The experiences I have with social networking prior to my involvement in the masters program at FPU are extremely limited. I have always been a little gun shy when it came to community online forums like Facebook or Twitter. Perhaps the foremost reason for this was I never had the personality to be tied down to a computer. Today, it seems impossible to stay outside the social networking sphere without some involvement if I want to reach my students in the most effective way possible.
The article "Social Networking in Undergraduate Education" defined a study that clearly supports the use of social networking. The study was focused on a minority school where students were asked to use Facebook and a Learning Management System (LMS) as a integral part of their course instruction and involvement. At the conclusion of the class, surveys concluded that the students greatly benefited from the format of the class. The article states that students were assisted by social networking in their class engagement, communication, and ability to build learning communities.
Thought my experiences are very limited in what is a new technology to me, I know that my students can benefit by adopting some social networking into my curriculum. This does not mean that the core of the class has to be altered. However, I can reach more students, by using more of what they are so familiar with. Especially when, as stated in the article, "96% of 15-17 year olds with home internet access use some form of social media on a regular basis." (p. 66)
The article "Social Networking in Undergraduate Education" defined a study that clearly supports the use of social networking. The study was focused on a minority school where students were asked to use Facebook and a Learning Management System (LMS) as a integral part of their course instruction and involvement. At the conclusion of the class, surveys concluded that the students greatly benefited from the format of the class. The article states that students were assisted by social networking in their class engagement, communication, and ability to build learning communities.
Thought my experiences are very limited in what is a new technology to me, I know that my students can benefit by adopting some social networking into my curriculum. This does not mean that the core of the class has to be altered. However, I can reach more students, by using more of what they are so familiar with. Especially when, as stated in the article, "96% of 15-17 year olds with home internet access use some form of social media on a regular basis." (p. 66)
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