It's been four years since Dr. Wall originally created this particular assignment. And boy, has social networking come a long way. It's no longer an experiment and tool for the web savvy: it's part of the communication fabric of our society. Teachers use it. Principles and administration staff do too. Many students know what Facebook is before they're in 3rd grade. As the saying goes, you can't put toothpaste back into the tube.
I use both Facebook and Twitter, and in fact have them linked. When I tweet something, even from my mobile device, it shows up on my Facebook account. Of course, Twitter isn't Facebook, so its capabilities are far more limited. But when it comes to offering a few words of meaning for my fellow members, I enjoy its purpose thoroughly. Facebook has so many utilities, extensions and directions, I could type for the next two hours going over what I use it for. Let's just that as a growing, evolving medium of communication, it is what you make it. One can be hopelessly involved in every aspect of it - from photo sharing, news, humor, games, family, web links and more - or choose to merely scratch the surface every so often.
As I am not a teacher yet, I do feel as if I have room to share my opinions, thoughts, links, etc. And I say this because once I do become a professional educator, responsibility for what will be mentioned and posted on both sites will take on an entirely different meaning. I do need to be clear: I've never ever posted questionable material nor anything disrespectful or inappropriate. But I do firmly believe that faculty, staff and administration of an education system have a higher level responsibility for what they say and post on social sites. It behooves them to take their position seriously, and that means "growing up and being the adult", if necessary, online.
At the present time, I do not see using Facebook or Twitter in my classroom as a teaching tool. I would need to do further research on how to utilize the two formats effectively before introducing them into my lesson plans.
Twitter: @PFTinTN
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