NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Metro Nashville schools are planning to lift a ban on social media.
The Tennessean (https://tnne.ws/1dIatYM) reports students wanting to access sites such as Twitter and YouTube won’t be blocked much longer. In addition, teachers will start incorporating more social media into classroom lessons next year.
The change comes as Metro Nashville Schools plan to have a new “digital literacy curriculum” next year which includes all subjects and grade levels.
“You can’t teach what you can’t access,” said Kecia Ray, the district’s executive director of learning technology. “By opening up YouTube and opening up Twitter, we’re able to incorporate that into our instructional process so that students are learning how to use these social media tools effectively.”
She says some exemptions have been granted to teachers under the current policy.
“It’s teacher-directed, and we’ll continue with that,” Ray said. “It would just be open, and they wouldn’t have to bypass it with an override.”
Math teacher Ryan York said the new policy would give students more opportunities to learn.
“I think it’s a sign of trust,” York said of unblocking the sites. “It shows that Metro believes that their teachers are able to handle this obstacle.”
Some sites, including Facebook and Instagram, will still be blocked.
Ray says the change will be phased in beginning with high schools.
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Information from: The Tennessean, https://www.tennessean.com
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