Social Networking

The topic of Social Networking is a very tough subject, especially when used in schools.  Personally, I think that some social networking sites are acceptable but some are not. There are many different pros and cons to using them.

I have had experience with using Edmodo within my 5th grade student teaching.  The teachers used this site as a resource for students to find assignments, expectations, materials and updates.  The student's reaction to using this site was positive, for the most part.  They said they really liked how they could, "...use something like Facebook at school." Almost every student had access at home or at the library and if they didn't they were allowed time before/after school or during a break they had in class.  The only bad parts about using this was that some students were more amused with the fact they can talk to other friends or that they could upload and change their profile pictures.  The teachers I worked with did implement a rule that they could only post, if it was educational, they were turning in a assignment or if they really did have a question because otherwise the students would have just wanted to post about random things.

I do not think Facebook is appropriate, at anytime, in the classroom. I have not seen any student use this social networking site in a positive and educational way.  There are too many outside people who can access the student's account and information.  Students use this site for too many personal things and I do not want this to be in my classroom. I have seen many different forms of bulling take place and I want my room to be a safe and welcoming environment. Plus, as the teacher, I do not have full control on what they are saying and cannot see the "messages" and "conversations" the students are having through Facebook.  Don't get me wrong, I think Facebook has many great resources and is a positive way to stay connected, but it is not for school and not educational related.  If students want to use this outside of the classroom--go for it--it's the parents choice.  Here is an interesting article on The Pros and Cons of Facebook in the Classroom. 

I also worked with Wiki Spaces. I think this is a great site where the students and their families could be allowed to look at what the kids were doing in the classroom.  I liked how the site had a privacy block and you had to be accepted (by the creator/teacher) in order to access the information.  We could add links to websites for extra practices and post pictures of what we were doing in the class.


**We created a Two Person Poem and created Podcast.  This is a fun and interactive activity to use with students. This would be a great item to post on a class's Wiki. Here's how you can create your own: You need an iPad Touch, click on iTalk, Record your 2 person poem, plug iPod Touch into the computer, iTunes will pop up, select the Apps tab, scroll down to the "file sharing" tab, select iTalk and highlight your audio, save to the desktop, pull audio into Garage Band, edit the clip by adding pictures from the internet or camera, chick on share, scroll to export to disk, click on highest quality and save to desktop, drag the icon on the desktop to QuickTime player, Click on Save as, save to desktop.  Then, you have finally created your Enhanced Podcast.**