Things #18 and 19

(Ok, so I sorta answered two different "things" all in the same blog.)

Social Networking Sites

I LOVE social networking sites. I am currently a member of both MySpace and Facebook. I was a MySpace person first then was introduced to Facebook a little later. Both have their good points. I like MySpace because of the ability to personalize your page...backgrounds, pictures, bumper stickers, banners, music, and all sorts of other things. It does take a little bit of time to learn how to implement all these cool tools, but once you figure it out, you'll be hooked. I like Facebook's tightly run security system. You are required to really know a person before you can view their page. I also like the way you can see comments your friends are making to each other and that you can comment back and forth to each other. Some of my friends and I have had some lengthy discussions about the high school pictures I have recently posted of ourselves. Which brings me to another point: MySpace and Facebook are the reasons I have stayed in touch or reconnected with my high school and college friends. I would likely never hear from some of them and what is going on in their lives if it weren't for the ability to send bulletins on MySpace.

I have also been introduced to a third social network site through Ning.com called TeacherPop. It serves a little different purpose...it links educators together and helps encourage collaboration. This particular setting is quite useful for schools because through Ning.com, a group could start their own social network. For example, if we wanted to, Northwest High School teachers could create and join their own network. And it would be a great way to collaborate and communicate without having to spend time in the teacher work room discussing things. Teachers could post and share lesson plans and they could be accessed from school or home, or wherever!

I think it is important for teachers to have a grasp on how social networks work and to even have an eagle's eye on the student's participation in them. It is a teachable situation because students may not always fully understand the idea of safety when it comes to online socialization. Students can also be mean to each other on these sites and it can transfer into the classroom situation. Ning is a good alternative to MySpace and Facebook because it can be limited to strictly a group of students from one school, or whatever limits the administrator decides to put on it.