Online social networking is a device in which I have encountered throughout my adult life and a majority of my teenage years. Its appeal was first seen through use of chat rooms from the early 2000s. These chat rooms were grouped by subject or interest and were available for all interested to join. People had the ability to discuss the topic via the internet rather than meeting at an external location. This concept of social networking has evolved into the likes of MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter for the key purpose of interaction. We as humans are creatures of interaction. Without these web-based tools, we would be closed off to a majority of society. Not everything is ideal with social networking, however. As with anything, you should be mindful of to whom and how much personal information you provide to individuals you do not know. Luckily there are safeguards and security settings that assist users with potential security breaches. Users must also practice common sense—a sometimes all too lacking phenomena.
As for the classroom, networking sites are beneficial for both students and educators alike. They allow for quick access for research, providing links to hundreds of thousands of resources at the click of a mouse and enable global communication across societies and cultures. Information and lesson plans may be shared amongst educators to most efficiently and effectively teach students. As noted by Johnson et al. (2009), at this point the primary issue is access and filtration policy in the use of networking sites. I would assume that many of those issues have been resolved as of late, as many students are equipped with their own laptops and/or iPads. In addition, the use of social networking in the classroom will also prepare students for the use of professional sites as they pursue their future careers.
The objective of joining a diigo group has great similarities to a social networking site in which I already use on a weekly basis—LinkedIn. This site allows professionals to electronically network across corporations, share journal articles and blog postings, and seek employment/employees. I have received countless job offers and career-based information based upon the people, groups and items that I have shown interest in. Of course not all of the information bombardment is desired, but there are adjustable settings for this purpose.
When determining which diigo group I would join, my concentration was to find something that would both relate to this course and also assist me with my current profession. Specifically relating to the search of “Adult Learning”, I discovered the Instructional Design & E-Learning Professionals' Group. This group is affiliated with tags including eLearning, instructional, designer, industry and learning (among others). Including links to educational theories, the Instructional Design & E-Learning Professionals’ Group also provides links eLearning Weekly, a free eLearning newsletter. This resource will surely be beneficial to my profession as an educator.
Johnson, L., Levine, A., Smith, R., and Smythe, T. (2009). The Horizon Report: 2009 K-12 Edition. Austin, Texas: The New Media Consortium.
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteI was giggling as I read your comment regarding practicing common sense! You are so right . . . sometimes it's an all too lacking phenomena! Social media does open us up to the world, but we still have to practice common sense and safeguards as you suggested.
I too have found LinkedIn very popular and resourceful for people who are seeking employment. I have known quite a few people who have used this social networking site for professional purposes. I do think that one of the biggest disadvantages to social networking is that too many people put too much personal information out there. This is where I am torn about teenagers using this in the classroom. It is difficult for them because they are so consumed with finding out about the personal information of others. They sometimes have a tendency to not use this in a positive manner. It is just a matter of finding the right balance for everyone involved.
It will be very interesting to see where social sites, like Facebook and Twitter, are in ten years and what the next new thing will be!!