The Advantages Of Being On Facebook

There are a number of good reasons for a school district with good intentions to use Facebook. While I will cover some of these advantages in the paragraphs below, I suspect that as Facebook, the Internet and the online world evolve over the months and years to come, the list of advantages I’ve provided here will continue to grow and grow.

That being said, the biggest advantage of getting your school district on Facebook right away is that by joining Facebook, you will be able to instantly reach your community in a place that they are already actively participanting.

Whether you want to believe it or not, many of your students, parents, teachers, staff and community members are already on Facebook and look to the site as a valuable source of information and insight into the people and organizations that they deem important. By joining these people where they already communicate and interact, you are able to quickly and easily join the discussion and get your message out to the people who need and want it most.

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Misconceptions About Facebook And Social Media

There is a notion amongst many individuals that Facebook (or any other social media website for that matter) is designed primarily for kids… and that the only people that use social media websites are teenagers and young adults. But this simply isn’t the case and if that’s what you’ve heard, you’ve been severely misinformed!

Individuals, businesses and organizations of all shapes, sizes, ages and backgrounds are using Facebook to connect with and lead the people they are trying to influence. Author Seth Godin, wine entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong and even the actress Demi Moore have jumped on the social media bandwagon and are using these new online tools to connect with and inspire their community.

Another misconception some have about Facebook and other social media websites is that they are used primarily for the sharing of pornographic or ill natured information that may offend and frighten off new users. But if this is what you’ve heard, you’ve again been given false information.  

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Dangers Associated With Children Using The Internet

The Internet contains an incredible number of high-quality, educational, and well-designed websites. With such a vast array of information available, most people recognize that surfing the Web is usually a source of great enjoyment and education. However, there is typically no supervision in the online world and it is sometimes difficult to know when positive online activity could become dangerous or harmful.

Therefore, it is important for one to understand what dangers currently exist… and then to educate oneself on how to both avoid and thwart such dangers in the future.

But before we start talking about solutions, we’ve got to point out the problems. So let’s start by taking a look at what it is exactly that has so many parents, teachers and school adminstrators are afraid of when it comes to children and the Internet.

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The Social Media School Teacher

The following is an article from Chris Brogan, highlighting some of the possibilities of the new education system as we move forward with the introduction of the Internet and social media technologies in the classroom. 

Dharmesh wakes up a little late. After a quick shower, he skips checking email, but goes right to his RSS reader to see updates of where the students worked within the social network. Luckily, Ning (and lots of services) send new activities out via RSS, so they’re easy to track.

It looks like Margarite has added more YouTube videos to the video section, and Franklin has written a blog post about the town’s historic water cooler. Jeremy has already commented that Franklin forgot to cite a source, saving Dharmesh the effort. He eats a breakfast bar, and hops in his car for the commute to work.

On his iPod, Dharmesh listens to last week’s book reports read out by the students. The quality of their work has improved a great deal since switching to the audio requirement. The second report, by Kelly, is a little loud and the audio clips a bit. Dharmesh makes a mental note to show Kelly how to level the audio in Audacity.

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What Does Social Media Mean For Our Schools?

In our last post, we tackled the question, “What is social media?“ 

In that article, I shared a video with you that discussed “in plain English” what social media is and how it fundamentally works. 

While the video does a good job of explaining the basic principles behind social media, it probably left you wondering, “What does all of this have to do with the education system and our schools?”

Well, I imagine it has more to do with our education system that we currently realize, but here are some of my thoughts and ideas pulled from the forementioned video. 

The Linear Education Model Is Shot

It used to be that information was passed down a chain of command. The school administration would tell the teachers what to teach… and the teachers would then tell the students what they had to learn.

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What Is Social Media?

You might be thinking to yourself, “What exactly is social media?”

Well, that’s a good question. And it would be crazy to run a website about integrating the Internet and social media technology into our education systems and not actually tackle this question. 

Lucky for is, there’s a company called Common Craft who has produced a short, educational video that answers this question for us. 

So rather than try and explain the ins and outs of a seemingly complicated subject matter, just sit back and watch this down-to-earth explaination of how social media works. 

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