1) "Teaching with the Tools Kids Really Use" Chapter 5: Social Networks
2) "The Digital Diet: Chapter 5: VOIP, Chapter 6: Twitter, Chapter 8: Social Networking, Chapter 9: Voice Thread
Okay, I'm going to tackle this a little differently. Let's discuss the Discussion Points from Brooks-Young book and handle the topics from the Digital Diet book through this lens.
1) My experience with social networking. Yes. I socially network. :) Hard core. Okay, medium core. I Facebook x 2. I have a personal fb account for friends and another account I use as a teacher and professional. My security settings are higher on my personal, making me harder to find (I truly dearly hope.) I open my teacher account to students, former students, and colleagues (minus my big bosses - that'd be weird.) I mostly opened my second account to avoid my oblivious peers posting things that I wouldn't want everyone in my work life to see. I am very compartmentalized and somewhat private at work. It has worked out well. (I also used MySpace back in the day.) I have mostly used fb to stay in touch with students after graduation, and use edmodo to work with current students. This also helps compartmentalize. :)
I try to use Twitter. I've been on Twitter since 2008 but never really had a reason to use it. My younger brother tried to convince me to use it more (ironic since his last post was from Millennium park when Obama won the election!) I was not very good at it - I had just had my first baby and didn't think anyone would want to read updates like "spit up on - AGAIN" or "Asparagus affects more than just pee."(Was that TMI? - told you I wasn't very good.) In the last two years, I've used it more to reach out to my Personal Learning Network of like minded Art Teachers. Its been super helpful, but I know I am still not using it to its potential. I am thinking that I will be branching out to classroom use soon though after a bit more practice.
Pinterest! - That's a form of social networking, although I don't really use that part of it much. For me its' more of a visual bookmarking site that I share. So in that respect I guess its social.
I'm sitting here trying to think about how I social network, and maybe because it is so ingrained it is hard to list. Its just stuff I do on the internet. Hmm, food for thought that.
2) Policies at my school regarding social networking.
We have a filter that does not allow students to access a lot of social networking sites. It even comes up with a screen that says it has been classified as such. Ironically, teachers have recently been allowed access to these sites like facebook and twitter. On one hand, duh, makes sense. We use them for class so we should be able to work at work. On the other hand, we are using them in the hope to stay connected to our students. And they can't connect. (good thing students these days typically have their own devices with their own access so they just bypass that most of the time anyway. It only becomes a problem when you want to use it for say, anything during class.) I also hear there was some law or some such that prohibited teachers from socially networking with students. >*sarcasm*< Our district already had polocies in place so it didn't feel the need to crack down. Thank goodness. So far so good.
3) What grade level is appropriate for educators to start teaching students how to use social networking sites? Well, According to the Terms of Service for Facebook, the answer is 13. But, I think it is important to start teaching digital citizenship as early as possible. If kids under age 5 are used to playing with Webkinz (which can be a social networking "toy"), they are already introduced to the concept. We need to educate kids to proper netiquette as soon as possible so regardless of when they start using Social networking, they know how to behave. I think students as young as first grade could slowly, and in small mind size pieces, be given assignments that integrate qualities of social networking. My concern would be world wide accessibility so I would limit exposure at the younger grades.
4) The Role of social networking in the 21st-century in learning environments. I would love to see more interconnectivity globally. I hear a lot about technology connecting classrooms across the globe, but that seems to depend on the teachers connections, not just fishing for a random bite from across the globe.
In the art room, I would love to connect to professional living artists. I would like to connect with other art students, networking with like peers that wouldn't be necessarily connected to the same social circles and allowing for alternate points of view.
I also see the role of a teacher changing the more the teacher embraces these tools. In a way, it means that you are an educator 24/7. You are connected to the classroom in real time at times you were normally able to shut off for a while. By allowing my students to email me, I now feel more compelled to check my work email after school hours. But I still have to draw that line of when to work and when to not (because I'm sure some of you can relate to teachers working more than just 9 to 5) - gotta learn when to say no, you know?
Okay, something that didn't come up - Voice Thread. I am loving this as a way to provide feedback to my students and to create a digital gallery for my students. Awesome! I want my students to offer feed back to others too in order to offer ways to increase their skills. TO things I don't think they think about in the creation part but might be able to go back and reflect on. I'm thinking of this year's Haring projects and the line quality. Poo! So sloppy and messy! I'm wondering if peers will point out these things if they are doing it digitally and not face to face in class. I'll have to get back to you on what happens.
I'm curious about these new accounts though. I wonder if schools will start to create digital tech budgets for things like animoto, voice thread, and others. So far, its only been me shouldering the financial burden. More money would be lovely!
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