The material on this web site is licensed under a
Creative Commons
atrribution-share alike license. You are welcome to use this material in any manner that you see fit, including for commercial purposes. Be kind: attribute the original source. Please also credit the
various external sources and authors that are referenced on this web site. Note that when you leave a comment on this site, you are agreeing that your comment also falls under the terms of this Creative Commons license.
I *don't* have a FaceBook account because I don't need one more thing to manage! And I don't think I'm doing the best job of managing the social media I'm currently using. Who knows, maybe I'll feel differently in 2009. :)
Posted by: Linda704 | December 29, 2008 at 08:25 AM
I only access my account maybe once a week. In fact, I have so few friends on it, I don't get much activity. Same thing as blogging. You get more activity with it the more you contribute to it.
Posted by: Dave | December 29, 2008 at 08:53 AM
I've just recently established a Facebook account to keep in touch with friends and family now that we've moved an hour's drive away from most of them - it's a really enjoyable and easy way to keep in touch. I do think that social networking is incredibly valuable for professional development, too, but I like to keep a boundary between work and home. So, I use macro (Blogger) and micro (Twitter) blogs for the work side of things, and Facebook for the personal stuff.
Posted by: Jonathan M Pratt | December 29, 2008 at 09:47 AM
A suggested additional question would be if users network with students as well.
Posted by: Sean Martinson | December 29, 2008 at 09:50 AM
I use Facebook for friends and family only. Twitter and my blog are places for professional contacts.
Posted by: Bill Carozza | December 29, 2008 at 10:02 AM
I have an FB account and use it to follow local politics, reconnect with old friends and communicate with family. I do not use it for my professional role as an administrator but I could see how it could help connect people and share ideas.
Posted by: dcowart | December 29, 2008 at 11:21 AM
Great conversation regarding teachers and students connecting on social networking platforms for the benefit of learning: http://www.classroom20.com/forum/topics/should-teachers-and-students .
Unfortunately, I think that teachers unions will take the most cautious and risk averse approach which is to never connect with students in these spaces. This will prove to be a missed opportunity I believe. All these types of policies do is make it difficult for the well intentioned teachers to leverage these platforms in innovative ways that extend learning possibilities. These policies will not prevent sick individuals from unlawful and/or inappropriate conduct at all.
Anyway, I would recommend that you create a leadertalk group over at Facebook. A group like this will be helpful as it gives folks who are new to the platform an immediate task, which is to join a group. I'm a part of the "Parents as Partners" webcasting team over at EdTechtalk.com and we use a FB group...it has been a nice place to direct folks who are both new to facebook and interested in issues of parent inclusion/engagement. You can find Parents as Partners on Facebook by doing a search for "Parents as Partners."
Cheers!
Matt
Posted by: Matt Montagne | December 29, 2008 at 01:15 PM