The Good-
Social networking includes many online services that focus on building social relations among people who share similar interests, goals and ideas from a variety of settings and communities. Because of the vast opportunities to exchange these ideas and information it can be an enormous learning tool if used in a classroom setting properly.
The Bad-
Social Networking sites can be used for bullying and spreading hurtful lies about anybody without verified facts and information. Often times, these lies spread throughout a small community virally, meaning it is passed on to many, in a short amount of time. For this reason, many schools block these social networking sites even though they may be great resources to the school.
Filtering is done with most social networking sites in schools because of several laws passed to protect the children from internet harm. We have all learned of some excellent arguments for these filters in this class so I will leave you to your own decisions and ideas on that.
Social networking sites do have several things in common between most popular sites. Profiles containing various information about the user is maintained and updated by the user. Also, many sites allow profiles to include uploaded pictures of the users to their profiles. This can be another concern because it does violate the CIPA/COPA laws if students are using this in a classroom setting.
Popular Student Activities
As you can see from the chart, popular social networking activities are keeping today’s students active online. Activities include participating in collaborative projects, blogging, posting messages, photos to creating polls and quizzes and surveys while using popular sites like Facebook, Twitter and other community forming software and websites. Use of this software and websites has become very popular during the past few years because it is a way to start meeting and interacting with people quickly. You can meet and begin associating with those that have similar interests instantly in most sites.
Another huge impact on using these social networking sites are based on the fact of convenience. Modern technology including handheld mobile devices, tablets and phones make it even easier to participate in online social media.
Why Start Social Networking?
Social Networking can also be a nice form of entertainment for some! The tool is great for meeting people with similar interests, and has become known to be a very effective business technique for modern entrepreneurs and other professionals including educators. The latest social networking sites even allow teachers to share with others that have the same interests and class ideas and/or lessons.
For example, EDMODO is a Facebook like web site for educators where small groups, networks, schools or communities can share and promote the exchange of plans and information within that selected group.
Most people, including teachers and students, actually seem to build strong bonds when they are connected via those networks. This strong bond essentially leads to a strong sense of belonging to the networking community.
References:
Social Networks. Retrieved from http://www.socialnetworks.org/
MediaShift . Your Guide to Social Networking Online | PBS. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2007/08/your-guide-to-social-networking-online241.html
Social Networks 3.0 - VentureBlog . Retrieved from http://ventureblog.com/articles/2005/12/social_networks.php
Barry,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you regarding the good and the bad of social networking. It is a very useful tool, but one needs to proceed with caution when involving students of any age. Students need to be taught how to safely and informatively use this type of informational site.
At my school, because social networking is blocked by filters, we use a program system- wide that includes teacher webpages as well as multi-media tools (blogs, wikis, and slideshows) that students can view/participate in based on their classes.
I am able to create a blog for my students and in doing so, it follows our district's policy on social networking.
Thank you for your interesting post!
Wendy
Barry,
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point by discussing the pros and cons of social networking. To me, the premise is much like that of filtering. Promoting good digital citizens becomes one of the many hats that media specialists must wear. We need to have the opportunity to teach students how to use social networking in a way that promotes positive online behaviors. I have found a couple of good lessons that also include role playing situations. For example, a student that sets up a false facebook account under another students name in order to "get back at them". Our students need to be educated in a safe environment on how to use social networking sites.
Cherokee County recently adopted PD360 which is similar to a "professional social networking" program. You become "friends" with other teachers and form groups through invitation to share ideas and make comments. There are videos on many topics from behavior management to content execution. The middle school media specialists recently formed a group in my county and I hope to eventually see us sharing videos of teaching lessons for professional development. I believe that this may be the professional development of the "future".
Great job!
Kim George