What do you think about your kids Tweeting their answers to a teacher’s question?

Using social media as an active part of education is a growing trend, particularly in elementary and high school settings. Good idea? Sure, in the right doses, and as long as we continue to teach the value of true, personal communication.

For the kind of teaching I do (for MBAs, graduate students and executive education clients at Thunderbird School of Global Management and Grand Canyon Univ.) the emphasis is on the interpersonal skills that effective leaders must have. Can a Tweet, a text or an IM truly relate a genuine, sincere, earnest and heartfelt message? For the most important messages, nothing takes the place of face-to-face communication.

But still, leaders should embrace social media as a part of their communication strategy, perhaps viewing it as the “setup” for those important conversations, and/or part of the “drumbeat” that’s so critical to keeping key messages in front of your employees and team members.

The danger is leaning too much on any communication style that devalues true two-way communication, and that’s what can happen when social media goes crazy. Check out these pieces on social media in education and see what you think.

On the growing trend of using social media in the classroom: New York Times article from May 12, 2011 – Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media

Writer David Rock thinks it’s an awful trend: Harvard Business Review blog from May 24, 2011 – The Conversation is Over. Long Live the Conversation.