The internet is omnipresent today. It is therefore perfectly normal to see the evolution of teaching according to the progress of technology. The internet is now the central and main way of communication worldwide. Social networking tools are utterly important in today’s society and teaching utilizes those tools more and more frequently. Here are several useful tools to add to a teacher’s arsenal. As teacher, our role is to help our students and colleagues by sharing instructional resources. These resources include Web sites, instructional materials, readings, or other resources. They might also share such professional resources as articles, books, lesson or unit plans, and assessment tools. All of this is easy to do with the help of internet and social networking tools if they are used wisely during class.
Did you know that Facebook was originally designed by three computer science students at Harvard University? The original intent of Facebook was to provide college and university students with an online storage space in order to share and store school work. It was also a space for students to meet each other and it was a place to share interests as well as social activities. Facebook was created with academic purpose and it is still possible to use it academically.
The use of Facebook in class is heavily criticized and many tend to see problems with it. However, it is a tool that allows teachers to know their students in a completely different light. Teacher can consequently see students share their likes, hobbies, and more. It genuinely allows teachers to know their students and it is wonderful to keep in contact with students. Further to this feature, it creates an open and supportive environment, depending on how the teacher is open to it; students could even send the instructor a quick chat message if they are stuck on an exercise or if they have troubles with homework questions after class. The key to Facebook is management. Needless to say that teachers need to create private friend lists in order to safely befriend students. Instructors should also use the hide post option in Facebook in order to filter their posted content. Teachers should therefore use these privacy settings if they want to use Facebook with their students in their classroom.
Here are several useful tips in order to manage your Facebook and to edit your friend lists
Beside the social aspect of teaching to pupils, here are two Facebook options that resulted to be effective in class.
Groups
The use of Facebook groups if very convenient. Teachers or even students can create a Facebook group so that students have a space in order to discuss about class content. Groups can be used as a teacher in order to provide each and every document needed for class, but he/she can also answer specific questions related to any part of the class. Facebook groups build a sense of community among students in a class. Students feel like they can ask and obtained the answer to any questions. A teacher can also benefice of this feature through the use student groups. If students are making their own group and if they answer their questions, it is a considerable time savior for any teacher. Facebook even offers three privacy settings for groups: open, closed and secret. There is the importance of managing your groups well. The fact that you, the teacher, can control who joins a group and who can view posts gives students a sense of security. Furthermore, students can manage their own posts so they can share school work between one another if some happen to miss a class. In addition, Facebook recently introduced the “Groups for Schools” feature. This feature allows students to join and manage certain groups according to their school facility, expected graduation date or organization. You can consult further Information about Facebook Group in order to give you a better idea of its use in class for you and your students.
Events
Another useful tool in Facebook is clearly the Events tool. Thanks to this tool, instructors can set their agenda online and plan their classes. Group appointment can be added by any member of the group and any modification is automatically forwarded to any member’s Facebook account. They can even create events to promote guest speakers for their class or set any outing relevant to class content. Events can be made public and can be manages by anyone who have the rights .Students can create events for group work, due date for assignment. They can also use the Events tool to promote class projects or to planify big exams. This application is great for both students and teachers. The possibilities are endless. Further Information about Facebook Events is available for you to consult in order to give you a better idea on how to use Facebook events beside the
To sum up, the use of Facebook in class is a subject heavily criticized. However, through strong security settings and intense management, it turns out to be a tool highly underrated, if you want my opinion!
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