I for one have not fallen victim to the phenomenon of social networking. I know so many people who are completely addicted to facebook, twitter, and others. I do not see how this sort of social network system could have academic relevance for students. I have only seen them used for personal use. Besides, these sites are filtered on the school network system.
Now social networking systems like ikeepbookmarks, flickr, wikis, and blogs could have a rightful place in education. These social networking systems can be used to enhance the educational experience. Flickr and other photo social networking systems can be used to create class yearbooks and other school related activities. Wikis and blogs can be used to upload assignments and projects. Ikeepbookmarks, library thing, and delicious can be used as reading and website guides for students that can direct them to resources that are related to the curriculum being studied.
I only think social networking systems where teachers directly create and monitor student activity should be allowed in schools. A lot of people think we should just teach students how to use the sites responsibly. Let’s face it…a lot of kids in school today can’t be trusted on the “honor system”. Well at least not the ones at my school. They require constant supervision and redirection. Unfortunately, we would be responsible for anything inappropriate students might use these resources for and I am not willing to take on that monster.
Overall I think social networking systems are great for our society, but should be carefully chosen and monitored when used in schools. Families sholuld decide whether or not students can participate in those sites that have more personal purposes like twitter and facebook.
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I agree with what you said about twitter and facebook. I really do not know much about either but I can not see where they fit into the educational scene. I have learned a little about blogs and wikis and see where they could fit into education. I am just learning how to use a wiki but the benefits could by great for students and parents in the aspect of communication. I like the way that wikis can be used to add information and links to information that could be beneficial to students and parents. I am still not sure about blogs and their purpose other than communicating ideas to others. I guess I am just not that tech savvy person and I really do not like to try things that I am not sure of.
ReplyDeleteThis year my principal wanted to set up a facebook or twitter account that parents could become fans of or followers of to keep them up to date on school issues, however, the county would not allow this. I do not see harm in setting up an account like that for information, but on the other hand, we already have a school website where parents can look for school information, so I can see why the county turned my principal down. I also agree that facebook and twitter do not have much academic merit for the students and these are what I would consider true social networking sites. However, I could see sites such as delicious being useful in education. As long as students are allowed to access the site at school and at home teachers could set up bookmarks to wonderful sites pertaining to unit of study at that particular time. However, if students are not allowed to acess this site at home because of parents or school because of filterig teachers need to have a plan B in mind.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I love my Facebook. I have been able to reconnect with friends I haven't seen or heard from in 20 or more years. Facebook has given me an outlet for easy interaction with friends and family that I might not be able to see often.
ReplyDeleteProfessionally, I teach fourth grade, and I would LOVE to have a social networking account where my parents and I could exchange questions and ideas. I know that Facebook doesn't allow students under the age of 13 to create accounts, so I would hope that my parents would limit this means of communication to adults only. Wouldn't it be great for our parents to socialize and get to know one another. So often, students have their friends in their classes, but the parents don't typically have many opportunities to get to know other parents on a more social level. I'm not suggesting that parents would be planning parties or becoming best friends, but they could see what concerns and interests they share with other parents. That kind of interaction could lead to developing mutual friendships.
I like the idea!
I can completely seen your perspective on the social networking sites of facebook and myspace verses the social networking sites of LibraryThing and delicious. I first setup my facebook and myspace accounts around five years ago and therefore have a difficult time associating these two sites in any sort of educational setting or for educational purposes. In terms of communication, I can see how facebook and twitter could be used in a very effective manner. My school district has recently set up a Twitter account for staff and parents to follow. However, twitter is blocked on every school computer and therefore we can only access twitter from home (ironic, huh). As with many of my classmates, I have seen the educational use of sites such as delicious and LibraryThing (mainly in part to my cataloging class). With some creative thought, I do feel that many social networking sites could be beneficial in the educational setting.
ReplyDeleteI think the issue of blocking social networking sites is comparable to that of internet filtering (as a classmate made note of in her blog). It is difficult to provide constant supervision for all students, but who does define which social networking site is "appropriate" or not? This issue aside, I do agree that many social networking sites do have a very valuable place in the educational setting, and I do feel that there place with increase with time.