Nebraska Company Helps Manage Social Media in the Classroom, Teaches Students Digital Communication Skills

While working in education, Dr. Jill Johnson encountered a problem that has become all too common—students’ ill-advised use of social media spilling over into the classroom.

“When I was an assistant principal at Seward High School, we would see kids doing a lot of bad stuff on social media. We would have to deal with that when it filtered into the school,” Dr. Jill explained. “We didn’t have a lot of tools to counteract it. Our response was reactive and that bothered me.”

Dr. Jill recognized the positive ways social media could promote the school, and she saw an opportunity to involve students in content creation. At the same time, she wanted to make sure students would be safe and responsible when using the school’s social media accounts. She reached out to her network on Twitter for advice on how to incorporate social media into the classroom. A colleague encouraged her to try Class Intercom. The software teaches students how to manage their school’s social media accounts in an engaging, conscientious way.

As an early adopter of Class Intercom’s software, Dr. Jill used it to teach students about social media. The software connects to a school’s social media accounts and enables an unlimited number of users to create content. At the same time, Class Intercom features a built-in moderation system. This allows students to create content, but it does not grant them direct access to post to the school’s accounts.

Posts are screened by designated school leaders who give students suggestions on how to improve the posts. This may include correcting errors, changing wording to avoid making controversial statements, or making sure the school has the required permissions for everyone pictured in a photo. When giving feedback, teachers reinforce Class Intercom’s pedagogy pillars: storytelling, skill building, student voice, digital citizenship, and community.

Taking home lessons learned in class

After her first year using the Class Intercom software, Dr. Jill Johnson conducted an informal poll of approximately 50 students who had worked on the school’s social media. They overwhelmingly agreed that contributing to the school’s social media account had helped them be more considerate in their own online communication.

“They said the experience really impacted their personal content creation,” Dr. Jill recalled. “And I was like, Oh wow! We’re having an impact here on kids’ growth, decision making, and critical thinking.”

Helping students navigate the digital world

Social media has dramatically changed the educational landscape over the last couple of decades. Social media platforms have become primary means of communication, a fact that is apparent to teachers and administrators. The average user now spends almost 2.5 hours per day scrolling through their social media feeds.

The ability to use social media responsibly and effectively is an important skill. Many people do not understand that when they post to social media they are communicating to a global audience. Moreover, once content is posted on social media the creator loses control over how widely it is seen. Someone else can take a screenshot of the post and share it. Thus, even after the original author deletes the post, it might still be viewed by thousands of people. Given these realities, a careless remark on social media can cause a student to miss out on a scholarship or job opportunity.

With so much at stake, Dr. Jill believes students benefit from receiving guidance in the appropriate use of social media. “Our software allows project-based learning,” she said. “Students get to create, but there is a safety net.”

In addition to teaching digital citizenship, Class Intercom offers students opportunities to earn micro-credentials in content generation. These digital certificates provide proof of competencies such as storytelling, helping students stand out when applying to college or for internships.

Impacting student learning through social media

In 2021, Dr. Jill earned her doctorate in educational leadership from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her dissertation focused on student-led social media. “I finished my doctorate degree and was going to go be a superintendent, but I didn’t want to move. I love Seward,” she explained.

Around that time, Ben Pankonin, founder of Class Intercom, reached out to see if she was interested in joining the team. He had developed the software in Nebraska with support of prototype funding from the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. “I decided to take the leap,” Dr. Jill said. “It was a cool opportunity to be able to work in the private industry for a great company. It’s amazing to see the growth that has happened. We have a couple thousand schools involved now.”

Schools’ engagement with Class Intercom ranges from a few students using it for marketing class to full-fledged production teams interacting with it. “We have a school district in California with six high schools. They have interns at every high school. They’re doing video production and editing, photography, writing, podcasting, and more,” continued Dr. Jill.

Growing an ed-tech venture in Nebraska

Staying in Nebraska to pursue her interests in educational technology has reinforced Dr. Jill’s appreciation of the state. “There is a very positive culture around education in Nebraska,” she attested. “You go other places and it is sometimes tough.”

She mentioned that Nebraska’s educational system stands out because it allows for decentralized decision-making. “The whole idea of local control at Nebraska schools is special. We get to make our decisions at the local level, and so implementing something like a student-led social media team doesn’t need to be a common-core, statewide thing,” she explained. “We can decide what is best for our district and implement those decisions relatively easily.”

Dr. Jill has also found the business culture in Nebraska to be another advantage of being in the state. “Nebraska is less expensive to develop these types of things, and I think the energy in Lincoln is fantastic,” she explained. “Nebraska has a supportive community. You have a lot of people who can help you work through things, practice making pitches, or connect you to talent.”