Social Networking in the Classroom

Social Networking in the Classroom

Today the Washington Post published a story about the Virginia Board of Education placing limits upon social networking within the classroom. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/va-board-of-education-urges-policy-on-social-networks-as-teaching-tools/2011/01/24/ABiuo3RB_story.html

Interestingly, I believe that social networking is already IN many classrooms. Students are all about social networking all of time. They are texting, chatting, facebooking, twittering, or any other number of networks my 32 year old brain is not even aware of. Basically it comes down to they are social networking and it carries into every nook and cranny of their life. Including school. Even if they are not socially networking in school it is present with them in school. Now, I’m not saying let’s all open facebook accounts and chat through math class, but my theory is if you can’t beat them, maybe we should join them?

Without a doubt the major sites have security issues that could make a teacher cringe. Chat features that are out of the instructor’s control, the ability to upload any picture, all while writing on people’s walls which makes it so anyone can see what was written. It truly seems that using facebook within a classroom setting could be a virtual nightmare. Twitter would be more manageable, but the risks of students following someone utterly inappropriate (enter here Charlie Sheen) are also pretty terrifying. If only we could clean up these social networking tools so that they were 100% kid friendly.

Social networking is MORE than just facebook and twitter. As the Washington Post article mentions there are a multitude of school friendly sites. One in particular that I feel is a school friendly, educational site is http://thevotereffect.com. This site would make students civically aware, help them to understand the process of American politics, vote on bills, raise issues, comment on issues, and socially network with friends. Basically taking a civics class and breaking it down to a delivery method that they would not only understand, but whole-heartedly embrace.  The world is a changin’. If you don’t believe me just ask any kid if they remember a record or a tape. I certainly never thought I’d see an all touch screen anything, let alone a phone, or MP3 player. Personally I thought we were pretty evolved with CDs. Anyway, the world is changing and education is inevitably going to change with it. A stepping stone is going to be welcoming social networking into the classroom. After all, the business world wants kids coming into their professions to be more collaborative, right?

The key is not turning kids loose on social networking sites and saying, “Okay now, learn!” It is more about teaching how to use social networking sites as a collaborative tool that will make them more aware of to appropriately behave in a social networking setting. (Enter here, not calling people names, being a bully, or generally an embarrassing pain in the neck.) If we use proper tools, such as http://thevotereffect.com it will give teachers the structured environment to teach subject matter (applause!), while reinforcing proper social networking behaviors. Viola everyone is happy! Even the Virginia board of education.

Check out http://thevotereffect.com to see how you could incorporate it into your classroom!

Go to Washington every, single, day. Join http://thevotereffect.com today!