More and more I’m starting to think that Facebook may just be the engine that drives school change around technology. The numbers right now are pretty compelling. Six hundred thousand new users PER DAY, and fully three-quarters of the 175 million users are over 25. In fact, the fastest growing segment is women over 55. Whoda thunk that?
I read that as a whole lot of parents and teachers are dipping their toes in the pool and at least beginning to come to terms with social networks. Whether they can see the potentials for learning is another discussion. But I can’t help but think this conversation for reform which includes teaching kids how to learn in networked publics and online communities will be given a boost by their participation.
You?
that’s the direction we’re feeling our way toward at Beaver Country Day… teachers are introducing all forms of Web 2.0 tools in the classroom this year and seeing what works best, and next year all kids will bring laptops to school. Professional Day on Tues is dedicated to discussing and learning some of these tools. It’ll be interesting to see where it leads us.
I don’t think anyone can deny the potential power of Facebook as a way of reaching people. I have yet to see where it can actually affect school change any more than making it easier for the leaders of that change to network and communicate. However, as social networking becomes so ubiquitous that for a teenager it’s not just his friends any more, but he will also likely find his parents, and even grandparents, possibly teachers, potential employers and other people he knows in the community. This awareness of how people are interconnected and that he needs to take a responsibility with what is on the ‘net can be invaluable. I know from my own experience of having to change my Facebook profile as my network expanded to include not just my friends, but other relatives, coworkers, relatives of current students and even my former students themselves!
TeacherJay, I really like your comment, because it takes the primary complaint that I hear against Facebook from my faculty members (teaching at the undergraduate level) and turns it into a positive. I hear a lot of instructors saying, understandably enough, that they don’t want to read Sally Student’s status update that she is so hung over this morning, and likewise that they don’t want Sally reading their own less-than-decorous profiles. But it is precisely these feelings that should drive the educational uses of social software: if we really care about our students’ ability to engage positively with the world after they leave our classrooms, we need to teach them how to deal with the new dynamics and rhetorics that emerge in spaces like Facebook.
Boone,
Also – if you comment to Sally Student about her being so hung over – maybe she might start to understand that EVERYBODY sees what she posts…
Sites like Facebook catch a lot of flak, but I think they can be used for good, even when it comes to education. Social networking makes communication much easier, and educators could definitely take advantage of that and use it to help in the classroom. Students can make study groups online, post helpful information for their classmates…there are a lot of possibilities. It’s just a matter of adapting to it and thinking of the best ways to incorporate things like this into the school.
I see what you are saying here, but I don’t necessarily see Facebook as being the best site for some of thee things. It is out of the school’s control and designed primarily for social reasons. It wouldn’t feel right to me for a school to be recommending students put personal information onto such an open forum. However, if the school were to set up a Moodle site for its classes I could condone that. The problem with that would be the need to create accounts for students and teach them how to use it. Many are already familiar with Facebook. We would still need to address the digital divide however, and the fact some students simply don’t have as much access to the internet as others, or may not be as skilled in its use.
I’m not suggesting that we’ll see Facebook in the classroom setting any time soon. What I am saying, however, is that as more adults adopt these tools, there will be more of an opportunity to talk about why we need to prepare our kids for their use of these tools as well, especially if we can demonstrate the learning potentials.
Regarding not seeing FB in the classroom anytime soon, that is most likely true. I think that we must remember; however; almost all the college students today who are studying to be teachers are active FB users and it will not be that far of a stretch to convince them of the educational value of FB and other technologies. The challenge will be with school administration and school boards who do not understand the raw potential. I am not saying it is impossible, it will take time and a lot of training and teaching some “old dogs” new tricks!
I don’t agree, Doug. What exactly are the educational benefits of Facebook? I feel there are certain communication benefits from it and it does present the opportunity for teachers to address the concepts of being responsible with one’s online presence and proper decorum with other users. But, I don’t see Facebook as a viable tool for instruction, or for collaborative work – not when there are better tools that are more appropriate. There are items of the “hidden curriculum” related to teaching students to be responsible adults, but probably not directly related to the state-mandated curriculum.
Points well taken; however, I do think there is value in the social interaction aspect of FB. I can see teachers using it to conduct projects with classes in other schools and in other countries.
Having said that, FB may not be the answer as the safely concerns are real and daunting.
It seems to me some entrepreneur could design a FB type program that could be password protected and housed internally on a district’s server to achieve the positive and filter out the negative.
actually, something like ning (www.ning.com) would probably be better – because you can set up your own online social network with ning.
I was going to look through it before I recommended it – but Ning is blocked at my school (go figure!).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ning
I definitely agree that very soon, Facebook will reach the Tipping Point that Malcolm Gladwell speaks of. Another sign of this is Facebook for Parents – http://facebookforparents.org/
I am starting to see more and more of these tools to help educate our students and parents about responsible usage of social networking. It’s a step in the right direction, but we still have a ways to go.
Oh no! Now I have to learn to use Facebook? Yikes! I am hopeful that since I’m in the 55+ group this is going to be a piece of cake.
Blogs and wikis are a part of the future and I believe teaching students how to use them should be a part of instruction. Collaboration is an integral part of the school learning strucure in Florida, and this is one tool that can be used effectively with students in all grade levels.
I’m not yet in the 55+ group, but just recently I updated my Facebook account and in just a matter of days connected with people I haven’t talked to in 20 years!
The power is staggering. Another thought to add to the evidence is the monumental success that the Obama campaign had using social networking for fund raising and the get out the vote efforts.
Harnessing that power will become mandatory and inevitable. If we (the public schools) don’t do it then some one will step in to fill that gap. This could truly be the make it or break it issue for education and the disruptive force that forces the change.
As an educator I am excited about the changes that networking can offer. Although not a change really, just a change in the vehicle for learning. Wasn’t the Socratic method just a social networking or exchange of ideas,a collective way to share. My fear is that education will lag too far behind. Since I entered education thirty years ago, I have seen little change in the delivery system offered to students… the tools have changed but not the underlying ideology – I am the authority, I present, you the student are the sponge, soak me up – then spit the information back to me (worksheets).
I train teachers in the use of educational web tools…..the process has been slow going – I have “friended†many of them on facebook, which has created a valuable analogy to point to in conversations about exchanging information and ideas online. They admit the comfort level on facebook comes with the knowledge that they have handpicked the community reading their posts. Most are still hesitant to exchange ideas with an unknown audience. The personal connections with family and old friends makes facebook a great place to warm up for (hopefully) more expansive networking to come.
One application on FB that I love is Lexulous (formerly Scrabulous) – a competitive environment that keeps stats on the progress of the individual word games. It hit me just this morning what a perfect analysis tool it offers for an elementary math group to explore to understand statistics, coordinates, graphing, etc.
Anyway – yeah facebook – keep it up!
I have a feeling that Twitter might be a more instant tool
But is it more limiting?
I have to agree with you whole-heartedly! As an elementary teacher pursuing my Master’s in Education Technology, my mind has been blown wide open in terms of how second generation web products will impact my teaching now and in the future. Students will no longer be only working individually on projects, but can learn in a more collaborative environment. As more students become comfortable learning and sharing in a collaborative technological way, the world will eventually enjoy a larger feeling of community.
Communicating and informing students electronically has never been so easy – except they don’t read email.
When I asked my students what the best method of communication would be so that I might send them homework, changes to plans, etc… the remark was overwhelmingly Facebook or My Space.
Our school are slowly opening to the power of social networking.
You must remember though, that FB has different ways to set up pages. They don’t all have to be pages for friends who want to socialize. You can set them up as pages that have fans-businesses, educational institutions, zoos, musical groups, conservation efforts, causes….the list goes on. Then, it’s very much like a blog with fans who can comment in the ratings section or the discussion area. Let’s say you wanted to teach your students about Japan and wanted some Japanese students to join in on the conversation, it’s easily done. I’m not an educator by your standards (I’m a conservation education graduate student with a zookeepers background), but I see many possibilities for using FB in the schools.
Will,
I’m on facebook and am reconnecting with people I haven’t seen since college as well as using it to keep in touch with my local friends. (One just told me via my wall to get off my butt and get on the treadmill.) To an extent possible, I’m keepin facebook separate from my professional on-line identity. I want it just for the social networking piece, where blogging/RSS feed reading/twitter are my professional work.
I’m encouraged by the increased use of facebook by my demographic (35-50 yrs. old). I hope that my generation will become so comfortable our here on line that they better understand and support what I want to do with kids in school. As they see the power first hand, then they’ll understand and support.
Technology is like the race between the turtle and the hare. It changes at the speed of the hare and acceptance comes at the speed of the turtle. As long as we all get to the finish line, does it matter at which pace?
Cheers, Kim
I use quite a few online tools and just started using Facebook; I am in the 55+ group. It is strange to have my children and their friends as my friends, but I am kind of liking it. There have been some interesting tags on some of my pictures.
I would like to see some separation between school & social interactions, much like we separate work & friends.
Here’s a funny column on the use of facebook by an older demographic in Time….
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1879169,00.html
One thing has to change if Facebook (or any other social networking channel) were to be the tipping point: A person has to give up the different persona in different settings. We are used to having a home-self, a work-self, a play-self, etc.
We are used to our home-self as the person who relate to our parents, children, relatives, neighbors. We may be nicer, gentler, tougher, rougher, etc. We may yell at our kids or get angry at so-and-so doing whatever for the umpteenth time. We are used to our work-self as the person who is a professional. We may be more of a leader, a decision maker, a goal setter, a go-getter, a ladder climber, o just a peon. We may be more patient or less forgiving of mistakes. We may count pennies to make sure the book balance. We may take legal and regulatory thing into account before we act. We are also used to our play-self as the person who hang out with friends and go have fun. We may swear in front of the TV, drink, and joke around, go places and do things that should stay in Vegas.
Social networking put everything out in the open. Once you are out there, it is you. You can no longer hide. Anything you don’t want one audience to see will be dug up. Anything you want to stay priviate from another audience will be revealed. Kids do not have problems with this. We the adults are the ones that will have to adapt.
Until then, it won’t happen to the masses.
I like this take http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/06/05/twentysomething-raunchy-old-photos-will-be-part-of-the-revolution from a 20-something on the issue who says, “Social networking sites are blurring the lines between personal and professional life. There is no reason these lines should not be blurred.†I like the concept of our more transparent lives making us more of the people we would be if we knew others were watching…and they are 🙂
I’m not sure the answer is giving up the different persona’s completely. I still believe there is a time and place for a more professional approach to things. I still use two profiles for most online tools in order to keep my online personal activities independent of my professional activities.
If everyone blurred that line, then I would find it hard to ‘follow’ someone’s online activity if their professional posts were mixed in with their hobbies and personal interests. It would make the filtering a little more complex. Although I’m an avid user of social media, I still find there to be way too much noise in most people’s profiles who I’m interested in professionally.
I agree that the personal and professional side of things should be kept separated. It is just so easy for the profiles to become intermixed with one another. Since you there is little control over what someone else writes to you on your Wall, it seems almost impossible to keep them separate.
Time magazine agrees. They did a fun read here
I just got started with FB a month ago and I love it. My question is where will our students go now that us educators and parents are on it?
I am a teacher and a “casual” user of Facebook. I commented to my wife the other night that my Facebook traffic has noticeably increased over the last few weeks. I love it! I was able to reconnect with a set of friends that I had not talked to in over five years. Because of this recent traffic explosion I do believe we are reaching a “tipping point” in the age of social networking. When web apps such as Facebook become important in more and more people’s personal lives, the transition to professional life is only a few steps away.
This progression is something important for educators to take note of. Facebook does have its security issues for schools, but social networking sites such as Ning provide educators with a social network they can create and manage. Teachers can also model “professional social networking etiquette” through teacher created, class run social networks.
Kids want to feel connected to their peers and they are turning to the 24/7 instant communication that social networks create. This is a powerful tool for educators to harness. Why not? It seems the word is out, Facebook and other social networks are great ways to share ideas and stay connected with friends and colleagues.
The only way school administrators, parents, or other media-influenced controllers of teen behavior will embrace the best convergence tools of our time is to overcome their fear of facebook or MySpace, in particular, and social networking, in general. The only way they will really be able to do that is to use these tools themselves. [Ironically, the best way to kill facebook for students would be to have their parents create an account and friend them]. The major reason schools are not embracing such powerful tools as blogs, nings, and wikis is fear–fear about what kids might publish, fear about who might be lurking in the shadows, and fear about what they simply do not understand.
I dont know, I think it’s all kind of overblown.
There are benefits, and it’s here to stay (I believe, maybe not facebook but the social network concept), just as there were benefits to teaching on-line research methods a decade ago… (and I am sure to video presentations 25 years ago, and phones 50 years ago, etc. etc)… but I feel there may be “unintended consequences” that we’re not seeing clearly yet.
For example, just as the web a decade ago made research perhaps faster with access to more source materials than previous generations of students without access to visit the Library of Congress could have dreamed of… in my experience it also made papers submitted based on such research more superficial than a generation ago.
Cut-and-paste an idea from here, follow a link, cut-and-paste an analysis from there, and boom, submit for grading.
Certainly the argument could be made that graphing calculators in the sciences and mathematics were a tool that made greater efficiencies without a lot of downside… but the process of working out the problems still existed. I am not sure if I see the depth of process with web advances. But that’s just me.
So, I think the jury is out. Change, yes, but how valuable? Questionable.
I agree with most of you. I can see the obvious communication aspects, however I am having a harder time seeing intended learning outcomes that it can provide. I would have to digest the information and learn the abilities of Facebook before I could really make an educated oppinion.
I agree with the initial post that Facebook can drive school change.
Last year, when I purchased my iPhone, I braced myself for the 4-hour online tutorial to learn how to navigate the device. However, just as I was sitting down to begin the tutorial, my 8 year-old son told me not to waste my time. He could teach me in 20 minutes, he stated boldly. All he needed was a little time to “play” with the phone. Sure enough, he proved to be a better and more entertaining teacher than the online tutorial and I fast learned the basics of iPhone use. He continues to be my iPhone navigator, updating the phone, looking for “cool” apps to add and explaining the phone to me in clear, easy to understand language. Technology has flipped our roles. It used to be that parents and teachers taught children. Now, the reverse is true and the quicker we can grasp this concept, the better equipped we will all be to live in the 21st century. President Obama knows this. He has retooled government’s approach to communication. Each week, he uploads his weekly address to YouTube, the White House web site invites viewer interaction and he even found a way to hold onto his BlackBerry. And, the President has enlisted a chief technology officer to rewire the government’s whole technology apparatus.
Schools need to do the same. Students are fast growing disenchanted with the snail’s pace of change going on in classrooms regarding teaching with technology. Thankfully, some teachers have grabbed the mantle and are taking steps to meet students where they are in the online world. One talented teacher cooked up an entire 20th century China project on Facebook. Students adopted the personalities of Sun Yat-sen, Mao Zedong and Chang Kai-shek and created and updated Facebook pages and profiles, replete with photos and wall postings. In the words of the teacher: “This project changed the classroom. Students were so motivated and put way more hours into their research than a traditional project might have done.” The best part about this project was the organic way it developed in the hands of a teacher who listens to her students. As the class brainstormed the beginning stages of the unit, one of the students simply suggested that the class create Facebook pages for the three leaders and be required to chat, post and debate online. Instead of balking at this potentially outlandish idea, this teacher jumped at the opportunity. This is exactly the kind of collaborative learning that the 21st century demands, but it does mean surrendering a bit of curricular control to the students. For many teachers, letting students “run” the show poses a challenge to the traditional “sage on the stage” model, even in the most progressive of teaching environments. The time has come to turn the reins over to the students.
What if there was a school where every teacher was required to run their courses on Facebook? Many schools have pushed teachers to have their own websites, with syllabi, unit samples and topical web links. But the missing piece with this type of design is the lack of interaction for the user. Facebook forces interaction and active learning. It has speed and multi-tasking wrapped into one page. One teacher with whom I have spoken says just this: “Students multi-task and we need to create classrooms that multi-task.” This particular teacher has given her classroom a facelift and she teaches the class essentially online. YouTube, Google images, and iTunes songs plaster her Power Point lectures and she daily posts to a class blog and includes interactive features in her homework assignments. Students love her class and they rarely get sidetracked, as they take notes on their laptops and input data during hands-on labs. This teacher’s premise is to make the classroom mirror the online lives of the students so that students will not be distracted from educational goals. She has never had a technology related discipline issue in her class. Imagine this teacher with a school sanctioned Facebook page. Her already innovative approach would increase exponentially.
The virtue of the online classroom is that it does not require classroom walls. Learning goes on 24/7 and with the right design students will want to spend their time outside of school collaborating and adding content to class Facebook pages, for example. The teacher who created the 20th century China assignment shared that her students added to their class created Facebook pages at every hour of the day and night. Motivation skyrocketed and learning grew more authentic with real time audience.
We live in a “flat” world as Thomas Friedman has argued. This “flatness” must extend into the field of education. The old hierarchical model of education needs to be dismantled in favor of cross platform teaching and learning. President Obama has sounded the clarion call for rewiring government and schools need to seize the moment. We can’t wait and more importantly, kids can’t wait. Now is the time for full-scale reconsideration of instructional delivery with the latest technology tools. As the recently released MacArthur Foundation study on digital youth stated: “they (kids) are often more motivated to learn from peers than from adults […] to stay relevant in the 21st century, education institutions need to keep pace with the rapid changes introduced by digital media.â€
I really enjoyed your post. I am a tech person for a high school and have spent the last number of years blocking social networking sites because they really had no place in the classroom. Your post has inspired me to take a closer look at Facebook…not that I am quite ready to unblock those sites yet. 🙂
The community being built around FB is impressive no doubt, but I don’t hear much being said about the culture of FB and whether or not students (young people) will submit to having their space invaded for other uses?
I’ve also heard my entire life the arguments of failing schools, change, keeping pace, the old hierarchy has to go, etc. and I just don’t buy that stuff. I don’t want our future teachers, doctors or engineers to be learning from each other. I want them learning (and being rigorously assessed) by experts – people who know.
I still think we are not cloase to looking at Facebook for classroom use, but I do see it as a great way to communicate to the school community – status updates/district page, invites to school events, etc.. I also see it as an excellent way to follow-up with graduates to start to track how many finish the 2 or 4-year schools they started at.
The idea of using Facebook within the classroom walls is a very interesting concept to me. On one hand students are already using it and the interaction that they receive during their postings is a great way to socially network with other students around the globe. On the other hand I have reservations about using it in the classroom. I teach elementary school and am not sure if I could tell parents that we were going to be using Facebook in class where personal information could be reached my millions. In a society that is becoming more and more dependent on technology it seems naive to think that even our youngest students are not on these types of websites. Many of these types of sites (Facebook, YouTube, blogs, etc.) are banned in our schools and are filtered so that they cannot be viewed. What are some ways that you have utilized Facebook in the classroom?
Facebook and other networking sites are going to be hard to get into schools anytime soon. Until the filters can get smarter and filter content on sites instead of just blocking insecure sites, the legal divisions of school will definitely keep social networking sites out. But, some applications can be taken on right now. One thing that I would like to do is to make a facebook site for each of my classes where I can post homeworks and links that might help students out on homework problems. It is also a place where students and parent could ask questions to me about the class. I would not have to send homework home anymore. I could load up worksheets and many other items. The problem is that I would have to do all of this from home. But, until we can get the schools and filters up to date, it is a sacrifice that I might have to make.
Right now facebook has become a fad that millions of students are using to connect to their peers. Personally, I think facebook is a great tool for reconnecting with people that have moved away, keeping in touch with relatives, or simply messaging a friend in your class to find out the assignment that is due the next day. However, facebook is addicting and consumes a lot of a student’s time. There are also applications and games through facebook that can be distracting and do more harm than help. I do think that facebook could be successful in the school system as a way to post online assignments, have group discussions, and provide easy communication with classmates. The main issue that would be encountered with this is the appropriateness of comments, pictures, etc. This is a huge concern for schools that are trying to educate kids. I agree with you Tyler that a lot work needs to be done to filter the content on sites, instead of just an unsecure site. Until this is done, facebook in schools will be non-existent.
I think people need to make sure they don’t put things on facebook that they don’t want to be seen, or use the privacy settings. I started to use it to keep in touch with my friends from high school and college. I now have a lot of my family on facebook, and I even keep in touch with people from work. There were a lot of different posts with ideas about it that were very interesting. I think that facebook is really good, but I think people need to remember how open their information is with it. This means they need to keep their profile appropriate, and use privacy settings. This will keep students from being suspended and/or grounded, and will keep teachers and professionals from being fired. I also find it inappropriate for teachers and students to be “friends” on facebook, because I think it completely gets rid of their privacy from each other.
I am a constant user of facebook, I believe that it is a great way to connect with, and stay in touch with many people around the world. It is a relief that more and more schools are slowly starting to use more technology in the classroom; this educates on how to use technology while still having fun.