"The most dangerous strategy is to jump a chasm in two leaps."
- Benjamin Disraeli
I've had this post in me for a while. But it's Vicki Davis's
brilliant recent post about social networking that's finally pushed me to jump the chasm and write this.
I'm way behind many in education when it comes to trying to understand social networks, for a couple of reasons. In addition to all the typical reasons about not knowing much about these technologies because I didn't grow up with them, there's the added factor with social networking (MySpace, Facebook, Ning, etc.) that it just hasn't
personally appealed to me. I guess you could say I'm kind of anti-social that way.
However, one trap I've never fallen into with social networks is thinking they're evil. Others, far more knowledgeable than I, have written eloquently about the
extreme fearmongering that seems to have such an audience in many circles,
including in education, about internet tools in general and social networking in particular. Because of some of the truly inappropriate or frightening ways in which social networking has occasionally been used, social networks have many parents and educators running scared. School districts don't know what to do about it, so they often avoid the subject altogether until something about it smacks them in the face, and then they
react, often without full knowledge or understanding, rather than proactively
act, by grappling with the issue upfront.
Social networks are not evil. They're a tool. Like all tools, they can be used properly or improperly, wisely or unwisely. Some tools are appropriate for all ages; some are not appropriate for children. Some tools are useful educationally, some are not. Most tools require training, and supervision when people are first learning to use them.
Some tools just seem like play-toys, and I'll admit that certainly was my first impression about social networking. But social networks are changing the
business world; they're changing
politics; they're changing entertainment; they're changing the way the world communicates. Just about the only thing they're not changing, apparently, is
education.
But when the National School Boards Association itself comes out with a report, as it did this past summer, which
encourages schools to rethink social networking, then it's time to take the leap. Let me cut to the heart of the report, and share with you their recommendations for school districts:
- Explore social networking sites.
- Consider using social networking for staff communications and professional development.
- Find ways to harness the educational value of social networking.
- Ensure equitable access.
- Pay attention to the nonconformists.
- Reexamine social networking policies.
- Encourage social networking companies to increase educational value.
I want to especially highlight two points the NSBA found important enough to feature in big, bold lettering in the report:
- "Students and parents report fewer recent or current problems, such as cyberstalking, cyberbullying and unwelcome personal encounters, than school fears and policies seem to imply."
- "Safety policies remain important, as does teaching students about online safety and responsible online expression — but students may learn these lessons better while they’re actually using social networking tools."
I do not mean to suggest that all teachers should run out and immediately start social networking with their students. I've learned enough about Read/Write web tools in the last year to know that the first thing we need to do is learn and use them ourselves, before diving in with students. We need to work with our colleagues, and with our students' parents, especially when the tools are this unknown, mysterious, and sometimes frightening because of the reputation they've been saddled with. This teaches us not only the logistics, but the value, uses, and pitfalls of them, as well; in doing so, we're building our own capacity to help students
use these tools safely, responsibly, and ethically.
And if you're still not convinced that this is an important need, well then, you didn't read Vicki Davis's post.
Read it. Social networking is a tool that isn't going to go away. And it's affecting our students, both now and in the future: their friendships, their communication, heck, maybe even their college admissions and future employment. Most high school administrators either already have, or will have before long, at least one story of how a social-networking related issue has impacted the school environment. Seems to me we ought to be taking hold of it, so that we can act and react intelligently and knowledgeably, rather than leaving it to take us by surprise when our students use it without any adult guidance, training, or direction whatsoever.
Which is why I now have a Facebook account. I'm having fun with it, and I'm trying to learn from it, and for me the jury's still out on what role social networks ought to have in school. But it's irresponsible of me to remain ignorant of them, so I'm leaping.
Time to scoff at a few more naysayers, I suppose.

"leap", by Rick Harrison (Tricky, on Flickr). Used by permission under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license.Technorati Tags:
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