What an interesting concept. My initial response was you have got to be kidding me, what a waste of time. But upon further research many ideas have come to mind on how using social networking tools could be useful to a media center.
Let’s face it the 21st Century Learner is constantly coming into contact with numerous social networking tools. We as media specialist are in the business of teaching and training students and teachers in how to use the Web 2.0 social networking applications that are available to them. Because of this it becomes extremely important for us to know the types of technology that they are coming into contact with and to inform them of the best way to utilize it. So far I have not seen any media center utilizing social networking sites. I believe that is because I have only been around elementary schools. I think that the higher up that you go in education these become more utilized tools.
The article Social Networking and Your Library OPAC! Written by Barbara Fiehn http://www.mmischools.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=59618 ) discussed ways in which social networking is being integrated into the OPAC. She discussed how Christopher Harris has created a library portal (Fish4Info, http://fish4info.org/gofish ) that “provides about half of the BOCES libraries the capability to append pathfinders, calendars, students’ book reviews, tagging, book ratings, and social bookmarking to the system wide catalog.” Including it with the OPAC would be a great way for stakeholders to have access to many Web 2.0 applications.
After reading some articles on social networking I have come up with some ideas on how to incorporate it into the media center.
1. Create a Facebook account and befriend students. You could tell about upcoming library events on it.
2. Teach grade levels how to create a blog and then allow them to participate in a discussion about a particular book that they have to read. The media specialist and teachers could pose questions and the students could discuss them.
3. Join Flickr and post pictures from media center events on the site and befriend students and parents. Teachers could also join and post pictures from their particular classes.
4. Start a media center blog on book reviews. Choose a book to read and then after 2 weeks start a book discussion.
5. Start up a blog during the summer, “The best book I read so far this summer is…”. This will allow students to communicate during the summer and read some great books that they can share with others.
With all Web 2.0 social networking tools there are numerous possibilities of how you can use them. The point of the matter is that we need to be using them because students are using social networking sites on a daily basis and this is a great way to reach out and connect to them. By utilizing the social networking sites as educational tools it allows learning to be fun for students.
I think most people's reaction to the concept of social networking and the media center is hesitation and maybe even fear of what it could become. However, there are many ways in which social networking can work successfully in the media center. I like the list of ideas that you provided. I think students would be more apt to visit the social networking site rather than a webpage created for the media center. You are right when you talk about the reponsibility of the media specialist to teach these web 2.0 tools. Getting the students involved in providing information on these tools, with the social networking site and blogging, would be the best way to teach them how to use the tools.
ReplyDeleteIn your concluding point you mentioned that the educational use of social networking sites would be a great way to connect with students since students are using these sites on a daily basis. I think you are exactly right! I would even take your statement a step further and speculate that a large percentage of students access these sites multiple times a day! As members of a previous, less technological generation, I don't think our age group can totally grasp the dependence teens and pre-teens have on technology. With the proliferation of "smartphones," many students are now able to remain in almost constant connection with the internet. I know quite a few teens who post numerous updates to their social networking pages each day. Since students are already connecting to these sites frequently, it seems almost absurd that media specialists would not use these sites to "advertise" our media center.
ReplyDeleteYou gave some very creative and thoughtful ideas for using social networking in schools. I am also an elementary school teacher and find it hard to imagine the stress connected with monitoring a social network. To insure the safety and acceptable practice of such a site the teacher must be diligent and focused on holding students accountable for their assignments and postings. I agree that we could all benefit from this format in that it is motivating for students. As educators we are told over and over to avoid social networking with students outside of school. I guess those who misuse technology can effect what could easily be beneficial to all. Educators who choose to use social networking tools with students will need to be conscientious and well organized as they reach out to students to engage them in learning through this format. The only way to teach the correct use of social networking has to come from teachers in a formal setting. Jodye
ReplyDeleteAt first, I wasn’t convinced that social networking would work in schools either. But with the majority of students communicating on social networking sites, why not incorporate learning as part of this technology. Students are on these sites on a daily basis, it’s easy for them to communicate with their teachers and other students. It’s an innovative way for students to have discussions about something important. You have given some good ideas for teachers to use social networking sites. One in particular that I thought was interesting was setting up a reading blog during the summer. Students are given a summer reading list, but it’s not monitored by the teacher. By creating a summer reading blog, the teacher could monitor the student’s progress by questioning them throughout the summer. Students could answer questions and share their comments about the book and other students could read their comments. They are learning during the summer and teachers have more time to communicate with them. I think this is an effective way of encouraging reading during the summer months.
ReplyDeleteYour ideals will be great in the media center especially Flickr for the yearbook or group projects. Our school has Follett Destiny which allows students to post commments about books. I certainly can see the hesitation about social networking for some people to have. Most of the time the negative information will stop individuals from going forward with technology. Students have some knowledge about some social networks before most adults. I know my own teenagers knew about myspace before I did. I liked the ideal about the summer posting; if we could get students to post summer reading, students will read and get familar with social network.
ReplyDeleteNice discussion of social networking, Susan! I really like your ideas of ways to use these tools. I have a Flickr account (created during the Cataloging course for the UWG media program), but I haven't really used it much. I know it has some great potential for use with students--I just haven't made it happen yet!
ReplyDeleteI really like the summer reading blog idea. I might even take it a step further and offer some sort of incentive when the students return in the fall.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! :)
I really appreciate your list of suggestions. This is a terrific way to show students that social networks can be used in an "intellectual" way. I am certain most of us are hesitant about using social networking, but your blog shows there are ways to make it work. As with everything new, there will be naysayers, but as you have pointed out, there are many viable and responsible uses for social networking.
ReplyDeleteI have not seem my media specialist use any of the social network resources. Many media specialists do not use the social networking sources because they are busy in the media center. Their are many media specilaist who do have time to use libraything and other favor networking to communicate with other media specilaists.I do like the idea of using social networking source in the media center to learn new ideas and informations from others.Their are several network sources to selected from that is very helpful to a media specialist.
ReplyDelete