Does Social Networking Have A place in Modern Classrooms
Social networking is big these days and it doesn’t look like its going to get any smaller in the near future. For parents and teachers, it presents a challenge and a question: Does social networking have a place in modern classrooms? To answer fairly, we need to look more closely at what social networking is and how kids use it.
Social networking is, at heart, a marketing tool. It uses software technology from both the military, designed for surveillance, and from industry, designed to sell products. But the reasons that kids (and adults) use this cyber tool has to do with connecting to others, sharing and learning. These are things that have a place in the educational process and classroom experience. Is there a way for social networking to enhance the educational experience and not distract students from learning or expose them to increased danger?
One way to connect the dots in a positive way between the objectives of social marketing sites, the social needs of kids and the goals of parents and educators, is to use the social networking experience to probe ethical issues with young people. By engaging the disturbing questions that social networking brings up head on, kids can develop judgment and common sense without loosing out on a favorite activity while they are at school.