Okay, so I'm not *quite* a Facebook fanatic. But a NY Times article got me thinking about my latest addiction.
Because I graduated college just before Facebook started (or at least became even moderately popular), I was a late arrival to the phenomenon that is Facebook. In fact, just this week I passed my first anniversary.
No, I don't keep track of EVERY anniversary--just ask N.A.--but I remember because I only got on Facebook because Undergrad2 informed me that Undergrad4's birthday was in three days. Since I'm the (self)designated Birthday Card Buying person for my research group, I was horrified that I almost missed a birthday. Undergrad2 told me that Facebook reminded him of the upcoming Undergrad4 birthday.
How wonderful! How magical! I didn't understand Facebook, but it had a birthday reminder? I was there!
Mock Facebook if you must, but I've actually enjoyed catching back up with (semi)forgotten high school and college buddies. At LargeU we even use it to publicize seminars and symposia.
But do I accept Facebook requests of current students? No. Will I use Facebook as a teaching tool at my job in the fall? Never say never, but I certainly won't use my "personal" Facebook profile.
What about you? Do you think networking tools like Facebook has a place in the classroom? Where do you draw the line between the classroom and your personal life?
3 comments:
I only joined facebook after it initial popularity, and mostly for reasons to stay connected with friends, co-workers and family. However, now working on a college campus, I have enjoyed being able to connect with my students. Some schools have policy on facebook for students/faculty/staff at the school. However, the school I'm at does not. Thus, by rule of thumb in my office, we do not initiate facebook friend requests to our students. However, if a student requests to be our facebook friend, we accept, but give them 'limited access' to our profile.
There is something to say about the classroom being a professional setting, where the students are supposed to be learning how to behave professionally. Although Facebook is great for keeping up with friends, I don't think that it is a suitable tool for professional communication.
I agree the classroom is a professional setting where students must learn to behave appropriately. However I also believe students will use social networks regardless if there is an 'adult' presence. Thus by faculty/staff modeling appropriate behavior on social networking sites, students can learn about professional communication and appropriate disclosure.
It is also an issue of getting the correct information to students. There are at least hundreds/thousands of facebook groups dedicated to student groups. By having a presence within groups related to college/area of study/major or whatever appropriate, college staff is able to field questions and get information directly to the students.
There are downfalls, of course, but it is something that is not going away. There is a lot of research started to pop up on facebook use, and I'm excited to learn more about what is being learned from it's use in professional areas!
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