Social Networking Sites in the Classroom

I recently received an email from a writer asking for my input for an article she is writing. She found me through my class wiki for the Iditarod project.

My name is Carmen Berg and I am a freelance writer doing an article about social networking sites and their use in the classroom.

I agreed to receive and answer the questions in the following questionnaire:

Social Networking in the Classroom questionnaire

Which social networking sites do you use or have you used in your classroom?

What factors influenced your selection of the social networking site you utilized?

How do you (did you) use social networking sites in your classroom?

In your opinion/experience, what type of projects or assignments were appropriate/successful using these tools?

Given that most school boards/districts have strict internet user policies (firewalls), how have you been able/were you able to use these tools in your classroom? Did you get special permission, application made, principal approved/supported?

Critics suggest that the content of student postings can be inappropriate (offensive, cruel, incorrect) making them disruptive to the learning environment and that they divulge too much personal, identifiable information. How do you respond to these criticisms?

What, in your opinion or experience, are the benefits for using these tools?

Have you used social networking sites for professional development? If so, which ones and why?

Do you use or have you used any of Ning, Friendster, Tribe, Everyonesconnected, SeemeTV, wikispaces, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Yahoo groups? Do you have a preference and if so, why?

How do/did you deal with:
Privacy concerns (FOIP/COPPA);
Safety/Security issues;
Advertising side bars and/or pop ups;
Copyright issues?

Please add information that you think would benefit teachers that I didn’t cover or you feel is imperative to include.

Please provide your name and contact information for fact checking purposes.

Thanks in advance.

Sincerely,

Carmen Berg

Well, what do you think? What would have your answers been? Send me a comment with some of your thoughts.