As I did the reading, I started having a panic attack thinking about my six year old daughter on a social network or 23 first graders on a social network during the day....how overwhelming!! Of course, the first thing I think of when I think of social networking is FaceBook, MySpace, and Twitter.
I have had to do a great deal of "soul searching" while reading the material printed and have come up with this when it comes to social networking and students. Young students don't need social networking. We need to teach them how to use a computer (turn it on, turn it off, access applications, etc.). We need to teach them how to type in a search window, a website, and filter through the overload of information the Internet can give us. At a young age, we need to begin teaching students responsibility of using the Internet.
In Paulding County, social networks are blocked...ALL OF THEM...I haven't found any that I could open at school. Even with Web2.0 as popular as it and useful most of it is still blocked. Is this fair? I don't think so...there are thousand of middle and high school students that could learn a great deal of things from these social networks and Web2.0 tools. And most of them are only using them as a way to "talk" to their friends and complain/rejoice about life. None of them are probably using them to talk to the author of the newest book they just finished or to a new "friend" who lives on the other side of the world/country. I believe for the older students social networking and tools provided by Web 2.0 are boundless but for the young students that can't read, write/type, or figure out how to turn a computer on/off...this type of learning should be kept under lock and key. I do believe teachers should have access to it and a way to access an account created by the school system so that they can share the information with their students.
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