Social networking allows people to come together around an idea or topic of interest. http://www.edutopia.org/how-use-social-networking-technology
One way that social networking can be used in the classroom for collaborative purposes is through a site, named, Delicious.com, where students can store, organize and share links with one another. For example, an annotated resource list you can use on a project.
Social bookmarking is collecting a set of resources that can be used to share with one another. Social bookmarking can be used in the classroom for collaborative purposes because this process allows like-minded individuals to find one another and create new communities of users. It may also lead you to explore new directions.
After reading the article on the teacher that was forced to resign http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/24670937/detail.html for her comments on the residents she serves, I went onto my facebook account and changed my setting to custom. I immediately added my principal to that list, as well as, a teacher from my school because I'm her daughter's teacher. As a professional, the teacher from Cohasset should of kept her comments to herself or at least not make them public for the residents she serves to read them and be offended by her remarks. Teachers need to keep their online presence Professional. Being professional means knowing how to separate your online personal life with your online professional life. Comments made in a public ,social networking site, like, facebook.com can cause you a lot of unnecessary repercussions.
Another teacher in Florida was suspended for comments he made opposing gay marriage.http://www.thenewamerican.com/culture/faith-and-morals/8690-florida-teacher-suspended-for-facebook-comment-gay-marriage. Teachers need to uphold a reputation and appease to the majority. Therefore, your professional online presence may not be exactly what you really feel or represent but at least it can save your job. Your personal online presence should be just that, personal , and don't mix "business with personal."
Bohan, D.(2011). Florida teacher suspended for facebook comment opposing "gay" marriage, New American.
(2010). H.S. teacher loses job over facebook posting, The Boston Channel.com
http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/24670937/detail.html
Smith, F. (2007) How to use social networking technology for learning, Edutopia, http://www.edutopia.oeg/how-use-social-networking-technology
Viv, I whole heartedly agree with you about teachers keeping their online presence PROFESSIONAL. Being an educator, your standards are held higher. You have a reputation to uphold and you are often put in the spotlight. After reading that same article about the teacher forcing to resign for her Facebook comments about the residents of Cohasset, I was shocked! How could someone with such stature be so unintelligent as to post such appalling comments?
ReplyDeleteSince anyone can easily obtain information about you on the internet, it’s important to know how to keep your own personal information private. With Facebook becoming ever so popular, it’s frightening to know that your students and their parents can be keeping tabs on you! I have Facebook account and I simply make sure to keep my settings on Private and not accept friend requests from people I do not know. According to the NETS-T Standard 4 “Teachers understand local and global societal issues and responsibilities in an evolving digital culture and exhibit legal and ethical behavior in their professional practices.” (ISTE, 2008). You just have to be smart about it and keep in mind as you stated, “don’t mix business with pleasure.”
ISTE. (2008). The ISTE Nets and Performance Indicators for teachers. Retrieved from http://iste.org.