Over the past 5 years, social networking technologies have grown astronomically in size. From the evolution of MySpace to Facebook, to blogging and now Tweeting, social networking sites are creating more channels of communication that can be accessed from a PC all the way to a cell phone in your pocket. Keeping society connected 24/7. In today’s educational society, social networking sites (SNS) are becoming students’ primary means of communication among each other. The educational systems, who normally take a back seat to implementing new technology, is now looking at possible advantages of incorporating SNS with a student’s academic life. Because the social networking trend is starting to spawn in the educational arena, expanding on the concept of Teacher Tube, a spin off of YouTube could be a way to assist in making this emerging technology valuable.
ESN (Educational Social Networking) sites could be designed to create a secured education channel for the end users. ESN’s would contain built in active monitoring tools for content, and like Teacher Tube, the ESN’s would have new creative education logos distinguishing social based from education based. With the creation of ESN, we can address parents and teacher concerns about privacy and possible abuse of the sites as it relates to the content that is placed on a user’s profile. Roach (2006), conducted a study which engaged social networking technologies in education, and found that over half of the students respondents would “read a blog authorized by a faculty member” that pertained to course information and school activities. So why not take advantage of the technology and aggressively implement social networking in all course curriculum?
A recent study conducted by the University of Minnesota concluded that there was no difference in the level of technology proficiencies between students of low income households and those of upper or middle class households. Overall, indicating that SNS can produce positive reactions if introduced in an educational setting. The article outlined social networking sites as an important trend that is taking over all traditional forms of communication. The author discusses how these sites can be utilized to create better communication between students and instructors. The article corresponds to my research interest on incorporating social networking technologies in the K-12 educational environment. Although the author’s population of study only included college level activity, the overall message of utilizing social networking technology/sites in the educational system is strongly supported. Utilizing “safe” sites such as Youth Twitter and Intranet sites setup by independent school districts, gives teachers some hope of being able to increase learning through technology without putting fear in the hearts of administration. Therefore incorporating social networking technologies in an educational setting should also be on society’s radar for increasing communication and participation between parents, students and the educational system.
References
Harris, K.. (2008). Using Social Networking Sites as Student Engagement Tools. Diverse Issues in Higher Education, 25(18), 40. Retrieved February 15, 2011, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1588751771).
Roach, R (2006). Prospective college students receptive to electronic social network ingrecruitment methods, survey finds. Diverse Issues in Higher Education online December 2006 edition
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I completely agree that social networking should be included in the school setting. Of course, I have run into the issues that your posts describe such as safety, however, I also find that teaching the younger students is often difficult. Most of my 4th graders do not have email address and should not post personal information to create accounts. I am looking for that site that creates free social networking sites for kids. I have found several for individual subjects like writing, but they are not monitored very well. Also, our school blocks everything. It is very frustrating, but I am sure that we will change, especially if we continue in our educational persuit for global change.
ReplyDeleteI think change will start with teachers who work from personal computers using these sites before we see it creep into the educational setting.
Great post!
Marci
In reading about the research from University of Minnesota, I became a little confused. There are still many African-American socially economically disadvantage students who do not have access to computers at home. The percentage may have decreased; however, there are too many African-American household that have games stations vs. computers with internet connections. The other problem with young people utilizing SNS is that they primary use these site for developing friendship and not for educational reasons. My students who are multicultural, ready do not see a connection for using SNS for education. Even when I get them to set-up wikispaces account or blogging account for education, they try to resist.
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