Thing 14

What did you join? Why?
I joined Last.fm because I wanted to do something simple. I really don't have time to update and manage a Facebook account and don't want to worry about the privacy issues. I liked the articles about managing your privacy with Facebook though. I plan to print two of them and share them with my kids and maybe one of my classes. This topic definitely comes up when we talk about safety and this list makes it sound simple to try to manage some of these concerns.
Has your opinion about social networking changed since working on this Thing?
No, it hasn't. I feel as if I don't have enough time as it is, and to check, manage, and update a Facebook account is overwhelming at this time in my life.
What do you see as the educational possibilities (if any) for social networking? Kids love it and love to talk about it. The topic of safety and controlling your profile should be taught. Maybe Facebook could be used with after school groups such as SADD to share information, ideas and activities. I'm also wondering since kids so often don't use email, if there might be some sort of social networking site for teachers and kids to use to communicate with each other? One final thought I have about Facebook that I'd like to share, is on my Diigo account. I tagged an article as "Facebook in school" and "Newington23". The article was from Teacher.net/gazette, written by Matt Levinson, and had some good ideas about how to weave Facebook use into instructional strategies. I posted a sticky note there about the kinds of activities these new ideas might replace, but I am not sure if you can see it. The thought though came from another educator and had to do with the need to balance new initiatives with tried and true activities that produce results.