Sunday, October 07, 2007

Social Networking

Facebook continues to grow in popularity with the kids at my school. I think that most kids from 7-10, have a profile.

I started using facebook a couple of months, and I quite enjoyed connecting with some of my friends and relatives, the ones that I usually don't get a chance to see or to talk to on a regular bases. Connecting with people and socializing is critical; the Internet can't replace those f2f relationships, but this tool is powerful in keeping connections alive.

I encourage my students and my children to use the tool appropriately. Don't let it replace the f2f relationships. Rather, use it to nurture and even create some relationships. For some kids, it can give them some confidence in beginning a "converstation", but hopefully they don't become reliant on a tool to maintain or begin f2f relationship.

1 comment:

B.Davis said...

I too am new to Facebook. While I do think it is cheesy, I can't ignore the fact that it is an excellent tool for connecting with all of the people that I find myself wondering about every now and again. I use Facebook for that reason, my fear though is that our students don't know or don't want to think about the perils of the site and of putting a out of personal information out there. I know you can make sites private, however, you would be surprised at how many students don't. It's just another tool that we, as educators, need to teach and stress in our classes.