Reaction to “The Socially Networked Classroom” Chapters Five and Six

Chapter Five

My initial reaction to the beginning of this chapter is excitement, mixed with worry. I would LOVE to use facebook in my classroom because it is so engrained in (most) of our lives that we are nearly constantly connected to it. As mentioned in the chapter, I do have a fear that my students would be more concerned with checking their own facebook profiles and others’ posts. However, I do think that once the novelty of getting to use facebook at school wore off, they would be more willing to cooperate and use facebook as directed in the class. It is a little disappointing because this level of freedom is not something I see in my near (or distant) future. A (modified) hybrid class seems more doable to me. It would allow the learner to extend lessons from the classroom, using a new technology, on their own time and in their own way. I, personally, don’t think this at home learning should be monitored by the teacher. The teacher should offer support to the student in how to use different technologies, or research different topics. Then, the teacher should offer guidance in the form of assignment instructions or guidelines. Once again, although this isn’t something that I could within my own classroom or school day, it is something I am interested in sharing with my students. It would really make learning fun for my students. I would offer projects like the ones previously mentioned in this book to my students as learning extensions.

Chapter Six

Chapter six answers a few unresolved questions that the teacher may have about the implementation of social networks in the classroom, but I feel as though many of these are beyond the teacher’s control. The first question, “Will social networking be used to free students or more tightly limit their freedoms?”, is something that I feel is completely beyond the teacher’s control, and in the hands of administration. I can only allow my students the freedoms that I am told I can allow them. While I might not necessarily agree with the restrictions placed on students, I must hold myself and my students to them. There are some aspects of education that teachers can influence that are discussed in this chapter. For example, the teacher can place important on new literacies, create time in his or her daily schedule for technology and networking, and by helping to set the atmosphere of the school as accepting of new literacies and how it can very useful to the student.