BWP: Chapter 9

This reading really taught me that social networking sites are far more useful and innovative than many of us give them credit for. By using social networking sites as a way to expand our horizons and connect with others who have similar interests from around the world, we are able to better prepare our students for what's out there. There's an occurring trend that students take more pride in their work when they are publishing it for others to see who are genuinely interested, not just their teacher. Social networking sites allow students to put their ideas out there and not only have others comment on them, but allow a deeper knowledge to grow for our students. Plenty of what our students will learn can come from the outside of the classroom. By incorporating social networking sites, we are not only having our students work with a tool that they are more than familiar with, but we are having them use it in an academic sense. However, because a vast majority of schools have social networking sites like Facebook blocked, using sites like Ning is a great alternative. While some teachers are able to find success in fighting for the right to use Facebook within their classroom, others have yet to do so.

As a teacher, I don't think I would even try to fight for the use of Facebook in my classroom. As a user myself, I would want to try to keep that specific site as one where students are able to keep in contact with their friends. I would more than likely try a different site, such as Ning, to still get the same effect but in a more school friendly approach. While it did state in the reading that Ning isn't perfect, I feel that that's okay. As an educator, it is up to me to work out the problems that may arise by using such technology. I really like that the author always states that prior to using any of these tools within the classroom, we should use them first. Clearly I would want to experiment with and explore a site like Ning by myself prior to introducing it into my classroom. By doing this, I could discover some perks that I might not have even known about before, or I might even discover that this isn't necessarily the site for my students and want to explore and find a different one to use.