Selected Student Resources - The Next Stage of the Inquiry

For this next step, our task was to curate ten resources for student use during the inquiry assignment. I believe that I have selected a nice range of resources as I would hope to do in the classroom as well; I have included print books such as textbooks, novels for a literary take on the topic, blog posts, social media analysis sites, a peer-reviewed journal, and TED talks. At this point in the inquiry process I feel that these are the best resources to meet students' diverse learning needs as well as appeal to their interests. However, once I come closer to finalizing the inquiry unit, things may change. As with all things inquiry -- it is a work in progress.

1. 
   

Anderson, M.T. (2002). Feed. Somerville: Candlewick Press.

Feed is set in the near-future where the internet has been hardwired into the vast majority of the population’s brains. The protagonist, Titus, and his friends find themselves in the midst of a hack where their feeds have been compromised and are now unavailable while under repair. The novel chronicles the youths’ journey as they struggle with the desire to stay connected to their feed for every moment each day.

Feed has won multiple book awards and has garnered much popularity amongst youth and adults alike because it does what dystopian novels do so well - reflects and amplifies the quirks of our world. I chose this novel for possible study because it looks at what our world could be rather than what currently is. Students could study the effects of social media through a literary lens as Titus and friends become “unplugged” and find that they struggle to exist in their new world. Suggested for older teens, Feed comes in at just over three hundred pages making it a manageable read for students at grade level.

2.

Broadbent, Stephanie. (July 2009). “How the Internet Enables Intimacy.” [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/stefana_broadbent_how_the_internet_enables_intimacy on October 11, 2017.

The TED talk comes in at less than 9 minutes and Broadbent uses real-world examples to present her research. This talk provides a slightly different perspective to the connections that the internet has brought to our lives. Broadbent argues that the internet and social media tools such as Skype, have actually provided closer connections that were not possible previously. Many of the resources that students will use will cast social media and technology in a very negative light; however, it is important for students to also be provided with the alternate view so they have a broader perspective of the topic. While the talk may be considered slightly dated in the technology world, the information provided is still relevant and is presented in a very accessible manner.

3.  

Freitas, Donna. (2017). The Happiness Effect: How Social Media is Driving a Generation to Appear Perfect at Any Cost. New York: Oxford University Press.

Freitas’ latest book has been constructed through surveys and interviews with college students. Its 350+ pages feature student interviews framed with assertions by Freitas. The book centers on how social media forces a sort-of perfect life syndrome whereby individuals only see the perfect life of others and feel that they can only share the positive aspects of their own lives. This leads to feelings of isolation and low self-worth as one’s real life can never compare with the perfection portrayed online.

The appeal of this book is that Freitas’ conclusions come through discussions with young people making it easy to digest and relate to. While the book is quite lengthy, Freitas narrows down a theme for each of the eleven chapters that students could focus on rather than reading the book in its entirety.

4.

Hall, M., Elliott, K., & Meng, J. (2017). “Using the PAD (Pleasure, Arousal, and Dominance) Model to Explain Facebook Attitudes and Use Intentions.” Journal Of Social Media In Society, 6(1), 144-167. Retrieved from http://thejsms.org/index.php/TSMRI/article/view/230/118

This article discusses the use of Facebook with the framework of the Pleasure, Arousal, and Dominance Model. A scientific study is conducted to determine various reasons for using Facebook. The article is twenty six pages in length, includes a hypothesis, results and areas for future study. As such it provides a much more concrete approach to the study of social media than some of the other sources. This resource would be particularly useful for those students who appreciate a more scientific approach.

It should be noted that this entire journal is freely available online, accessible for students, and is a peer reviewed source. Realistically, rather that one specific article, I would recommend the journal as a whole for students’ use demonstrating how to search within the journal by topic, or to browse through each issue. This journal allows students to dig deeper into their specific focus on social media using current research, which would provide a nice complement to some of the other sources.

5.

Homzie, Hillary. (2016). Queen of Likes. New York: Aladdin.

Queen of Likes is a fiction reader that demonstrates both the power in popularity on social media through the adolescent population, as well as how addicted we can become to our phone and the social media apps it holds. It follows the story of Karma Cooper who is very popular online. After misusing her phone Karma has her phone privileges revoked and she must learn to adapt to her life without her phone.

I had multiple fiction resources on my list but wanted to narrow it down to two - one lower level and one grade level. This one made the list because it covers not only how all encompassing social media can become in our lives -- driving our popularity and our behaviour -- but also how we find our world changed when we remove the presence of social media. I appreciated that this resource is accessible for lower level readers while engaging in the topic in an interesting manner.

6.

Kerpen, Dave. (2011). Likeable Social Media: How to Delight Your Customers, Create an Irresistible Brand, and Be Generally Amazing on Facebook (and other social networks). New York: McGraw Hill Companies.

A book geared toward those looking to use social media for marketing, Likeable Social Media also demonstrates how individuals use social media to garner success in both their personal and professional world. Kerpen provides eighteen strategies to get social media working for you. Each chapter focuses on one of the eighteen strategies in an engaging manner. While the book as a whole would be too much for students, the eighteen strategy chapter division would allow students to hone in on areas of Kerpen’s approach that appeal to their inquiry. The book is very strongly reviewed both by marketing executives and other authors in the social media field. Its readability and clear focus would make it a good resource for students hoping to focus on the business end of social media.

7.

Newberry, C., & Dawley, S. (2017). “How to Get More Instagram Followers: The Ultimate Guide.” Hootsuite Social Media Management. Retrieved 6 October 2017, from https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-get-more-instagram-followers-the-ultimate-guide/

This article provides a clear eleven point strategy to tailor your instagram account for maximum popularity. Through the use of subheadings, visual examples, and concise explanations, the article provides an uncomplicated guide for readers to follow and implement. The post stays as concise as possible using one line “do’s” and “don’ts”. Geared towards those in the marketing world, the tips provided would generally work for anyone trying to increase their online following.

The article is published by Hootsuite which is a social media management platform, that also offers free social media education in the form of webinars and blog posts. I would use this article to introduce students to Hootsuite itself - which they could then use to follow their inquiry in their desired direction. As a class we would discuss the inherent bias and purpose behind the Hootsuite articles so that students would view the content with a more critical lens. The blog and webisodes are very user-friendly full of neat visuals to accompany key points about their chosen topic. The content should be accessible to all levels in the classroom with those students who prefer to learn visually making use of the webinars.

8.

Probst, Caitlin. (2015) “10 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Health.” Degreed website. Retrieved October 11, 2017, from http://blog.degreed.com/10-ways-social-media-affects-our-mental-health/.

This blog post written by Probst narrows down the ten main ways that social media affects our mental health. It discusses both positive and negative aspects of social media on our mental health and cites scientific studies to back up its claims. While there are many blog posts written on this topic and the vast majority of them are very readable and nice to look at, this blog post stood out as it wasn’t heavily swayed towards one side or the other (both positive and negative aspects? This was a rare find!), and it cited reputable sources such as Medical News Today and Science Daily. It is nice to see a blog post actually supporting its claims with sources which allows students to investigate the sources even further.  

9.

Raatma, Lucia. (2013). Cyberbullying (True Books: Guides to Life). New York: Scholastic.

Cyberbullying is a nonfiction reader that focuses on the bullying aspect of social media. It discusses the various ways one can be a victim of cyberbullying, as well as giving tips on prevention and how to deal with cyberbullying if it does happen.

I chose this resource because it is a very accessible lower-level non-fiction source. It talks about some of the various negative aspects that social media can bring into our lives in a way that is easy for students to understand. This resource would be suitable for all students in the classroom but is mainly geared to those who struggle with comprehension skills.

10.

Turkle, Sherry. (February, 2012). “Connected, but alone?” [Video File] Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/sherry_turkle_alone_together on October 11, 2017.

A twenty-five minute TED Talk on the paradox of how technology provides us a new level of connectedness, while remaining more distant than before. While this talk doesn’t focus on social media specifically as it looks at technology as a whole, the conclusions drawn are certainly applicable to social media connectedness.  

Turkle provides examples of people texting while in the company of others at important events such as at board meetings, and even at funerals. She provides context for herself by stating that in 1995 she was on the cover of Wired Magazine for authoring a book about the exciting new world technology is bringing us into; she comes back to the present about the isolating world technology has actually created for us.

This resource would be appealing to all students as it is a quick, digestible talk in language that is accessible to a variety of levels. Turkle speaks at a nice pace, provides good examples to demonstrate her relatability, and summarizes her conclusions well. Students can use this resource as a reference for how our intended use of technology has changed over the years, and how we have changed as a result.