Using social networking in the classroom

Wow using social networking in the classroom, this is a very interesting Idea that I’m not too sure about and have mixed feeling about. I have not taught in a classroom environment so my thoughts on teaching are vague but this is what I think. The use of such social sites like Twitter, Facebook, Ning and much more could be used in the classroom to post class syllabus’s homework and much more. I’m sure that the use of networks in the classroom and be more proactive way of learning for students. Like the Ability to chat live many people and exchange different ideas with fellow students. This would also allow students to ask questions about things in class that they could not understand, or were too shy to ask in class. This also allows students to view videos of class and notes that they missed if they were not able to attend class that day due to sickness ect. This is definitely better then relaying on someone else’s notes, which may have a different way of taking notes and learning from the student who missed class. I would also use this to allow students to comments on the lesson thought that day and ways to improve the class. This allows the students the opportunity to make the way they learn easier and fun, allowing them to learn at their pass outside the classroom. I feel that allowing the students feel like they are a part of the way they learn allows them to learn better and more interested in their studies. Many of these sites allow you to chat with whoever is online in that particular social group and allows for question to be asked amongst each other or the instructor. These sites also allow students to publish their work and also drafts that it took to get to there. So peers can revise each other’s work and in all essence learn from one another. This is a blog page that I found to be interesting maybe helpful to others; Julie Lindsay wrote a very interesting blog on Social networking in the classroom http://123elearning.blogspot.com/2006/09/social-networking-in-classroom.html .

I’m still skeptical about the safe use of these social networks in the classroom and exposing students to all that goes on, on these sites.  Yeah we can restrict who has access to the class page, but many students can be exposed to a lot of unwanted interactions that many parents and teachers fear. We cannot control who they interact with or add their page’s, but if we can teach the students about the dangers, maybe they will have a better understanding of how to use the sites and what dangers to watch out for. So to say that the bad outweighs the good is hard to say, I feel that there is a lot of good in using these social networking  sites in the classroom but also a lot of unwanted exposure. Yes it is scary to think of all the bad but the good is also there. Many of these social networking sites are aimed at the youth, so we might as well use it to our advantage many of today’s youth spend a lot of time on these sites anyway. I think this is a good way of connecting back with today’s youth and making learning fun again, but without the dangers.