I
joined a “Mobile Health” group on Diigo because of 2 reasons. One, it actually sounded very interesting
after I did some extra research about mobile health and what it really is. Two, I figured I could use this group as a
portal to find grant funding for a project that I want to research on
campus.
There
is a big appeal for both young and old to use social networks. It can open up numerous opportunities to find
a partner, a new job, or even a group about using technology to increase the health
and wellness of the population. Online
networking is taking over the internet and it pros outweigh the cons
Within
a classroom there are always going to be positive and negative effects. Some positives for the students could be
engaged learning, collaborations with other students, increased technology skills
and communication skills (since many already use networking sites). For the teachers there are collaborations
with other teachers, information exchange, access to resources, and parental
involvement. Some downsides would be too many people to look over, time
consuming, scams, bullying, challenging and profiles are out there.
There
would be 2 different sites that I would have to say that I spend most of my
time networking. The first is obviously
Facebook because many of my family, friends, and previous professors are on
there and it is an easy way to contact them for updates. My second website would have to be
LinkedIn. Within this site I have joined
numerous Public Health related groups that keep me updated to new topics as
well as any potential job openings. I
think Facebook is more for a personal use, while LinkedIn is more professional
in nature.
Some
of the benefits to using these sites are as follows: a future job within Public Health or a University,
hearing about new research, roundtable discussions online, and keeping in touch
with people in my field. Some drawbacks
certainly are privacy problems, employers seeing profiles, missing a target
market (my resume only goes to certain key words), and information being farmed
out.
In any sense social networking sites have taken off and certainly have integrated themselves into society.
I use Facebook and LinkedIn extensively. The power of networking is unbelievable. I raised $600.00 for my soccer club in three days using FAcebook. Our entire 20 year class reunion is being planned using Facebook. It's a great resource that I cannot imagine not having.
ReplyDeleteHowever, as good as this resource can be, I'm certain that schools and teachers must have there hands full trying to restrict Facebook use and comments that are being posted. I'm interested in learning what new policies have been implemented in schools since social networking exploded and have those policies become more in favor of acceptance or prohibition over the years.
The other major concern I'm sure administrators have to face is whether they can restrict their faculty to using social networking or not. As a hypothetical example, let's say some teachers may go out to a have a drink with some friends and someone else may post that picture on facebook. What if the teacher's picture gets seen and while it may be inncent, the students blow it out of proportion and label the teacher as a drunk? Social Networking is powerful in so many ways but educators and students more than anybody need to be very careful. An old friend of mine posted on facebook; "I'm glad FB and mobile phones waeren't around when I was in college, I'd be in jail still." I laughed but thought, wow! I wonder how social networing effects the way kids behave nowadays. We did so many stupid things in college and in high school with no fear of these things ever being caught on tape or posted to the public. Now kids have to always think in the back of their heads..."I better not do "xyz" because the world could find out about it in an instant." Crazy when you really think about it. Facebook and social networking kind of acts like one giant babysitter in some way. Big Brother is watching now more than ever.
Hi Matt,
DeleteAt my high school Facebook and Twitter are blocked completely: students cannot access them at all. They are also required to have their cell phones turned off and locked away in their lockers during school hours. This is a difficult one to police. The penalty is $50 when a phone is confiscated. Here is the interesting thing: sometimes parents are happier that their child does not have the cell phone and ask that the dean of students keep it for an extra week or so!! Other times parents say their child will get the phone back when she pays for it out of her pocket.
On the teachers on FB issue: we had a facluty in-service and we were very much discouraged from joining it for the reasons you mentioned. I think that the teaching profession is held to a higher moral standard and somehow in your private life, in everything you do, you are still a teacher.
Hi Derek,
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to read your blog as you are in a different field than I am. I agree with the positive uses of social media for our students, such as the development of teamwork and collaboration. As I was looking through Diigo for possible groups to join, I was amazed how much useful information there is for teachers. I found groups offering all kinds of tidbits for teachers in my content area (social studies). But I also agree on you with one of the negative aspects: sifting through all this can be time consuming for teachers! I am hoping to develop a good method of efficiently browsing through these every now and then and finding the most useful ones to check out more frequently.
I have not used LinkedIn, but I was recently invited to join by one of my professional friends. And since you and Matt say it is a professional networking site worth being a part of, I think I might join!
I definitely agree that social networking sites have become integral in today's society. I know very few people who do not use sites like Facebook, and the benefits to Facebook are huge- networking, fundraising (as suggested in the comment above), etc. I haven't joined up with LinkedIn yet but I can see it being a potentially great pathway for a job search. You are right, though-- it is absolutely important to be careful with social networking because of the downfalls of it. Once something is online, it pretty much remains online in some capacity forever-- and potential future employers can (and often will) dig that up. I think if teachers use these tools in the classroom, it should be a priority to teach the importance of responsibility in social networking.
ReplyDelete