Social networking has taken the world by storm. Every commercial on TV is followed with “Like us on Facebook.” Every Show you watch has a hashtag and topic in the corner to help in Tweeting. But is there a place for social networking in the school. I think the answer is yes. When used appropriately social networking can be a very useful tool for reaching a large amount of student or faculty at one time.
How can social networking be used in schools? If your district is like mine, most sites are blocked. While it cannot be used in school, a teacher can create a Facebook or twitter account from home, and allow her students access to it. This must be done very carefully and monitored with an eagle’s eye. On this site the teacher can post discussion questions about the days lesson and students can respond through the comments feature. Also, the students could ask questions of the teacher through these sites.
My district has a twitter @cobbschools where they tweet things like school closings due to weather and reports from board meetings. However, we cannot access this site at school from a district computer. It can be accessed from a smart phone or home computer.
My school also uses Follett’s Destiny which has a social networking feature. Students can send “friend requests” and book recommendations to peers. This site is often abused. I know just in my class alone I have reported 3 students for using it as a messaging program instead of its intended use. This is why teaching students digital citizenship is so important in schools today. Social Networking is a great tool when used appropriately and for the intended purposes.
Emily,
ReplyDeleteI think that you had really great things to say. Let's face it, social networking is here to stay. In fact, I'm sure that more students spend time on Facebook or Twitter than they do studying. Like your school, our social sites are blocked as well. However, there are teachers in our system that post question on Facebook or Twitter for a class discussion. I agree with your statements in that social media can be used as a learning tool. It would almost be like "tricking" students into learning. Could you imagine a student saying, "mom, you can't ground me from Facebook...I have an assignment on there!" I think new trends like this will become more and more popular. Like your system, my high school has a Twitter account, and the principal sends out announcements about sports, school closings, upcoming registration, etc. Kids love it, and they love to respond to it. I agree strongly with your last statement that social networking is a great tool, but it needs to be used appropriately. I think in the near future, we will have to use these tools and educate students on how/how not to use them. Great post!
I agree with you that teaching digital citizanship is more important now than ever. I also agree that social networking is a tool that can be used in schools if monitored and used in the right way. I have read several things about the networking tools available on Destiny. This is not something that we have at our school yet, but we are due for an upgrade soon, so I would love to learn more about this. Social networking sites are blocked in our schools too, but both our middle and high school use Twitter for announcements.
ReplyDeleteI agree that social networking can be very useful in schools. I personally will not be using it with students due to the risks of students using it inappropriately and causing me to be reprimanded. It is not possible to monitor Facebook pages and Twitter accounts for inappropriate posts 24 hours/day, and if something inappropriate is posted, I cannot definitively determine the person who made the post due to accounts being hacked. If there was a way open and close a posting window for these accounts, I would consider using it, but otherwise, I will not be using these social networking sites for teacher/student communication. My district does not allow teachers to friend or follow any GCPS student.
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