How Can I Divert My Students' Focus from Social Media?

[MATS309TrinaC]

Hi guys , I am planning to create my own blog for the innovations on my science class so that I can share more ideas with my students, And to encourage them to read and visit other informative sites on the internet not only on social media. Do you guys think it is possible ? And is there any other ways that I could divert their focus not only on playing games or visiting their social media accounts.

Any suggestions is really a great help..

 

[JorisL]

Its going to be hard. Ideally you would look at news items that you can somehow link to physics.
An example could be the Russia-Turkey situation in Syria a while back.
Using basic information (which you should dig up in those cases) it was easy to find several inconsistencies in the story of both Russia and Turkey using kinematics. (Altitude of the russian plane was one example)

An idea could be to make it a team effort with other teachers at your school.
That way you can quickly populate the blog as well as cater to individual students interest.
Some would be interested in Biology, others in chemistry (because boom) and some are into maths.

 

[MATS309TrinaC]

I am also thinking that its really hard especially now a days where students are really hook into social medias, Your suggestion hepls me alot. :)

Its a team effort and hopefully we can make it in our school.

 

[JorisL]

Be sure to document the process, you could write an insight on physicsforums that maybe motivates other teachers all over the world.

 

[MATS309TrinaC]

Yes, I will document it, and I will share it to all teachers :) I know it might be impossible for now but its not bad to start this idea :)

 

[Joppy]

Sounds like a pretty decent idea. I take it your students are in high school?

Unfortunately though, i think unless students are truly motivated to learn and be curious about the world, it is very difficult for them to compete with entertainment and social media. Perhaps I've lost hope.

Conversely, i do believe that it is possible to cultivate this curiosity if you find a good angle to pitch your innovations on the blog.

Good luck! Be sure to share your successes/failures with the forum (including the blog itself) :).

 

[MATS309TrinaC]

Yup, they are high school students and at their age, they are really inclined with social medias especially on online games. Their time on studying lessen because of those temptation. That's why I want to maximize their use on internet not only for entertainment or games but also for their own learning.

 

[OrangeDog]

You could have them program their own game based on physics..

 

[Andy Resnick]

Hi guys , I am planning to create my own blog for the innovations on my science class so that I can share more ideas with my students, And to encourage them to read and visit other informative sites on the internet not only on social media. Do you guys think it is possible ? And is there any other ways that I could divert their focus not only on playing games or visiting their social media accounts.

Any suggestions is really a great help..

Any 'innovation' must be accompanied with evidence of improved outcomes. What outcomes are you using to evaluate the effectiveness of your innovations?