In today’s fast changing world, what social media is popular among adolescents can shift quickly. TikTok’s sudden rise in popularity has many looking carefully at what the app is, its terms of service, privacy policy, and its algorithms. Our team has chosen to examine TikTok as a learning tool in the classroom.
In our team of Stephanie, Angela and London, half of us had a TikTok account and half didn’t. Members who were new to the app were tasked to record their experiences and feelings using this technology for the first time. For myself who had been a holdout to adopting this technology, finally signing up was easy and quick. I was immediately presented with the terms of service (TOS) and privacy policy (PP) which I decided to review carefully. Next, there was a short orientation followed by a request to allow notifications. All of these steps seemed very standard for a social media app. The issue that I became interested in after downloading the app and listening to Dr. Bonnie Stewart’s presentation was whether or not social media apps can be used ethically in the classroom.
The two areas that had caught my attention and surprised me were the TOS and PP. First, in the TOS, consent was required in the US for those under 18 years of age and a waiver for future class action suits was included. Reading further it became clear that nothing created in the app was proprietary when it came to user generated content. Anything that is posted to the site including original music is given away unconditionally, irrevocably, non exclusively, royalty free, fully transferable to third parties in perpetuity. Once again not surprising in an app where the user is the product. The surprise was how far the terms of service went.
Second, the privacy policy was divided into two sections: behavioral and technical data. Behavioral data includes profile info, what apps and websites you visit and download and purchase. Technical data included much much more and spanned multiple devices which included everything from your battery state to keystroke patterns and/or rhythms.
In my research I want to explore whether or not social media can be used ethically in the classroom? I am questioning the scope of my research and overarching question. Is it possible to understand social medias secret algorithms? In addition, there is very little literature about the use of social media use in the classroom. I look forward to your insights.
April 18, 2022
Hi Sam,
This is such a fabulous and timely issue to explore! As a middle school teacher, my students seem to be using social media platforms like TikTok and Snapchat almost constantly, so I would be very keen to see what your explorations of the ethical (or not!) use of TikTok in the classroom reveals. Public education can be such a balancing act between maintaining relevancy in a world that is changing constantly, respecting the collective rights of students and staff members, and pushing for change in systems that evolve at a snail’s pace. I love your topic, and am very keen to learn what you discover!
Thanks again,
Amber
April 24, 2022
Sam, this is one of the most pressing issues in technology use in education currently, including social media such as TikTok. Whether employing externally hosted social media, or incorporating it into the institutional technology array – the layers upon layers of terms of services, privacy statements and other legal documents can become overwhelming. How are decisions made in light of this situation? This will make for a good exploration, especially with your focus on ethics.
April 26, 2022
Thank you so much for your insight, Irwin.
I am very much enjoying this course and the new found clarity I have on social media in education.
Sincerely,
Sam
April 25, 2022
Hi Amber,
I just read Stephanie’s blog and your topic is one that I think about often. This year, I found out my daughter, in grade seven, is using TikTok and it was taught and/or encouraged in her classroom, guided by her teacher. I do not recall having provided permission for my daughter to participate and have just let it be. This is an important topic as there are so many unknowns, but considering I am not on TikTok, teaching and using it in school, may touch on all of the dos and don’ts, that I am not fully aware of. It is a hard conversation to have with children in school when peer pressure and popular technologies are everywhere and consume much of this generations life. I look forward to learning more from your findings on the ethics.
April 26, 2022
Hi Myrna!
It is Sam but thank you for your comment anyway. Yes, I agree. I too am surprised that TikTok was being taught or encouraged. There are some very serious things happening with the app these days such as filter bubbles, bias/racist biometric face recognition suggestions and the fact that there are very few people making sure that users under 18 have gotten consent from their parents which is required by law. I am pretty surprised that this is flying under the radar of people I know and respect.
Sam
April 30, 2022
Hi Sam,
What an interesting topic to explore. I am curious to know if you have considered some of the ethical principles in healthcare such as informed consent or autonomy when looking at the ethics of using social media in the classroom. Autonomy is the right to make one’s own choices so what impact does that have on the learning environment when not everyone chooses to use the selected social media? Or if there is no informed consent from students?
I look forward to reading more about your findings.
May 17, 2022
This is a great question! Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
I have spoken to some of of my group members about how they use social media in the classroom. My organization have a zero use policy but I am aware that in some BC classrooms the chosen social media listed and sent home to parents to give consent. Each school decides what social media options there are.
Sam
May 3, 2022
What a great topic to investigate Sam!
I’m very interested to see what you come up with and follow along with your research. This is only going to be a bigger issue going forward I’m sure.
May 17, 2022
Thank you so much Emma,
It is such a huge topic. I am worried I am a little lost in my research but I will keep going as it is very interesting to me personally.
May 5, 2022
Thanks for this great post Sam! I remember the kerfuffle around Twitter and Facebook users under the age of 13 at the time not being permitted accounts. Things have changed a lot even in the past 5 years!
How have your thoughts on your research question evolved as you’ve been doing readings and group work over the past couple of weeks? I know my own thoughts have both distilled and expanded (somehow at the same time?!) as I’ve done my own work.
May 17, 2022
Hello Corrie! Thank you for your reply.
Kerfuffle is right… I do think things will continue to change. To be honest, I feel that the more I read and find out about social media, I feel that it is not yet ready to use in the classroom. I do know that in my 30s I was an avid Facebook user but for some reason as I get older, I feel it isn’t what it used to be. I do ask myself have I just got older or have algorithms ruined the excitement and wonder of the “interwebs”? How do you feel about it all? I would be very interested to know. 🙂