I am an avid user of Facebook at home, making contacts with new and old friends alike, and enjoying the ability to keep in touch with people across the country. I think that it would be a great tool for the media center, allowing students and teachers to see what is new, requesting materials, posting pictures and announcing special events.
Unfortunately, social networking sites (with the exception of LibraryThing) are blocked in my county. We use a technology called Deepnines, and special permission is required to do a great variety of things, including streaming media and picture searches. I recently had to ask technology to allow my administrators to bypass the filter in order to view Myspace to track down several bullying complaints. It may take several days to get an answer, and if they are denied, then that delays their ability to track down and prevent bullying. I didn't intend for this to be a diatribe on blocking software, but my biggest point with the fact that social networking sites are blocked at school would be that I would have to update the sites at home in the evening. Quite frankly, that ain't happenin'. I have too much on my plate with kids and school, and my time after all that is for me to relax and catch up, not for me to do more work for a county that limits my ability to do it at work (but I'm not bitter ;).
Todd
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5 comments:
Todd,
I can understand your frustration concerning this topic and the ability to use the websites for educational purposes. I can see how this could aid the students and teachers alike, BUT it would have to be monitored to some degree. Several restrictions could be applied to make this happen, but on the other hand I completely understand the reasons why this could not work in the school setting overall. The first thing that enters my mind is that everyone would automatically assume the sites could be used as "chat rooms". We all know the potential hazards, but it can be very frustrating for the media specialist.
I agree that social networking could be an asset to a media program. It would be a great tool for book reviews and book reports. There would definately need to be some restritions and guidelilnes for using. I think some students might mistake it as a place to chat.
I was able to open Flicker at my school this week. It seems that sometimes our blocks work and sometimes they don't. I had to get administrative permission to open the wiki On Monday, but last Friday I was not blocked. Who knows?
I totally understand your feelings and sentiment regarding social networking in schools. Perhaps there needs to be a pardigm shift with regard to social networking sites with the powers that be. Media specialists could start small with something like Librarything or Flcikr and go from there. Once administrators see that these sites can be used for educational purposes, more access may be allowed.
Todd, thanks for your thoughts on the positive side of networking. I'm just not so sure it is something we need in a media center. Yeah, it is cool to connect to others in the country, but aren't there other methods to communicate with others in a safer setting? We saw first hand how Flickr and librarything worked over the summer from our cataloging class, but I guess I'm looking at the stuff my 16 old daughter does on her networking site- and the 2 just don't match. Maybe I should see how you keep up with the students in the media center.
Dorina
Todd,
I can relate to your frustrations. The LMS should definitely have administrative permission to bypass the block and to access any and all Internet sites. I have real concerns about allowing students to access social networks from school, though. How can we possibly monitor all of the exchanges in the cyber world and make certain students are protected from "The Dark Side of the Web"?
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