your own?
References
Grosseck, G., Bran, R., & Tiru, L. (2011). Dear teacher, what should I write on my wall? A case study on academic uses of Facebook. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 1425-1430.