Social Media and Digital Learning

 Going back to last week's readings about assessment on Social Media, one key constraint about using assessment in this way is just the sheer workload involved for a single teacher (or if a large lecture, a handful of TAs and the lead instructor).  I can envision one reason to assess student progress on social media--that it is a place where students are comfortable spending a lot of time.  I know there is this sweeping tide, if you spend much time online, for all of us to have one single access point from which we run our lives online, and that having a life online is the preferred way of living in the 21st century.  And we are bombarded with so much information about how our online lives can make our lives overall better, all while social media companies are selling our data for big profits. I have had times when I was more online and visible in my activity, for a variety of reasons--sharing photos of the kids with distant relatives or engaging in civic activities.  I have never, ever felt the need or desire to spend any more time online than I already do.  Being in this program has me online FAR, far more than I'd like, but it's a means to an end.  With all that context, I can't envision a circumstance where it makes the most sense to assess a student in a social media setting.  I'd need to see it done well before I can consider it.  I am likely a more private person than most, but I'd be reluctant to assume anyone likes less privacy than I do.  Add in the severe difficulty of one teacher having meaningful assessment interactions with students one-on-one in a social media environment, and it just sounds like a recipe for a bad experience for all. 

What I saw in the data, quite clearly, in the PEW study was that younger people are more online than older ones.  And that makes sense, given younger people often have more time to be there.  I know for myself, I have long ago reached a saturation point with social media, and it STILL takes up too much of my time.  I imagine that as people age, that isn't an uncommon trend.  

And many of these assessment readings were created before Gen AI became a real thing in the consumer market.  Assessment practices now all have to be considered from the standpoint of how students will use AI to do the work for them.  Final note: I was at a teacher training this past week for high school ELA teachers.  The group, 100%, has their students keep their iPads off and in their bags in class.  Every student in these classes began kindergarten with an iPad--now they are in high school.  In this county, it seems the tide is swinging from doing as much as possible online/digitally to going back to handouts and pencils.   I saw the same trends in HE when talking to professors about how they are handling assessment in class now.   

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