In the past few years, students have been spending more time than ever before in front of their computers—despite protests from educators and parents. So, rather than fight the influence of social networking sites such as Facebook, educators are now looking for new and inventive ways to integrate social websites into an educational arena.
Teachers know that teens may spend hours on Facebook each night; so why not assign Facebook for homework? Through the use of Facebook groups and applications, students can brush up on specific subjects, join and post on academic group pages, and much more. Educators who already use Facebook to communicate with friends and relatives can find a new and exciting portal to reach students.
According to the website OnlineCollege.org, "Teachers can utilize Facebook for class projects, for enhancing communication, and for engaging students in a manner that might not be entirely possible in traditional classroom settings." For example, educators can introduce Facebook to the classroom by simply creating a class Facebook group. Using this group, teachers can post reminders, assignments, schedules, and rubrics. Students and teachers can post questions, begin discussions, share outside ideas, or even work on group projects. Creating a Facebook group is also an easy way to create a sense of community for students in a class.
Facebook applications are also useful tools for teachers and students alike. Tutoring applications such as such as StudentsMeetTutors help to link students and local tutors. The tutoring is done face-to-face; however, the introductions are all done via Facebook. For updates on their favorite authors, book discussions, and tips on what to read next, students can use the Visual Bookshelf application. Courses 2.0 allows students to share their class schedules with friends, stay on top of due dates, share notes and documents, and form study groups online. Other Facebook applications are fun games that can be used to keep students’ minds sharp. Word game “apps” like Word Challenge and Scramble have thousands of fans.
For a list of educational applications for both students and teachers check out the list featured on www.collegedegree.com.
The educational uses of Facebook groups go even further. A high school student in a social science class could be encouraged to “like” the Facebook pages of their local, or even national, politicians to stay up-to-date on political events. The majority of local and national news, television and radio stations, have a Facebook page, and these numbers are growing. CNN, FOX, and other news sources have collectively millions of fans. Spending time on Facebook could be assigned as part of a homework assignment, and teachers could question students on the “status updates” or other posts by politicians or news media.
Facebook Pages to Check Out:
Eye On Education: For links to newsworthy items, tips from our books, and more from our blog; educational and author videos; discussion questions, and opportunities to ask our authors questions.
Barbara Blackburn's Facebook Page
The High-Trust Classroom by Lonnie Moore