Chapter 9: Social Networks

Too Social?

This chapter focused on social-networking sites such as Facebook and Ning, which to be honest I have never heard of.  When I think of Facebook, I think of personal social-networking; I never really considered Facebook to be a tool that could be used in the classroom. I think that like anything, if the parameters were set and made clear it could be a valuable tool in the classroom.  One of the issues with social networking sites is that there are too many distractions such as games and activities.  I actually thought that Ning could possibly be a better, safer, more controlled site to use in the classroom than Facebook. In both of these social-networking sites I liked the options of being able to make the site completely private or public.

Aside from this, I think that the fact that social networking sites have so many negative connotations makes it difficult to bring it to the classroom.  I do not really foresee myself using Facebook or Ning in my classroom. I think that a blog or wiki would be more suited to my needs in my classroom. In addition I think it would save me a great deal of grief from the parents.  Maybe having students create their own Facebook or Ning as part of a summer reading project would work, as long as the site is created over the summer, evaluated then taken down.