Sean’s Blog

Over the past three weeks I have learned a great deal about using technology in education. At the same time, my views about certain issues have changed. For example, I used to be completely against cell phones in schools. Now, I think we need to create ways to have the cell phone be a tool we can utilize. As I mentioned in my blog, I am not quite sure how to do that, but that is the direction we should be moving. So, I decided to research another topic that I had a pretty clear opinion on, to see if that too would change. I always felt that social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, had very little, if any educational value. I felt that they were purely a social outlet for students. My hope was that I would find in my research, either data or examples that proved otherwise.

Social Networking needs to be looked at because according to an article entitled Online Social Networking And Education: Study Reports On New Generations Social And Creative Interconnected Lifestyles, “Nine-to-17-year-olds report spending almost as much time using social networking services and Web sites as they spend watching television.” I knew that these types of websites were popular but I didn’t realize just how popular they really were. According to Online Social Networking And Education: Study Reports On New Generations Social And Creative Interconnected Lifestyles, “Overall, an astonishing 96 percent of students with online access report that they have ever used any social networking technologies, such as chatting, text messaging, blogging and visiting online communities, such as Facebook, and MySpace.” Jeff Utecht gives a great explanation as to why social networking is so popular. He states, “What I have noticed personally is a change within myself from a consumer of knowledge to a producer of knowledge. Watching TV does not allow me to interact with knowledge, allow me to leave a comment, remix it into my own words, or interact with the author in a true and meaningful way.” With such popularity, educators must look to this technology as a way to reach our kids.

The single greatest factor that makes teachers and parents nervous when it comes to social networking is safety. After shows like “To Catch A Predator” on NBC, many adults view sites, like MySpace, as a breeding ground for sexual predators. However, a study by the National School Boards Association reported that this “fear” is not necessarily based on facts. They reported that,

“20% of student report seeing inappropriate images on social networking sites, and 11% of parents report that their children have seen such images; 18% have seen inappropriate language and 16% of parents report inappropriate language. 7% say they have been asked for information about their personal identity; and 6% of parents concur. 7% have experienced cyberbullying, 4% report having conversations that made them uncomfortable. 3% say unwelcome strangers have tried to repeatedly communicate with them through online social networking. 2% say a stranger tried to meet them in person; and less than 1% say they’ve actually met someone in person from an online encounter without their parents’ permission. District Leaders seem to think these dangers are greater than they are, with 52% reporting that students giving out personal information on social networking sites was a significant problem in their schools. Only 3% of students report ever providing their information to strangers.”

The report made an analogy of how school systems first treated the Internet to how they are treating social networking today. They stated, “Many schools initially banned or restricted internet use, only to ease up when the educational value of the Internet became clear. The same is likely to be the case with social networking.” If we stop looking at social networking with such apprehension, you can notice their educational value.

Let’s look at the how social networking sites are being used. Online Social Networking And Education: Study Reports On New Generations Social And Creative Interconnected Lifestyles provides a chart. I tried to copy and paste it, but had problems, so click the link and scroll down until you see a color coded bar chart that shows the many ways the social networking is being used.

What I didn’t know, and is probably the reason so many adults brush off social networking, is the educational opportunities they provide. The single greatest benefit is the opportunity to create. The National School Board Association Research and Guidelines on Online Social Networking named the following ways that students engage in creative activities.

• posting messages: 21% post every day, 41% post weekly.
• sharing music: 32% download other users’ music at least weekly, 29% upload third-party music weekly, and 12% upload their own music and podcasts at least weekly.
• sharing video: 30% download other user’s video at least weekly, 9% upload video they created weekly, 22% say they have upload video they created at some point.
• sharing photos: 24% post others’ photos weekly, 22% post their own, 49% have uploaded photos or artwork at some point.
• building websites: 12% update personal websites or profiles daily, 25% do so weekly.
• blogging: 30% have their own blogs, and 17% post to their own blogs at least weekly.
• Other types of content creation: 16% report creating and sharing virtual objects, such as puzzles, houses, clothing, and games; 14% create new virtual characters weekly, with a third of these doing so daily. 10% start or contribute to online collaborative projects at least weekly, 10% send suggestions or ideas to websites weekly, 9% submit articles weekly.

This list shows the countless ways that social networking provides educational experiences. The next step is find ways to incorporate it into the classroom. The article Value of social networking in education provides a video link to YouTube. I think everyone should watch this video to learn ways to implement technology in their classroom.

Issue: Is social networking something that should be used in a classroom?

Solution: Yes, yes, yes. As the video from YouTube stated, if students already know how to use these tools, why are we not using them in the classroom. Our job is to find or create ways to implement these tools in our classroom.