It is no secret that students today are heavily immersed in new technologies especially social networking sites (i.e. blogs, twitter, podcasts, wikis, virtual worlds, video sharing and photo sharing). They are crafting on-line lives that seamlessly meld with their off-line world. Indeed, the internet is playing an increasingly important role in not only students’ social life, but also academic. So as teachers it is important we take the initiative to incorporate these technologies that are so present in their lives while also modeling how to responsibility do so.Though social networking sites have some downsides, they also offer so many tools. Implementing these tools in the classroom can help students use technology responsibly — and learn a few other new things while they’re at it.

There are a number of unique features that make social networking sites amenable to educational pursuits. Most importantly social network sites connect students with other students, indirectly creating a learning community – a vital component of student education. For example, Facebook is equipped with bulletin boards, instant messaging, email, and the ability to post videos and pictures. Most notably, anyone can post information and collaborate within the system. These sites also provide teachers like me opportunities to create and support and online community where my students can help and support one another. For example, these sites can provide a place for absent students to see the assignments they have missed and even get help from a fellow student or teacher (as we noted in class). Additionally, these sites can be used for collaborative projects, assessments, discussions, surveys… Finally, these sites can provide a great way for a teacher to communicate with parents about specific or general topics concerning the class and/or specific students.

Though I hope that teachers and students will push learning beyond the borders of the classroom through social networking; that move can also come with hurdles, including the fact that many schools still block access to such sites within their campus. Schools must also confront the uncertainties and questions surrounding privacy issues, proper management, and cyber security when they open their doors to social-networking sites. Another disadvantage of these sites is they have become a huge source of bullying as well as a distraction for many students. Another argument I have heard against these sites is they keep kids away from the “real world” and diminish the quality of communication- computer lingo and hyphenated versions of everything.

In the end we as educators need to realize that this web world is one that students feel at home in and it is unlikely to disappear, so whether you agree with or disagree with the use of these sites in the classroom you must be willing to figure out a way to responsibly and creatively integrate them to educate the youth on how to use it positively an d successfully in the future. I believe one way to counter many of the cons of these sites in the educational setting would be to first: wait until middle school and second: create strict guidelines and rules for how it would be used for the class and a zero tolerance policy for misuse.