Social Network - Facebook

The concern with Facebook is that the privacy setting is set by each individual and not a wiki owner in the case of wikis. The challenge here is for the learning manager to effectively promote good citizenship in the digital world amongst the group. The privacy settings in Facebook create a safe online environment allowing the group to remain closed. The default settings for under 18 year olds ensure they cannot be found on search engines and have a different definition of the “everyone” setting for sharing. Some of the uses of Facebook include:

• Use the Facebook profile format to create historical figures.
• Create a communication hub for the class as a closed group, which will keep parents informed, distribute homework or permission slips, share photos or video of classroom activities, distribute homework and correspondence.
• Clarify the understanding of work material through discussion within the group.
• Build a collaborative peer support network.

With so many students engaged in Facebook, learning managers should explore if their students wished to be engaged this way.

The video below is by Improv Everywhere and its a nice musical parody about being connected.

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