EDU 651 Week 3

I enjoyed discovering the possibilities of using Facebook as an educational tool. There were applications there that I was not aware of and it did open my mind to the possibilities. Many of my classmates are teachers who came up with great ideas on how to use Facebook Apps. to support a learning activitivity for their classes. Like many people who jump on bandwagons without proper information and a plan, I think we can do something that will be engaging for learners of all ages.

We also reviewed an article written by Dian Schaffhauser, that addressed privacy issues for educators online, where a teacher made a comment on her facebook account and thought it was in fact a private comment but was recovered by a news team. This spark a discussion between teachers, parents, adminstrators, and others in regards to free speech. This was an interesting discussion for our class as well. There were different perspectives but it was clear that most believe that teachers have to be responsible at all times about there comments and presence in an online environment.

Facebook EDU 651 Week 3

This has been another surprising week as we explored Facebook a very popular social networking website. I joined Facebook to keep in touch with old friends and new ones alike. But much to my surprise, I discovered how useful Facebook could be as an educational tool. The possibilities are numerous. There are fascinatig applications that make learning and collaborating possible. My perspective has completely changed, however, the challenge still remains how to ensure that students use it for academic purposes.

We took a close look at privacy issues for educators using facebook and some issues that could arise as a result of students' and teachers' facebook pages. We must realized that we have to be careful how we express ourselves digitally just as carefully as we do verbally and physically.