Jennifer,
Thanks for sharing your experiences. Mixing the fun and education is the Edutainment business - which we are all a part of. Thanks for sharing.
You know, I never really thought of using Facebook for student, creating a "professional account". This is interesting. I like it because student often ask me to stay in touch and honestly, I have a peronsal email account, but do not really answer all that much. This would be a great way to stay in touch.
Debra,
It's fun to get new ideas through these classes/forums. Thanks for sharing.
Although Facebook is good for what it was designed to do, I would never use it. I think there needs to be a line drawn with students based solely on proffesionalism; a student instructor relationship. Facebook is too private.
Even if the only people on the group is in the class. There are still several things that classmates might not want to share with other classmatesThey would then have to create a second Facebook account, edit certain material, and/ or other problems.
This is where the classroom lounge comes in. If you highly puch for interaction in the lounge, the students can connect there, all the while still having that sense of privacy. Use the imagination in the lounge. Offer extra credit questions, post important information, or other tings to get the students looking and/or posting things in the lounge.
That's my soapbox issue with Facebook, I won't use it, but I can see benefits. I just think there could be too many cons to it.
Nate
Nate,
I have used Facebook to develop an area private to my class and use it for a discussion board/sharing place. The students that used it loved it, but most students preferred Blackboard. I just had to try it. ;-)
Facebook can work in certain situations, but not in the way that it's intended.
In the summers I work Upward Bound, which is a residential program. A lot of instructors start UB-specific profiles --'Instructor Mike,' for instance -- and disseminate class information that way. The unintended use that comes with Facebook is that it can be good for weeding out excuses: younger students sometimes forget their visibility, and post 'OMG I am having SO MUCH FUN DOING _________' statuses.....then pretend they were sick the night before when an assignment isn't due. Again, not the original intent, but useful.
Michael,
I see your point. Thanks for the addition to the conversation and the explanation. Thanks!
Facebook can be used as a tool for communication if it is manage well. Having student follow a school site and interaction there seems like an acceptable and approachable way for student communication without falling into issues.
Trang ,
Yes and management is the key. It's like any other communication tool. It needs to work for what you want it to work for and be managed properly.
Thanks for your input.
I have one institution that encourages social networking and one that discourages instructors from participating with students. It seems to be all over the board for now, but I have seen a lot of success in classes that have Facebook groups--which means that students/instructors do not have to directly "friend" each other, and don't break and socialization/fraternization rules. This may be a good tool to keep students engaged.
Katina,
I have used Facebook groups, Twitter announcements and LMS discussion boards and have found that various students grow from various ways of participating and communicating. We have to be flexible. Thanks!
