To Facebook or not to Facebook...

Social networking, the subject of this weeks blog post, proved rather timely for me. My daughters, aged 11 & 13, have been pleading with me, somewhat relentlessly, to have their own Facebook accounts. Apparently, everyone has one and they might be the last two on earth…


In response, well--I’ve been putting them off (good parenting!) but wondering why I’m feeling so reluctant? Glad that I'm having a better look into Facebook and to see what it’s all about. So off I go…


Part of our initial requirement for this course was to sign up for a Facebook account, which, obediently, I did (view my homepage here). Truthfully, I haven’t had much to do with my account since first setting it up, adding a photo and “poking” a few friends to let them know I was now a part of this online, social community. To quote Doug Johnson from his "Blue Skunk" blog, “I just don’t get the appeal.” I must admit, it's fun seeing who I might know and searching for familiar faces, but I don’t feel like reaching out and connecting with these people on a daily, weekly or even monthly basis. (For a lot of it, I felt like I was at my grad reunion, happy to see all these people, even pleased that they were doing well, but wanting to end it at that!)

My thoughts as a non-digital native adult.

Yet I couldn't help thinking--how differently would I be feeling if I had grown up using social networking as a way of connecting and communicating with others? Great question, since it seems that, according to a National School Board Association study, a whopping 96% of students between the ages of 9 and 17 have reported using online social networking technologies. Again, quoting Doug Johnson, this time from a Education World article:
“What's a teacher (parent) to do? Stay informed about student uses of technology. Build student trust by maintaining an open mind about new social phenomena. Teach students about potential hazards of all online environments."


Social networking in a Facebook-type environment may not be for me, but it sure is a huge part of my children’s and my student’s lives. As a parent and an educator, I need to think about the implications of social networking and about how to teach safe use and responsible behaviour online. As Will Richardson points out in his recent article Footprints in the Digital Age, this is particularily important now that our youth are the “Googleable” generation, where potential schools, employers or mates can easily check out their digital past.
“This may be the first large technological shift in history that's being driven by children. Picture a bus. Your students are standing in the front; most teachers (maybe even you) are in the back, hanging on to the seat straps as the bus careens down the road under the guidance of kids who have never been taught to steer and who are figuring it out as they go.” --I love this analogy given by Richardson—I can see a remake of “Ferris Bueller” in the works!


Guess we could close our eyes and hang on for dear life or try to somehow take control of the situation, which would you chose??



So, this got me thinking again about those Facebook accounts…I was surprised to discover that both Facebook and Myspace restrict their sites to people under 13. For my 11 year old, she’s out of luck for the time being, but for my 13 year old? It’s a possibility.


Both sites have increased their security regarding accounts and privacy settings. But, as Stephen Abram points out in Scaffolding the New Social Literacies , “… for all intents and purposes they are only as safe as the user has the awareness and skills to make good judgments.”


As a responsible parent, it’s up to me to go through these features with my daughter, monitor her account set-up, reminding her what personal information to divulge, and remind her of the potential risks. As an educator, I need to do the same with my students.


The NSBA study reminds us:

“Safety policies remain important, as does teaching students about online safety and responsible online expression—but students may learn these lessons better while they’re actually using social networking tools.



…parents and communities also expect schools to take advantage of potentially powerful educational tools, including new technology. Clearly, both district leaders and parents are open to believing that social networking could be such a tool — as long as there are reasonable parameters of use in place.
Moreover, social networking is increasingly used as a communications and collaboration tool of choice in businesses and higher education. As such, it would be wise for schools, whose responsibility it is to prepare students to transition to adult life with the skills they need to succeed in both arenas, to reckon with it.”



OK, I’ve convinced myself that as parents/educators we should indeed be involved and give kids the opportunity to use social networking in a safe, controlled environment. So the next big question for me is:



Which social networking tools to use to teach online safety and responsibility to elementary students?



One free site I discovered is imbee after reading an article on Read Write Web, by Ken Yarmosh, on Smart Social Networks . He states:
“Kids cannot join the site without a credit card being on file (and not necessarily charged), meaning that someone - probably a parent (teacher) - is going to have to be involved from the start. Parents (teachers) can also control the way their kids interact on the site.”
They also have a Teacher Feature which is free to join and includes lesson plans:
"Imbee's new Teacher Feature enables teachers to extend their classroom onto the Internet and establish class blogs and online interaction. Teacher Feature enables teachers and parents to work together closely to guide children's foray into social networking while bolstering classroom learning."


For older students (again, there’s age restrictions), I would definitely consider using Ning.


(“Ning is an online platform for users to create their own social websites and social networks.”wikipedia )
Traci Gardner blogs in the NCTE Inbox Blog: "Social Networking: The Ning’s the Thing" about the benefits of using a Ning in an educational setting:


“You can decide on who is invited, what they can see, and what they can do. You can create a Ning site for anything. There are a number of features available, and a basic site is free.
So Ning is just another social network, like Facebook, MySpace, or LinkedIn. What makes it different is the ability to customize the features to meet the needs of a specific group of people.
How can a teacher use a Ning social network?
Use a Ning to connect students in a private social network! What could you do for language arts, writing, and literature classes?
· Set up discussion forums based on literature circles, peer writing groups, different class periods, and so forth.
· Create groups based on student interests—book clubs, favorite genres, other content areas.
· Upload alternative book reports created as podcasts, videos, or photos.
· Ask students to write their reading logs or journals online, using their own personal blogs.
· Post information for students and their families in a shared space.”


Nings are also great tools for teacher’s professional development. Joyce Valenza’s Teacher Librarian Network Ning for instance, as well as the Classroom 2.0 Ning created by a group of educators interested in web 2.0 technologies. I joined the teacher librarian ning (http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/profile/janeann )as well as the classroom 2.0 ning (http://www.classroom20.com/profile/janeann )as both are filled with tons of useful information and discussions (including one with Will Ricardson regarding his article “Digital Footprints” in the Classroom 2.0 Forum ) about web 2.0 technologies.



Some other examples of social networks set up on various sites for educators:

• Teachers 2.0 - Ning created for educators using web 2.0



• Facebook group - for educators interested in the use of Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies in education.
  
  
• Active Learning - another Facebook group, “Active Learning is for educators who want to share ideas about active learning."



• A wiki of social networks used in educational environments.



• An Online Bookclub for intermediate kids created on a Ning
  
  

As a final thought, some online social networks, such as Facebook and Myspace, may not serve a huge educational function but the reality is that most students in today’s classrooms are using, and will continue to use, these type of social networking sites. Our job is to guide them to better understand the process, implications and risks as they use these networks to connect and collaborate with thousands of people in all aspects of their lives. We shouldn't be banning these sites but monitoring their use and finding appropriate ones to use in an educational setting.

Once again, Richardson sums it up well in his Footprints article when discussing social networking, preparing students for the future and the role of teachers:
“Our students must be nomadic, flexible, mobile learners who depend not so much on what they can recall as on their ability to connect with people and resources and edit content on their desktops, or, even more likely, on pocket-size devices they carry around with them.

Our teachers have to be colearners in this process, modeling their own use of connections and networks and understanding the practical pedagogical implications of these technologies and online social learning spaces.”

On to set up a Facebook account...let the "colearning" begin!!