facebook and myspace-
Last Thursday we learned about facebook and myspace, I have never used myspace but thought of myself as pretty well informed as far as facebook goes. I had never thought of either of these tools being anyway connected with education until i heard the presentation. I guess there is always the fact of privacy and the dangers that come along with it but they are still great networking tools. I do think you have to read through the fine print of “terms and conditions” or at least read it because it talks a good bit about privacy and how once you post something it is the websites material. I guess this goes with any website but it is always dangerous to expose kids to these things.
I know people who have been fired from jobs because of their facebook pictures (granite I am from America) but I strongly belivee it is important to monitor what is posted on these sites. I do overall think they are great websites though and I use them regularly. Actually when I came over from America I used facebook to meet people and get an idea of what the weather would be like, what people do on the weekends, etc. It was good to have a little knowledge coming into this experience and since people are connected by networks, I typed in the name of the university and got a whole list of people in the network!
what do you think? any preference of facebook vs. myspace?
September 24th, 2008 at 2:55 am
Don’t tell anyone as it will ruin my reputation but when it comes to MySpace I’m totally clueless. MySpace is one of the few online tools that I haven’t tried or experimented with. I’m in Facebook but not the greatest fan. Some people I know use it very effectively for managing social gathering but I haven’t taken the time to learn how.
So my preference would be Facebook but I’ve never been a fan of the idea of using formally for education. I like the concept that students can use it and choose whether they work together to help each other as opposed to educational institutions making them use it for that purpose. However maybe one day someone will convince me otherwise.
September 24th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
I agree that MySpace and Facebook have a place as long as users are aware of the privacy and security issues. My argument is that they have no place in schools, especially primary schools – there are plenty of other ways of collaborating electronically. Duty of care is a huge issue and can be a “sueable offence” – even in Australia. I’m open to be convinced too!
September 26th, 2008 at 5:19 am
Curtin 44 – I think your use of FaceBook was a great way for you to link up with people prior to your visit to Perth. I assume that this would have made you feel more confident about coming to Perth to study.
To be honest I have never used either – I have simply watched my children move from MySpace and then to FaceBook. I would have to agree with Sue and Denise I’m not convinced that we need to be using these tools in education. I also don’t believe that our students want educators entering this domain.