Week 3 - Facebook and Ning

During week 3 of my EDU 651 at Ashford University we have discussed the uses of social networking sites such as Facebook and Ning. 

One of our assignments this week was to discuss an issue of a teacher that made a comment on Facebook about a student in her class that was meant for her friends but seen publicly (including by students).  We were to discuss if this teacher should or should not be disciplined by the school for making such a comment.  As an educator this teacher should not be talking about students or making comments.  Educators are highly responsible for their online content. Even though the teacher thought her comments were being made privately the teacher’s reputation is at stake. If parents see the teacher’s online content why would they want that teacher for their kids. Educators are supposed to be respectable people and should treat their students with respect as well. People should really understand the implications of what they post and what is seen.

Our second assignment was to discuss Ning and it's possible educational uses.  I signed up for a Ning account and it is much like a Facebook page but more private.  You can set the settings to where you have to approve anything before it is posted to your page.  It is also kind of like a Moodle classroom.  You can set a classroom group on it and have all of your students join the group.  You can create projects for the students and have them post to the group. 

It is truly amazing to see all of the great educational technology tools that are out there.  There are a lot that are the same so it would be your preference on which one you prefer to use.  Kind of like MySpace vs. Facebook.  I prefer to use Facebook as my social networking site even though there are other networking sites out there. 

Week 2 - Review of Wikis

During week 2 of this course I have learned a lot about wikis.  From reading "Using Wikis for Online Collaboration" there are many things to consider when creating, planning, and using them.  For the most part wikis are a great resource for the starting of great research but should not be the main reference source. It is extremely important when collaborating wikis within your lesson plans to stress the importance of the correct information and creating the right wiki for your lesson. Wikis are designed to share information with others and allow others to share with you.


There are many pitfalls that do exist upon creating wikis but hold great promise for online collaboration.  One of the main pitfalls that exist with wikis is the fact that wikis are easily editable, therefore, careful planning of your lesson plans is essential. The fact that you shouldn’t believe everything you read is a main pitfall when it comes to wikis. Wikis are made up of all human knowledge. Anyone can create, edit, fix, erase, etc.
 
It is also essential to make sure you review with your students and teachers the rules of online safety.  With wikis it is possible for others to edit your information unless you set-up the accounts differently.  If the accounts are set up for everyone to be able to edit then it is possible that others can change your information and sometimes they can place obscene things on your pages.  You can go back and fix errors later by using the archived files.
 
Wikis are a great resource of online collaboration.  I would have to say that I am from the old school being that I would much rather meet with everyone and have a group discussion versus talk about it online.  In my opinion it is of greater value to keep the continuous conversation going instead of waiting a day or so to hear a response from a colleague or student.  Needless to say, wikis are a great collaborative tool and should be welcomed into the classroom with the amount of possibilities out there.  Make it fun for the students or they will not be interested.