Is social networking good for education? Traditional academic institutions have generally resisted the influence and increasingly pervasive presence of social networking activities in the life of their students, but recently, the same institutions have had to look with new eyes at all of the aspects and consequences of this new modes of technological socialization sweeping the younger generations. There has been explosive growth in creative and authoring activities by students on social networking sites in recent years. With words, music, photos and videos, students are expressing themselves by creating, manipulating and sharing content online.
Social networking could play a positive role in students’ lives and they recognize opportunities for using it in education — at a time when teachers now routinely assign homework that requires Internet use to complete. While social networking seems omnipresent in the lives of most teens and “tweens” outside of school, most school districts are cautious about its use in school.
Most schools have rules against social networking activities. There are ways that educators could strike the appropriate balance between protecting their students and providing a 21st century education. They can explore social networking sites. It’s important for teachers and media specialists to see and try out the kinds of creative communications and collaboration tools that students are using — so that their perceptions and decisions about these tools are based on real experiences.
They can also find ways to harness the educational value of social networking. Some schools and educators are experimenting successfully with chat rooms, instant messaging, blogs, wikis and more for after-school homework help, review sessions and collaborative projects, for example. These activities appeal to students — even students who are reluctant to participate in the classroom. One particular site I came across online is The Schools United: http://www.theschoolsunited.com/community/. This website provides a safe school networking site fro schools and students throughout the world. It allows the sharing of blogs, videos, photos, etc.
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4 comments:
Several articles that I've read mention exactly what you said about social networking allowing a space for students who are reluctant to participate in the classroom. Schools that have found a safe and engaging way to incorporate social networking as an added forum for their learning community are finding that these students are becoming more involved and engaged in the learning process.
There are so many possibilities for students to have a safe place to create and share content in this online environment. I'm glad that it is becoming a part of a 21st century education.
Hi Jill -
I really liked the relevant information you shared about the positive aspects of social networking. While I will admit, I haven't been particularly fond of it in the past, I rather like the idea of leverging it for educational purposes.
Like your post suggests, I think schools can make the idea of networking useful with regards to projects and homework. The key in my opinion is monitoring whether it be the site itself, the assignment, or some other channel. I can not wait to explore the site you provided. I am guessing it provides just what I had in mind. Perhaps I can recommend it to our school media specialists as all sites are currently blocked at my school.
Thank you for sharing. Jami
As stated in my original post, I feel that social networking can be beneficial to educators, students, and education in general. I can see schools moving toward using social networking more and more. And Wow, you're right...It's a great tool for those who are reluctant to participate in the classroom. Those who are already involved with social networking outside of school would feel at ease using this within the educational realm.
Thanks for the link that gives a safe networking site
I think schools may be throwing the baby out with the bathwater with regard to social networking. There are beneficial sites and, of course, sites that should not be used in schools. Librarything is a tremendous site where students could research books to use in an assignment. It could be used in so many ways by many different grade levels. I was interested to see if I could access it at school. I am pleased to say it was not blocked. I have not been able access Flickr though. Thanks for the tip on the website. It looks terrific!
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