Social Networking in Education

Social Networking, I think, is kind of a scary topic for many educators.  As soon as we see these two words, we immediately think of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, etc.  When it comes to protecting our students' privacy, and ensuring they are not encountering bad people on the Internet, these certainly don't seem too conducive.  However, I think there are a lot of ways of incorporating social networking into the classroom that can be both safe, and learning-centred.

The biggest thing that we, as educators, need to think of before introducing social networking into the classroom is safety.  Similar to any other time we are allowing our students to use the Internet, we need to ensure that they are safe in what they're doing.  I'd absolutely suggest teachers try out any of the tools they plan on using in the classroom, and I don't just mean testing the usability, but rather thoroughly exploring the site to ensure that, no matter where the students are clicking, they are not being bombarded by advertisements, inappropriate text or images, or a page asking them to input their personal information.

As well, we should never be limited to the most well-known sites as educators.  There are plenty of social networking sites that allow students to communicate with other students in their district, in a neighboring district, or around the world.  Sites created specifically by educators, schools, or administration provide a wealth of knowledge on particular subjects, varying across the curriculum.  This is one of my favorites:

http://www.care2.com/.

Simply called "Care2", this site combines a lot of different topics into one networking site, and I think it could be very beneficial in the classroom, especially in higher grades. It is up-to-date, seems to be monitored quite well (In the hour I spent on it, I couldn't find any inappropriate posts), and really offers a wide variety of information, from people all over the world.  This site is open to the public, and members can join the Care2 community free-of-charge, allowing them to participate in discussions, post their own articles, and add their petitions or causes to the "petitionsite" found within the page.  The topics found on the site could easily be incorporated into Social Studies, Science, Health/CALM classes, Religion, Art, or Foods/Fashions electives.  I've chosen to elaborate on three of those:

1.  Social Studies - This site is full of activism and political justice.  Incorporating it into a Social Studies class could be as easy as having students choose one of the current events articles and summarizing it for the class.  There is a whole list of various petitions that are currently ongoing, giving students the chance to learn about the petitioning process, and how various individuals take a stand on issues they are facing.  The sections on human rights, women's rights, and civil rights could inspire topics for debate in the classroom, of offer a supplement to learning about them in the classroom by offering a real-life view of what is going on.  There is also a section on politics, which could be worked into learning about the political spectrum, the election process, maybe even putting together a mock classroom election. 

2.  Science - There are a few sections on Care2 that can work in conjunction with the science curricula in junior high and high school, and these involve topics like global warming, the environment and wildlife, gardening and nature, and green initiatives.  There are articles that show current events going on in environmental issues and global warming, and suggestions for things like making everyday activities green, and destroying nature as little as possible. Students could choose one of these topics and present to the class, relating it to what they've been covering.  This could lead into comparisons with other countries, especially factoring in something like carbon emissions, and remnants of the Kyoto Protocol.  Students can take an in-depth look at endangered species and their protection, earthquakes and volcanoes, water quality, and many other articles that pertain to a wide number of science topics. 

3.  Health - Topics range from diet and nutrition, healthy food recipes, naturopathy or natural health remedies, sleep, yoga, mind health, and there is even a separate section women's health.  Again, going through the various topics, the posts and articles allow students to explore diverse ideas and inform themselves on many different aspects of health.  Health, I find, is often one of those classes that gets worked into the classroom when its possible.  Topics like this make it easy to incorporate health in classes like foods, psychology, science, CALM, etc. Students could summarize, create presentations, write their own article, or even try out one of the remedies or recipes listed.  Some of the organic dessert recipes sound absolutely delicious!  Students could get together and make one to share with the class, for example. 

More than anything, I think this type of information can act as a great supplement to classroom learning, and can also teach students to be critical of the information they read online, looking for authenticity and support.  It opens up research opportunities for essays, presentations, articles, video responses, blog posts, etc. 

So don't be afraid to try social networking in the classroom.  Much like any other form of technology, get informed, and get going!  The students will love it, and I bet you will, too.