Social Networks

I think social networks are great for professional and personal use. Personally, coordinating busy schedules with friends and family is often difficult. Being able to send out mass messages, photos, or links to multiple people at once is helpful. (It made sharing my wedding photos, plans, etc. much easier this summer!) Professionally I think it is a great way to share ideas with a wider group of people. I’ve been following blog postings and interacting with a teacher from another state. She has great ideas about implementing Reading Workshop and her website has resources I can use in my classroom. I believe in the old saying, “Two heads are better than one.” Social networks allow for people to interact, share, provide ideas, and give feedback at their leisure and without being face to face with that person. It allows professionals from all over to collaborate, when they otherwise wouldn’t. One of the articles talked about teachers never having enough time to complete the “to do” list. I believe that social networks provide a means for saving time by interacting with many people at once. I have received lesson ideas, worksheets, plan, etc. from other teachers through social networks.

I know that students in my first grade class use social networks. They talk about Webkinz and talking to their friends through that site. I have heard them talking about using Skype for talking to family members that live in other states or talking to traveling parents. I believe as they progress through the grades, students use social networks more and more. For example, when I taught 4^th grade I had many students request to be my friend on Facebook. I think the area that teachers and adults need to be aware of is the expansion of the peer group that these students are interacting with. Instead of viewing this as dangerous or negative, as many do, I believe it can be used to learn about other cultures, stay in touch, and share ideas from individuals that they would otherwise not have access to. If we show students how to use these networks appropriately and to their advantage, I believe these could be powerful tools for extending learning and making students aware of others/issues globally.