Social Networking in Education

[Jason Schnee]

I know this could be probably done with our swift page, but the area where I see the students doing this is they could start their own discussion and have their peers reply to the discussion. We can have multiple discussions happening in this area plus this gives us the avenue to show how we can use this in Education. Social Networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, are very vauge and don't have filters, which is why we have blocked them in the past, if we can get students to create profiles here and use this to post assignments in the same manner as wiki's, this would be great. This actually fits right into the new Online Collaboration Unit which was recently added to the EasyTech Curriculum. I can see this being used for teachers as well.

[Robyn Griffith]

Hey Jason, what is the filtering cabability with this site, assuming we use it with students? Not to restrict any of their idease of course, just some basic appropriate language management. Just wondering. --Robyn

[Jason Schnee]

I'm not really sure to be honest. I do know they have a built in filtering which Ed and I stumbled upon on Friday. I'll look into it, I know what you mean by language management and it's something we need to determine because while the kids do use it and they're away from the teacher, their language could get out of hand, but also if the introduction is set to the kids to say, this is online, what you put up there should be what you are willing to show your grandparents and everyone will be able to see it, maybe something like that could help eliminate some of the language.

Let me check it out. I'm having an issue right now with gaggle's blogs not working correctly. When I had some of Michelle's kids use it on Tuesday, they were only getting the title area and then it was thinking this was for their whole entry but their wasn't an area for the content to go in. Plus when we saved it, the system was saying it was too short. Any ideas?

[Jason Schnee]

Well I was able to contact the person who created all of this and asked him his thoughts on the filtering issue. Here was his response:
"There isn't any filtering built in. You can set the network so you have moderation capability for video and photos, but no technology solution for language. I'd recommend having a good usage policy for the students, with known consequences for using inappropriate language. I think other teachers have found that the students like the Ning networks so much that they don't want to break the rules and not be able to use it. :)"

[Robyn Griffith]

Good information. I know Ed will want to be in the loop on this. I really believe that students should be learning the appropriate way to use social networking at school, both the benefilts and dangers inherent with these types of technology tools. What can happen to your life if you aren't careful is too scary.

BTW, I'll look into the Gaggle blog issue.

[Jason Schnee]

I did find a wiki permission agreement which was in the middle school group one person created. I want to keep the kids safe, but at the same time want them to be able to take calculated risks and work in a virtual environment. It's the online ethic lesson we taught the kids earlier in the year and them understanding if they break the rules then their will be consequences. Also teaching about evaluating resources and people out there.

[COMPAORE Abdramane]

Hello everyone,

This technology (Web 2.0) help and facilitate the Africans to monitor and participate in distance courses and training.

Thanks.

COMPAORE.
http://afric-teach.blog4ever.com