Most of the information in this article was fairly standard, a basic what's what of Facebook and the various other flavors of social networking. What I found most interesting though when reading this article (Educause never fails to produce thought provoking items)is the section near the end where the author talks about cultivating online relationships and teaching students to develop an online identity properly. I think this is a great point. We see every day on the news kids being cyber bullied, posting inappropriate pictures, personal information or just abusing a tool like Facebook. Few realize that the posts they make today will likely haunt them for the rest of their lives, as Facebook is esentially a large digital repository.
Part of the changing education for technology in our classrooms must be a discussion on ethical and appropraite use of technology. Kids today must be prepared for a more connected culture, and we as teachers have a duty to prepare them for a more connected world.
Article Source: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7025.pdf
Great post Ian! I have been trying to get my students to understand that they are adding to their social identity with each and every post they put on Facebook (and other social media). I work in alternative education and you would be shocked to see some of the content these students post! I am constantly reminding them about watching what they post and I found this section of the article to be interesting as well. Great post!
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