From the “We Continue to Bury Our Heads in the Sand Department” comes the question (once again) why are we blocking Facebook instead of teaching it?
I mean really, if you’re on the board of ed, sitting in the superintendent’s chair, serving as principal, or even “just” a parent, how can the following reality not cause you to call a meeting and get Facebook into the currciulum:
- Upwards of 75% of the kids in your high school use Facebook.
- You need a manual to figure out how to appropriately set your privacy settings on Facebook.
- Because of that (to some extent, at least), lots of your kids are doing not so great things in public that might get them into trouble. (See below.)
- Most of the younger kids in your system are going to be on Facebook when they are in your high school.
- No one is teaching them.
Instead of teaching it, we block it. What are we afraid of? It’s not predation, though we continue to use that as the “Be Very Scared of Social Networks” part of the limited online safety curriculum that most schools do have. It’s all about reputation, and there a lots of folks out there right now damaging their reputations on Facebook, many because they don’t know any better.
For you adults in the room, here’s an experiment. Go to Openbook, a new site that searches through all public accounts at Facebook, and enter your favorite bad word of the day. Be prepared…not only for some pretty vile stuff, but from much of it being posted by kids. A (somewhat censored) case in point:
Look, I don’t know how many of these kids are just angry and won’t be helped by any type of teaching. Nor do I know how many of them (or the adults that show up in the results) are just ignorant about what they are doing, or how many of them know and don’t care, or even if posts like these are just a part of youth culture. (I hope not.) But here is what I do know: the whole private/public thing is a mess right now. danah boyd sums this up really well in what I think is a must read post for educators titled “Facebook and “radical transparency” (a rant)“:
Over and over again, I find that people’s mental model of who can see what doesn’t match up with reality. People think “everyone†includes everyone who searches for them on Facebook. They never imagine that “everyone†includes every third party sucking up data for goddess only knows what purpose. They think that if they lock down everything in the settings that they see, that they’re completely locked down. They don’t get that their friends lists, interests, likes, primary photo, affiliations, and other content is publicly accessible.
Interestingly, danah points out that new research is imminent that says “youth are actually much more concerned about exposure than adults these days,” an idea I can attest to with my own kids. But the point remains that whether we like it or not, Facebook has become such an integral part of the culture, especially our kids’ cultures, that to not provide them with some context for both their actions there and the opportunities for learning in similar spaces is to leave them uneducated.
I know Facebook isn’t on the test, but c’mon. It’s time it becomes a part of how we help kids live in this world.
I think this blogpost is a must-read for all stakeholders in education. I am going to TEACH Facebook from now on.
I think a large part of the problem is excessive fear of losing e-Rate funds. It’s much easier to unilaterally ignore social networking than to try and understand the law, sadly. It’s also much more dangerous.
Fear of losing e-rate funds became more real when one of our colleagues received a message from the fund managers stating that use of Facebook is in direct violation of the guidelines. Now what????
I would love to see the documentation that says that opening up Facebook is in direct violation of e-rate guidelines. If that’s the case there are a lot of schools about to lose money, as evidenced by this map.
Thankfully my Superintendent approved my request to remove Facebook from the blocked site category this year! Now we have to part two, make sure we are teaching kids to protect themselves and their on-line footprint.
In addition, all schools should have their own Facebook page! I think it was you Will who recommended that schools start their own official page before someone else starts an unofficial one? Anyway, we started one and it is a great way to get out info on the happenings at your school!
You’re sensing the issue, but I don’t agree with how you’re framing it. The issue is not “teaching Facebook” — the issue is civics and and citizenry in the modern, digital era.
Rather than getting lost in the details of the fad du jour, educators need to relate these conditions to the age old issues of morality, character, and civics. In the same way educators have been responsible with character development along with the development of vocational skills, this modern, digital context brings with it a new set of issues and needs.
To identify it as “teaching Facebook” is misleading because it implies that the issue is technology, when in reality the issue is character, morality, and being a good citizen — integral parts of education going back to the Academy. All technologies — such as automobiles, telephones, televisions — introduce issues into modern life, and are in large part embraced by most teaching establishments, to some degree, when appropriate.
In fact, I’d argue by framing the issue in a less focused manner, and rather by relating it to the existing traditions, more meaningful dialogs will take place between those who are the cognoscenti and those who are uninitiated.
Regardless of professional acumen or technical proficiency, these issues — along with most issues regarding character and moral development — are most effectively served as a part of a community-wide, comprehensive approach, rather than a pigeon-holed “skill based” approach.
Sure — skills are valuable, and instruction on specific sites and issues related to them are meaningful as well. However, by framing it as “teaching Facebook,” there is a tendency to forget that Facebook is no less ephemeral than a nightclub or a shopping mall, whereas being a good citizen — whether in the physical or electronic realm — is a persistent issue which is neither new or isolated.
After Facebook, it will be something else. Rather than focus on the details, we need to strive to develop critical thinkers, aware of the big issues: privacy, legality, personal responsibility, etc.. If we deal with these issues in a broader sense, we can enable children to deal with the inevitably changing landscape which is technology.
I think using Facebook as a school is analogous to holding school functions in a shopping mall or nightclub — just because the kids choose to socialize there, does not make it an ideal choice for an instructional setting. Why bother using Facebook when we have so many more appropriate tools to use in its place?
More to the point, Facebook is nothing short of a site to collect and harvest marketing data. If the children choose to engage it, fine, but does that mean we want to encourage it? Much like sex ed., we want to educate them so they can be safe, not so can offer lectures at their parties.
Darian,
While I have been a strong proponent of incorporating effective technology pedagogy into education, I have been somewhat uncomfortable with opening up everything to the students at school. Your comments have managed to pull together and express many of the thoughts and misgivings I have had about it but was unable to formulate. While it is imperative we continue to discuss what it means to be responsible citizens with our students, I don’t know if that means we have to open up Facebook (or whatever may come next) to do so.
Hey Darian. Thanks for these thoughts. I agree that we should be teaching more general civics and ethics. But I also think we should be teaching Facebook. If, in the near term at least, upwards of 75-80% of our kids are going to participate in that site, we need to contextualize that site for them. And I also agree that this shouldn’t be a Facebook unit or course; it should be seamlessly integrated into the discussion across the curriculum when appropriate.
Finally, why bother? Because we can do a great deal of learning through connections at Facebook as well. I see it as an opportunity, not a problem.
Thanks for pushing me on this.
Facebook is like Woodstock, Studio 54, Napster, and AOL Chatrooms: future parents will tell their children what it was like.
How is Facebook different than a nightclub or any other specific social venue? Movie theaters bring with them specific issues, as do shopping malls, city streets, or any place students socialize.
There are specific technical issues to Facebook, but many of them are mirrored by other element of modern digital life: cellphones, text messages, flash mobs (look at Philadelphia), mashups, piracy, etc..
Ethics is certainly part of it, but the bigger underlying issue for young children is character, morality, and their place in the greater community.
The Internet is loaded with examples of fast fads (MySpace, friendster, ICQ, etc.). Facebook is popular today, and tomorrow it will inevitably be something else. Issues of character, morality, civics, as well as an understanding of the technical realities and the implications they have on our behavior, will still be present.
The idea of understanding the “digital footprint” is a great idea, as is the idea of letting children learn by playing in a controlled sandbox, such as the example of using Ning. Helping children understand the illusion of privacy which technology creates, is essential. This IS being a modern citizen in our digital era, and in many ways still relates to DeTocqueville (amongst many other great thinkers).
The better we are able to relate technology to the traditional challenges of making future citizens who are capable of sustaining our democracy and its freedoms (John Dewey, I’m looking at you), the more these modern developments will become tools rather than distractions or obstacles.
Hi, Darian.
A very well written comment, yet in my mind there’s some confusion about the analogy to nightclubs and malls. Also, are we considering Facebook as an instructional tool? “Teaching using Facebook” rather than “Teaching Facebook”?
I thought it was important since students are currently using this powerful tool in an unconsidered manner.
After all, “After Facebook, it will be something else. Rather than focus on the details, we need to strive to develop critical thinkers, aware of the big issues: privacy, legality, personal responsibility, etc..” and to that I agree. Begin working with students to learn how Facebook relates to your moral imperative right away.
Ok, where’s my up-vote button?
Don’t get me wrong, Im’ a fan of facebook. I use it, I love it, and I know that my students use it. My concern about facebook and using it in a school setting is entirely based on the complete lack of oversight while using it in schools. Facebook, in my view, is like a deadly weapon. Is it inherently dangerous to use it, of course not. Before you go hunting, though, you should train and practice. In my class, we use Ning, which is a social networking site that teachers can moderate. To me, this is the perfect middle ground, that I’m teaching the value of social networking, while at the same time, protecting the students.
Great point. Nothing wrong with starting younger kids in a “safer” more sandboxy environment like Ning. But with the older kids, at some point, we need to put them out there on the real, live Web and help them make sense of it.
I don’t think we should teach Facebook per se anymore than we should teach Microsoft Word, but we do need to engage students and teachers too in a substantive discussion of social networks and social networking and what these resources bring to schools and students. Head-in-the-sand approaches don’t work. People tend to fear what they don’t understand and most thirty-somethings to fifty-somethings don’t get social networks.
Agreed, we need to teach our students to be savvy consumers (nothing is truly free)…here is a link to start some serious discussion about privacy, ethics and Facebook.
http://www.rocket.ly/home/2010/4/26/top-ten-reasons-you-should-quit-facebook.html
Before ‘teaching Facebook’, educators need to intentionally poke around in that space. How does a parent or teacher lead students to understand the benefits and hazards of social networking without first hand experience.
And if you’re in that space: Do you know your own privacy settings?!?
Absolutely.
I like this idea. We need to use this idea. Facebook can be used is so many ways that are positive and useful. Show students other ways to use facebook and they will. We talk about collaborative classrooms….sounds like facebook is made for us!!
I ‘taught’ Facebook for the first time last month. It was an eye-opening experience for the students and for myself, and I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about social media. The students, on the other hand, hardly had a clue. This was a class of grade eights and all are on Facebook. My lessons were part of a larger unit on digital footprints and the marks they’re leaving behind online.
I can’t say how much educators and parents need to work to stay one step ahead of the students when it comes to things like social media.
Danah Boyd posted this recently… adds to the conversation for sure: http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2010/05/14/facebook-and-radical-transparency-a-rant.html (Facebook and “radical transparency†(a rant))
Great posting. It’s clear that the readers of this blog – not unlike much of the public, I presume – is conflicted about Facebook as a classroom tool. That’s good. We need spaces like this to discuss our thinking.
I teach at a community college, and most of my face-to-face classes are conducted in computer classrooms. This is exactly where I want the students to be since most of these classes are writing courses. The students for the most part are very focused on the work at hand, but 90%+ have a Facebook or MySpace page up and behind the document they are creating.
There’s a great article by Robert Brooke titled “Underlife and Writing Instruction” (College Composition and Communication, 1988). Facebook and social media make students’ underlife more transparent, more available (for better and for worse). Exploring social media makes me more aware of the types of communication that occur. This new knowledge informs my instruction.
I know that I’ll be doing some work with social media in my classes in the fall. What form this takes remains a bit of a mystery to me:), but I am committed to addressing social media as a critical issue.
Thanks, Will, for raising this. For those interested, I wrote a posting recently on my blog about the public v. private dimensions of Facebook: http://mctccenterforcivicengagement.blogspot.com/2010/05/accidental-billionaires-and.html
The “vile stuff” they are posting are lyrics to songs. It’s Drake’s Believe it or Not and Gucci Mane’s Lemonade (remix w/Nicki Minaj).
I’m not saying that quoting these song lyrics is appropriate or not, but I do think that as an outsider to their culture, you have interpreted these messages differently than their peers or their intended audience. I’m sure that danah boyd would agree that this situation is more complex than just “teaching facebook,” that it has to do with performative acts of culture and issues of audience as well.
Thanks. I was wondering just that about those examples, which is why I asked about it in the post. Sincere thanks for enlightening me. Always amazed at how much I don’t know.
And I agree that it’s more complex than “just teaching facebook.” There are a great deal of nuances that are hard to capture, but my point is that FB is where they are, and I think it would serve as a great jumping off point for the types of discussions you’re suggesting.
I Cannot add to this anything more to the point. Thanks for this.
From: http://www.kassblog.com/2010/05/teach-fifth-graders-facebook-yes/
We have learned from our work with middle school students that engaging in constructive uses of Facebook is a vital component of education about social network sites. We have started a fifth grade sustainability project in Facebook, using the fan page feature. Students will not have their own Facebook accounts for this project. Facebook has an age limit of 13 years to register an account. Teachers will post all of the content, and students will view the content, the number of fans, and any likes and comments that individuals post. We are planning to make a constructive introduction to Facebook before adoption takes off in seventh grade.
Amen! Finally someone who calls Facebook what it is; a tool, and not the end of civilization as we know it.
Take another tool – a chainsaw – as a comparison. It can be used to carve art, or to destroy a forest; it’s all in how you use it.
It’s nothing new, parents are always concerned about new things that their kids are getting involved with that they don’t completely understand, and that’s OK!
I write about my family’s online exploits at Facebook Dad – http:/www.facebookdad.com.
I agree it is a tool and should be taught as such. Kids have figured it out for social purposes, but they need to figure out how social media can enable them to become more proficient in the information age, rather than just trading thoughts on song lyrics.
As a media business owner, I look forward to the day when my employees will all be fully competent in all social media. I still have several who shun this application or that application and it is holding us back, in my opinion.
Isn’t school for teaching kids what they need to know in this world and to develop skills for future careers? Then Facebook should be in schools – not blocked.
Great post!
I just spent the day with Jeff Utecht teaching my high schoolers how to take hold of their digital footprint. They walked into class with a message that stated “Facebook Allowed”. My goal was to teach them how to take control of their digital footprint with ePortfolios and to be careful of what they post to Facebook. They can begin to use these variety of tools to showcase who they are to the world, but they need to know what to show. Jeff provided my students with a multitide of links on my class blog at http://inside.isb.ac.th/dwatts10/your-profile. Please use them with your students. If we don’t model the correct behaviors for them to follow, who will?
Well, I hope parents give a little direction too. We don’t have to leave everything up to teachers and schools, right?
As a teacher, I’ve seen my job take on more and more of the responsibilities of the parents. In our culture of blame extrinsification, the failure of the American family has been shifted onto the public school teacher. This, however, is a topic for a whole different thread.
I think the main reason why Facebook is blocked is not necessarily to “protect” the students from using it. Indeed they, as well as I, go home everyday afterschool and check their Facebook page. The issue is that it is a distraction. They want to check their FB page as often as they text, i.e. constantly. I’m all for trying to help students become web-saavy as well as safe but I’m not for giving kids access to more distractions. Many kids engage in collaborative video games via their Xboxes and the like. We want to teach collaboration skills as well so should we allow kids to play God Of War at school as well?
Mr. Ulrich,
I don’t disagree with you at all that the failure of the American family has been shifted onto the public school teacher. I think that is absolutely the reality. And I bet we both agree that is an unfortunate situation for sure.
Call of Duty would actually be useful when studying WWII history. For myself, being pinned down with bullets hitting your cover really gave me a better picture of the absolute seriousness of a wartime situation. (Of course, Modern Warfare 2 is pretty much the only COD game being played online right now and isn’t using a historic context for it.)
I was recently standing in line at the airport in Bali (yes, that Bali). There were four FREE kiosks for Internet access. As I waited and watched dozens of people there, people from a variety of nationalities, ALL were accessing Facebook. It’s everywhere!!!
(But in our classrooms.)
Not that I’m in anyway advocating the language used by these kids, but all of the nasty words you posted from those kid’s status are lines from songs (as someone said earlier). They aren’t 100% “live writing,” but maybe still a great example of connective writing and reading. Perhaps that’s even more of reason why we need to give up the “the old school is the right school” way of thinking and find something better.
I really like teachwatts’ idea of “taking control of your digital footprint.” For starters, I think students will like the idea of taking control, rather than being controlled. I remember my own time as a freshman in college when facebook was just emerging and still exclusively for colleges who signed up. I would have to say that while my digital footprint wasn’t too awful and definitely not enough to earn me a bad reputation, there were definitely a few poorly placed steps. There’s no way I could have imagined the impact facebook would be having years later.
I’ll be teaching First Year Writing at a university in the fall, and you can bet that Facebook is somehow going to play a role in how I teach writing. How, though, I have yet to figure out.
Many students are going home using Facebook daily. We need to teach our students about social networking to instill proper online behaviors. Many of the students are learning on their own and they are abusing its use. We need to make sure they understand what they are doing and that they have a responsibility to themselves and to each other. These skills need to be taught at an early age and practiced in a safe environment. The sooner the students understand appropriate social networking, the sooner they can apply their skills at school and at home. Thank you for sharing!