How can we turn social media’s biggest challenges into opportunities for positive change?
In this lesson, students reflect on what they’ve learned, explore how different groups are affected, and begin brainstorming solutions. Their ideas will set the stage for designing a project that addresses real needs in meaningful, creative ways.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
- Analyze how social media impacts different groups, including teens, parents, educators, influencers, and policymakers.
- Evaluate key issues such as misinformation, mental health struggles, and privacy concerns through research and discussion, then develop a focused problem statement that defines a specific social media challenge, its affected group, and the desired outcome.
- Collaborate in a Jigsaw discussion, sharing knowledge, exploring diverse perspectives, and brainstorming potential solutions while considering feasibility, impact, and engagement.
- Present a concise solution pitch that clearly articulates their problem and proposed solution, demonstrating their understanding and ability to apply their learning.
What You’ll Need
Minds-on
Skills for the Future:
- Adaptability
- Curiosity
Project Word Wall:
- Convergent Thinking
- Divergent Thinking
- Ideation
- Insight
- Problem Statement
- Synthesis
Social media is woven into the fabric of our daily lives, shaping the way we connect, communicate, and even see ourselves. But with its influence comes a range of challenges—misinformation, mental health struggles, and privacy concerns, to name a few. In this lesson, students will dive deeper into the effects of social media on different groups and work toward meaningful solutions. Through reflection, research, and collaboration, they’ll gain new perspectives on these digital challenges and take the first step in crafting innovative ways to make social media a more positive space. Students will begin by exploring what they already know and the questions they still need to answer.
In this lesson, students transition into the ideate phase of the design thinking process, building on their research to generate creative ideas for addressing social media challenges. They’ll work collaboratively to identify patterns, gaps, and possibilities, setting the foundation for their project’s direction.
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Standards and Practices
Common Core Standards: Grades 9–10
- RI.9–10.2: Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped by details.
- SL.9–10.1: Initiate and participate effectively in discussions, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own.
- W.9–10.1: Write arguments to support claims with valid reasoning and relevant evidence.
- W.9–10.2: Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately.
- L.9–10.6: Acquire and use academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level.
Common Core Standards: Grades 11–12
- RI.11–12.1: Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly, and inferences drawn from it.
- RI.11–12.8: Delineate and evaluate the reasoning in seminal U.S. and global texts, including the application of constitutional principles and use of legal reasoning.
- SL.11–12.1: Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
- SL.11–12.6: Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when appropriate.
- L.11–12.4: Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly and concisely.
- W.11–12.5: Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
- W.11–12.7: Conduct short and sustained research projects to answer a question or solve a problem.
Next Generation Science Standards
- HS-LS2-8: Evaluate evidence for the role of group behavior on individual and species’ chances to survive and reproduce.
International Society for Technology in Education
- Computational Thinker: Students develop and employ strategies for understanding and solving problems in ways that leverage the power of technological methods to develop and test solutions.