The Case for Social Networking in School

The sole function of education was to open the way to thinking and knowing, and the school, as the outstanding organ for the people's education, must serve that end exclusively. - Albert Einstein

Educational systems have always been and still want to be the brokerages of knowledge. Accreditation agencies demand certain academic credentials, not because the credentials make a person a great instructor, but in order to maintain a monopoly on how education is distributed. At the local level, schools have tried various forms of censorship and tend to do more to inhibit innovation than to foster it. From controlling which books you must read, to controlling what viewpoints can be discussed in the classroom, to controlling what methodologies can be used in teaching, formal education wants to make sure that every student becomes a clone of the system. No wonder so many people feel that creativity and original thought are beaten out of our children by the third grade.

Educational systems tend to honor tradition and convenience, not the best interests of the students they are there to serve. Schools were slow to adopt TV in the classrooms until they could control content. Schools were slow to adopt to the Internet and online learning tools, because they were afraid of becoming obsolete. Today, schools are scared of social networking and are blocking access to Facebook, Myspace, Youtube, and other wonderful resources because they would rather ignore it and block it than to find ways for the students to benefit and grow from it.

“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." Albert Einstein

As an educator, I have come to understand that self-directed learning is usually the most authentic and provides the greatest long-term results. I also believe that in order to truly reach your students you must seek to understand them, go to where they are, speak in terms they understand, and then guide them to where they want to go in the future. The social networks are perfect tools for doing this. They are going to go to the social networks with or without our guidance, supervision or permission. Doesn’t it best serve the student to be there and learn with them how to best use these tools to harness the vast amounts of information and knowledge that they will need to process in their future lives?

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods.” -Albert Einstein

So here are a few ways in which I try to use social networking to better prepare my students.

1) I “friend” all of my students so that I can hopefully provide a model of behavior and acceptable conduct. I monitor my students’ profiles and posts and warn them when they something they put online could be detrimental to their safety or long-term success.

2) Through messaging services such as Facebook, I am able to provide direction and guidance when I am not face to face with my students in the classroom. Over the weekend I had several students doing research on their current projects and I was able to offer them suggestions for further research or direct them toward other networked people who could possibly offer expert advice.

"If we knew what it was we were doing, it would not be called research, would it?" - Albert Einstein

3) Most jobs are never posted and more and more often, jobs are found through the friends and colleagues. By using Facebook, MySpace, and Linkedin, students are able to begin to develop professional relationships, find mentors, and receive feedback from successful people already within their field. I know of more than one student who is now conversing regularly with employers in the area.

4) Requiring or encouraging new students to become “friends” with their classmates, older students, and former students, new students more quickly get to know one another and are able to build upon shared knowledge in a collaborative, learning environment. Further, research shows that the more connections a student has to a particular class or institution, the more likely that student will successful complete that course or graduate from that institution.

5) By using Delicious, Digg, and Twitter and by linking these to their profiles, students are able to more quickly share valuable resources with one another. This can become a valuable tool not only for current students but it allows each new group of students to build upon the knowledge base of previous classes.

6) By using WordPress or Blogger.com students learn to write more professionally and write with more substance. Students can also use these sites to receive feedback from one another and from those whom they will probably never meet face to face. By tying their blogs to their Facebook, Myspace, and Linkin profiles, the student’s works become instantly viewable and open to critique by friends, colleagues, and future employers.

"It is, in fact, nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry." - Albert Einstein

7) Important meetings, events, news stories and class announcements can rapidly be shared with all students instantaneously and discussion can begin well before the next days scheduled classes.

8) Students use and share valuable interviews, documentaries, and tutorials on Youtube and Itunes and are able to share these with their classmates. Students are also able to post their projects for peer and outside review thus helping establish their own credibility and gaining ideas for improvement from numerous outside resources.

The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards." - Albert Einstein

9) Students are able to do more current research by directly contacting sources of information through facebook friends and other social networking sites. Most of the top designers, publishers, and editors in the visual communications and design industries have profiles, blog publicly, and answer intelligent questions from serious students.

10) Students are able to be informed of class happenings when they miss a day or two. This makes it easier for the absent student to stay caught up in class, connected with his or her classmates, and feel more comfortable to return to class when his or her condition allows. One of the greatest reasons students drop a course or out of school completely is they fall behind and feel awkward or afraid to return to class. Social Networks can help bring these students back into classroom and keep them on the path toward successful completion.

11) If the students are encouraged to engage in social networking, the friendships, alliances, and networking that benefited them throughout their academic careers becomes easier to maintain after graduation.

There are many reasons why students should be encouraged to participate in social networking, not just for academic and professional growth, but for social growth as well. It is amazing to me that institutions whose mission is to serve the best interests of their students take such great pains to imprison these students in the last century instead of helping them become a contributing part of the current one.

 “The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything” - Albert Einstein