Facebook - A career ending moment
Posted by: dan in Edtech, tags: facebook, socialnetwork, teachingFirst of all, I have to apologize for dropping out of the blogosphere for nearly two months. Apparently I was not missed. I received to comments and none of my colleagues who supposedly subscribe to my feed noticed. I guess it’s because they dropped of the radar too. Holidays tend to have that effect on people. I decided to be that new blip on the radar after an invigorating weekend at work. (Yes I used ‘invigorating’ and ‘weekend at work’ in the same sentence.
I worked with a dozen of my trainers in an effort to build a solid foundation of research and best practices for three new summer programs. Each one has a particular tech focus. The topics include:
- web 2.0 in today’s classroom
- creating a 21st century classroom (changing practices)
- using technology with Marzano’s nine trategies that work
I can’t be a hipocrit. I need to practice what I preach. Blogging is not some trendy practice that should take place to polish someone’s online presence, but rather be just one of many ways a person’s voice can be heard in the world. This brings me to my next topic: social networks.
Over the past 2-3 months, Facebook, MySpace, and other social profile sites have gotten attention. This time it is not NBC’s To catch a predator. This time it has to do with individuals speaking their minds freely. It isn’t just all people speaking, but people that are involved in education. The two big offenders seem to be young adults trying to enter or graduate from college and established classroom teachers letting off a little steam. I started to write this piece in November, but did not want to leave a bitter taste in my readers’ mouths.
There are two issues at hand here. I’ll begin with the young adults. Students exiting high school have just come through an extraordinary point in their lives. They are learning independence, how to contribute to society (for good and bad), and how to have a presence in the read/write web. For whatever reasons, many young adults share inappropriate comments, pictures, and videos with a group of friends. No big deal…that’s the life of a 16 year old. The problem lies within the power of ‘friends of friends.’ All of sudden Johnny’s comment, sent to Billy, is seen by Billy’s sister, and then back to Johnny’s sister, who tells Mom. Try the Friend Wheel application at Facebook. (see similar Delicious tool) This is much different than kids 30 years ago. The only major difference is the medium. It’s no longer the rotary dial phone in the kitchen. College advisory boards are now looking at social profiling their potential students prior to accepting them into their prestigious university. Is this fair to students? They have gone through a point in their life that they (most likely) will grow through as they go through college. Those that don’t get caught on the other end as they attempt to establish a career at a business, school, or higher ed institution that screens them once again.
The latest news around here has been about local teachers losing their job, teaching license, or reputation because they were a little too careless about how they spoke about their day at work. What are your thoughts on Facebook as a tool for educators / professionals/ people wanting to be taken seriously? I do agree that there is a line of professionalism that teachers must walk carefully, that includes paying closer attention to what we say while we are online. It’s not long before a platform like OpenID proliferates all of the tools so that one account grants you access to dozens of aliases and the comments you leave - like a trail of breadcrumbs.
http://www.wral.com/news/state/story/3943618/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4YCirhhu-A
Entries (RSS)
Web 2.0 is more than just Facebook and Myspace. It is about the way information is presented in the design aspects. There are standards for how a Web 2.0 site should be designed hence why all the sites have the same characteristics when it comes to their design. Web 2.0 is about how users can grab information and build on it, or applications that can be run strictly from a browser. How many schools are now offering students the ability to use Google Apps to type papers or build spread sheets? Why not use Open Office? You know how much money that would save the schools.
Applications like Blackboard can be modified for Web 2.0 standard. If the application is kept on an intranet then it can be used in education. It should never be allowed access beyond the schools firewall. On the same note though, why is it schools are still preaching don’t talk to strangers, but never mention don’t text strangers or go into the details of online security? But then can teachers teach a subject or use a tool where the students most likely know more than them? Then who is teaching who?
Dan,
Good to see you back!
The negative perceptions of Facebook from many administrators would scare me off if I was looking for a job. Web 2.0 is a great tool in the classroom, but there is an amazing lack of understanding and confusion among many of those making decisions for schools.
I think that while individuals who post profile should feel free to express their freedom of speech, they should also be aware of the fact that anything you put on the web could potentially be seen by the general public. These sites/profiles/posts are the online presence of the individual, and the gravity of them being accessible by virtually anyone for an indeterminate amount of time should always be considered.