2nd and 3rd things I've learned.

2. Students should be allowed to use social networking sites at school as long as they can multitask for educational purposes.

3. Skype is a wonderful tool for virtual field trips and videoconferencing.

Schools should handle social networking sites by....

I believe that schools should allow students to access social networking sites. I questioned a seasoned veteran teacher who doesn't utilize technology at all and a green teacher who uses these form of sites everyday. The seasoned teacher didn't agree with students using the sites because she was told that there may be predators online and that there was no educational benefit to posting pictures of yourself and sharing the latest gossip online. I found her response interesting yet funny for someone who's never been on facebook or myspace. Everything she stated, she said she learned from her daughter or watching television. The green teacher and I felt the same. We both feel that by instilling good surfing habits within students while they are younger then will be responsible users of social networking. There will always be bullies in real life and cyberbullies. However, if students were taught the importance of time management online they wouldn't run to social networking. If we allow students to access these sites we would have a window to their world. Columbine may have been prevented.... Kids always show signs whether verbally or non. Social networking sites allow them to express themselves and show their growth emotionally and educationally. Isn't that what portfolio's are for? Couldn't we as teachers help them integrate their studies and their concerns? Schools need to accept that social networking sites aren't going anywhere. Students at my school use proxy server websites with various names that change daily because the tech people catch onto them. However they students stay a step ahead because they are always on facebook or myspace when I see them in the lab. The system has already been beaten. Why not join them?


http://thejournal.com/Articles/2009/09/16/Social-Networking-in-Schools-Incentives-for-Participation.aspx

Social Networking in Schools: Incentives for Participation

• By Patricia Deubel
• 09/16/09

In July 2007, the National School Board Association published results of three surveys regarding social networking, which included 9- to 17-year-olds, parents, and school district leaders in charge of Internet policy. While it came as no surprise that 52 percent of all districts interviewed prohibited any use of social networking sites in school, an interesting result with implications for schools was that "almost 60 percent of students who use social networking talk about education topics online and, surprisingly, more than 50 percent talk specifically about schoolwork" (NSBA, 2007, p. 1). The NSBA also found that schools and especially parents have strong expectations about the positive roles that social networking could play in students' lives, and both are interested in social networking as a tool.

With this in mind, one has to wonder why social networking has not been leveraged more in schools to enhance the education of youth. A quick answer would have to do with ensuring their online safety, which has posed a challenge to schools, as well as the typical issues surrounding introduction of any innovation. Such issues include factors that teachers can not easily influence or alter: research and policy factors and factors inherent to technology itself, and those factors that they can influence: district/school factors such as culture, factors associated with teachers' and students' beliefs, attitudes, experience, technology skills, and so on, and the technology-enhanced project itself (Groff & Mouza, 2008, cited in Klopfer, Osterweil, Groff, & Haas, 2009, p. 16).

However, there are at least two more issues to consider. District leaders want some evidence that social networking would fulfill their expectation of adding strong educational value and purpose. According to NSBA, before district leaders would buy into social networking for school use, there would need to be a strong emphasis on collaborative and planned activities, strong tools for students to express themselves, and an emphasis on bringing different kinds of students together, all with adult monitoring. I would add that social networking activities have not been promoted in schools, in part, owing to how student achievement has been measured as mandated by the No Child Left Behind accountability system, which has strongly influenced daily life in classrooms.

So where is the evidence that district leaders need, and what are the incentives for participation in social networking activities? Such evidence is tied to providing a 21st century global education, including project-based learning, which connects the social and the networking to curriculum and standards. An additional incentive considers the value and renewed focus on the development of the whole child, if changes in school accountability noted within School Accountability: A Broader Bolder Approach (BBA, 2009) become a reality.

Going Global
Interest in social networking in education is global, as evidenced by the wiki Social Networks in Education, which contains a "must-see" extensive list of social networks used in a variety of educational environments or for educational purposes. While open-access sites like Flickr, MySpace, YouTube, Del.icio.us, and Facebook might easily come to mind and contain relevant curricular content or groups with dedicated purpose (e.g. YouTube's education channel or Flickr's Visual Story Telling), schools often ban their use. They might be considered just too global and too scary. You'll find some alternatives among the Global Projects listed by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development in Victoria, Australia. Childnet International, a London (UK) based company, provides additional information, advice, ideas and examples, and resources for using social networking services with young people at its Digizen.org.

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http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/feb/05/051548/student-gripes-voiced-social-networking/news-breaking/

By RONNIE BLAIR | The Tampa Tribune

Published: February 5, 2010

Updated: 03:48 pm

WESLEY CHAPEL - Teenagers have always griped about their schools and teachers.

Maybe they traded snide remarks about a less-than-effective chemistry instructor as they enjoyed lunch in the cafeteria. Maybe they gathered in small cliques at the mall and railed about unfair rules handed down by the principal.

Regardless, the complaints usually were heard only by those within listening distance.

These days, though, students can turn to social networking sites on the Internet to air their gripes and reach a much wider audience, including an audience that might not be receptive to the message.
That's what landed Alex Fuentes into trouble.

Last month, the senior at Wesley Chapel High in Pasco County was booted from his school's National Honor Society after he created a Facebook page critical of the school and its D grade from the state.

Fuentes, 18, said the page started as a joke, but he was also frustrated by the school's poor showing on the state's grading system. Plenty of other students jumped on the Facebook page to offer at times profane comments about Wesley Chapel High.

Fuentes said his school's chapter of the National Honor Society accused him of violating his pledge to be loyal to the school and dismissed him from the organization. He decided to transfer to another school.

Fuentes' page was hardly unique, though.

Search Facebook for nearly any high school or middle school in the Tampa Bay area and – with a few exceptions – at least one or more pages will appear. Pages also are dedicated to some elementary schools.

Often they deal with innocuous subjects. Alumni share information about class reunions or the whereabouts of former classmates. In many cases, people praise the schools and express happiness with their high school experiences.

On other pages, though, students and former students slam their schools, rag on the teachers or discuss instances of discrimination, drug use, weapons on campus and inappropriate activities or comments by school staff.

Facebook is just one of many social networking locations. Teenagers can just as easily use MySpace and Twitter to trade barbs about their schools.

It's a new world of student communication where the principal or superintendent has little to no control over a message that reaches a much larger audience than would a critical article in the school newspaper.

School districts say they don't have the manpower or the inclination to try to monitor or refute all the information circulating out there.

"We are in no way the police of MySpace," said Summer Romagnoli, a spokeswoman for the Pasco County school district. "That's not really our role."

In the Fuentes case, she noted, the student was accused of violating National Honor Society rules, not school rules.

Linda Cobbe, a spokeswoman for the Hillsborough County school district, said she does not know of any cases in Hillsborough where a student was disciplined over critical comments written on Facebook or other social media sites.

Cobbe said district employees in Hillsborough can't even access Facebook from work because a filtering system blocks it.

That isn't to say student social-networking sites are ignored completely.

Law enforcement officers might check the sites to learn about drug activity or crimes. Also, Cobbe said she knew of at least one situation in Hillsborough where threats were investigated.

School district officials also could get involved if a parent or student makes them aware of cyber bullying or other potential violations of the student code of conduct that have a direct impact on the operation of the schools.

Case law on what school districts can and should do about comments on the sites is still evolving, though, Romagnoli said.

"It's sort of a new territory for public education," she said.

Just this week, a U.S. appeals court said Pennsylvania school students can be disciplined for creating MySpace parodies of school officials at home — but only if they are likely to disrupt school.

The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court reached different conclusions in two cases Thursday that involve suspending students for fake MySpace pages created off-campus.

In a Mercer County case, the court's 2-1 opinion said a high school cannot reach into a family's home and police Internet speech.

But another three-judge panel said Schuylkill County school officials can suspend a teen for her sexually explicit parody of her principal. The panel says the school could expect the posting to disrupt school.

Any member of Facebook can create a group or page about nearly any subject. One Facebook page dedicated to Hillsborough County's new Steinbrenner High, which opened in August, is titled "Steinbrenner High School is Hell."

Only a few people have bothered to leave comments on the page, though some of those who did laced them with profanities.

Students and former students on a page about Durant High discuss their least favorite teachers, naming names.

One of the topics on the discussion board for the Durant High page is titled "Evil Evil Teachers that Should be Flicked in the Head."

A topic on an Alonso High discussion board is "You know you go to Alonso when. . ."

Some responses are whimsical, but others raise issues about discrimination, weapons, drugs and inappropriate comments by teachers.

It isn't just limited to high schools. Middle school students and alumni also trade memories and critiques of teachers and principals.

"Because it's a forum out there, it goes unchallenged," said Lizette Alexander, Pasco's director of student services. "I write whatever I want and that's my First Amendment right. But it creates a one-sided perception."

Even if they discover inaccurate information on one of the sites, district officials can't really respond, especially if the comments relate to confidential information such as the discipline of individual students.

Sherri Dunham, a student services supervisor, said Pasco schools teach character education and Internet use has been added to that curriculum to encourage students to be more responsible.

Alexander said parents can help by discussing with their children the responsible use of First Amendment rights.

"You need to use good judgment about where you go [on the Internet] and what you put out there about yourself," she said.