TIE Web 2.0__Education & Social Networking: What Should Schools Do?

Students actively participate in social networking as a part of their everyday life. In fact, most schools have strict policies in place to deal with the distractions that occur when students engage in this behavior outside of an educational context. Most schools get hung up on these situations and devise extensive restrictions on technology as a result. So before proceeding further, we should talk about what social networking actually encompasses. If teachers and students worked together to define this concept and collaborate on ways that technology could enhance their educational experience, we might find that we would have 30 willing partners in every classroom.

Social networking includes a variety of ways for people to interact such as chat, messaging, e-mail, video, file sharing, blogging, and bookmarking as well as others. Students are making connections from the time they wake up and touch their cell phone until they plug it in to charge at the end of the day while they sleep. Most schools would agree that they promote a cooperative and collaborative learning atmosphere. Students are encouraged to collaborate with their peers, brainstorm, and appreciate the perspectives of other individuals. The perceived problem here is only one of terminology, centered on the word, 'social.' If these activities were known as ‘Educational Networking’ or ‘Informational Connections’, some of the obstacles to classroom integration might disappear easily.

Beyond the discussion of jargon lies the immediate benefit of using social networking tools in the classroom. The initial advantage is one of using technology, period. Every student I know is, at the very least, intrigued by technology and by finding new ways to use it. Those who have frequent access also have acquired skills and are very fluent in its use. Students with limited or no access may have only basic skills, but still demonstrate a desire to 'get with the program' and see what they are missing.

As a tool for cooperative learning, social networking fits like a glove. Collaboration and group work can be explored in a variety of ways. Students can collaborate while creating online documents using tools such as Google Docs. Just this week I had an online brainstorming session with seven students using a Google spreadsheet. Students contributed ideas of their own, while being able to see the ideas posted by their peers. In this instance their peers all happened to be sitting next to them in the computer lab, but they could have been on the other side of the school or on the other side of the planet! Even as I write this, I’m thinking that I can do a collaborative project between my Graphic Design Studio students and one of the Marketing classes to create visuals for a marketing plan. It wouldn’t matter if the two classes meet at the same time or not. It wouldn’t matter if there was a room large enough to host 50 students meeting in small groups. They could meet online at the document—either at the same time, or at their convenience!

The very nature of this tool, and students’ fascination with it makes it almost imperative that the educational system should maximize ways to integrate technology into education. The fact that the tools on the Internet are to be expanding in number and scope on a daily basis just makes the opportunities seemingly limitless.