Online Social Networking in the Classroom

by

Brent Bergstrom

November, 2009
 Online Social Networking in the Classroom

In the highly competitive business world today, many businesses rely upon employees

who can work collectively together in groups and can access information quickly and easily from

multiple sources. Online social networks provide the abilities for collaboration and connections

and are one of the ways that many businesses empower their employees to succeed. The director

of IT for Ramapo Central School District in Hillburn, NY, states, “Almost every business I can

think of is using some sort of social networking tool, whether it be a chat tool within their

business or using wikis to develop their manuals and their support” (Demski, 2009, p. 24). With

the business world looking for and relying upon employees with social networking skills, it is

important that today’s students be educated with the skills needed to work effectively and

responsibly within the online social networking environment.

To accomplish this task, educators must be made aware of the benefits that an online

social network can add to the classroom, as well as the importance of teaching good digital

citizenship to protect students. James Yap, an IT director for a large New York school district

stresses his approach:

“Our goal is to catch kids when they’re young so they’ll have a really

strong grasp of the etiquette surrounding online social networking…before they

go into the Wild Wild West of Facebook, or MySpace, or any other sites that are

out there right now!” (cited in Demski, 2009, p. 28)

It is critically important to provide students with the skills needed to navigate not only the

web, but also social networking sites that require a greater measure of self-discipline and

monitoring.
 What is an Online Social Network?

An online social network is a website that collects data from it users through the form of

profiles in which a user can post textual information, pictures, videos and other types of

information to be viewed by other users. Many online social networks allow users to join groups

or form discussions on topics. Some sites allow users to control access to information while

others do not. Web pages and blogs are also common tools in the social network environment

(Barrett, 2006). Many educators view these tools as great for personal use but do not see the

benefit for the classroom, and others rule out their use altogether because of the security issues

they portray.

As the levels of access to user information vary from site to site, security becomes a large

issue in allowing access within the classroom. To address this issue, many schools have denied

access to large social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. Yet, there are alternatives to

the large public networking sites. Klein (2008) uses an open source solution for his school

district. Open source software can be obtained freely and edited or adapted by a programmer to

meet the specific needs of the user. Klein has developed a social networking site for his district,

which incorporates blogs, wikis, podcasts and other features. Because the application is open

source, he is able to customize it to meet the needs of the district and to provide a high level of

security for all who access the site.

Other alternatives to the public networking sites can be found in companies that are

producing software designed specifically for K-12 classroom. Imbee.com is a site made for kids

ages eight to fourteen in which parents must enter credit card information to vouch for their child

and then only the parents can select whom their child can contact by creating a preapproved list

(Borja, 2006). Another alternative is the Saywire.com site which is designed with the look and
feel much like the Facebook website, but with added security features which allow access to

school district email lists only and communication only within the community. Parents in this

site are also allowed to monitor student profiles. Another feature to the Saywire site includes a

distinction between teachers and students. Teachers are never seen as “friends” of students.

Teachers are also allowed to create virtual classrooms to help organize student activities

(Demski, 2009).

Another common site used to create social networks is Ning.com in which the social

network can be created with a range of very tight to very loose security depending on the

intended use of the network. Ning.com allows users to create profiles and become part of

discussions just like any other social networking site, yet the administrator can select to allow

open access or choose to approve any member who joins the network. While these examples of

sites have helped to address the question of security, there is still a great discussion of how or

even why to use the social network in the classroom.

Classroom Uses of Online Social Networks

As children in school, we can often remember the special days of traveling outside the

school on a field trip to meet up at a special location and discover what others were doing on a

daily basis outside the classroom. I remember going to the firehouse to meet the firemen with

their fire trucks, ladders, uniforms and all the other gadgets. After that day, I wanted to be a

fireman. The excitement of talking with the fireman who had first hand experience seemed to

amaze me. Just like the field trips in the elementary classroom, the use of online social networks

can provide access to subject matter experts within the community to enrich your classroom with

discussions.
 In a middle school science classroom there might be a chapter or unit on physical

properties or the laws of Physics. If a local engineer was willing to participate, you could have

your students post questions in an online discussion where the engineer could also go to answer

the questions, creating a dialogue for the whole class to participate in. With the use of the online

network, questions and answers would not have to be immediate, allowing the engineer to

respond completely and for students to ponder additional questions and responses. In this way,

the expert is not taken out of their normal routine and the class can continue to learn and expand

their knowledge with the aid of the engineer.

An example of this type of use in a social network can be found in the ALA Connect site

hosted by the American Library Association (Rethlefsen, 2009). This social networking site

connects members of the ALA with other members and non-members through groups and friend

networks. This allows the site to provide the subject-matter expert to a group looking for

particular information. So an online social network can provide a classroom with access to

experts in different fields and allow students the chance to interact and develop a deeper

understanding of the topics or lessons from the classroom. In essence, it can open the doors of

the classroom to world outside.

Another way of using online social networking in the classroom is to aid in student

collaboration. Kitsis (2008) found that students in her English classroom were not taking their

homework as seriously as she would have liked. So Kitsis developed a plan to use social

networking for students to peer edit each other’s work online. Her primary reason for doing

things online was to provide the access of student work for the rest of the class to view and

critique, hoping that the quality would go up when students realized that their peers would be

evaluating and commenting on the work created. Kitsis found that is exactly what took place.
Her student began to put more work into their homework assignments and this led to the overall

abilities of the class improving. An added benefit of the social networking and peer reviews was

that Kitsis had much less reading and feedback to give each weekend because the rest of the

students were aiding in the process. Kitsis commented, “It is wonderful that my students are not

speaking into a vacuum, but learning from each other as members of a community and becoming

mature citizens of the digital age” (p. 36).

Teaching students to be good digital citizens is the key to effectively using online social

networking in the classroom. In a study conducted by the National School Boards Association

(2007), ninety-six percent of students who access the web regularly, use tools like chatting, text-

messaging, blogs and wikis which are all associated with online social networking sites. This

study also showed that fifty percent of these students specifically talk about school and

homework using these tools. So students are already using many of the social networking tools

outside the classroom, which makes I vitally important that they be taught proper usage and

safety procedures.

As part of a dissertation project, Mike Ribble identified nine distinct steps to the process

of creating good digital citizens (Villano, 2008).

• Digital etiquette is the first step, which provides students with the rules and

responsibilities when interacting with others on a social network.

• Teaching students about digital communication options is another step, which

helps them to identify appropriate means of communication, whether choosing to

e-mail, text-message, chat or even using the phone to communicate. In a social

network environment, it is important to understand he different communication

options
• A third area of concern is digital literacy. This step looks to instruct students on

how to use new technologies and the appropriate uses of the digital tools. When

introducing social networks to the classroom, teachers must first help students to

understand how and why the tools are used.

• Another step involves digital access, meaning that educators need to insure that

when social networking is introduced to the classroom, every student has access

to the network and is able to participate.

• Ribble’s fifth step involves digital commerce and makes sure that students

understand how to be good consumers in the digital world.

• Teaching digital law is important so that students understand ethics of technology

and what society deems as good digital behavior. In a social network, students

must be taught about issues like hacking, downloading, plagiarizing and even the

simple act of destroying another student’s online work.

• The seventh step is to teach digital rights and responsibilities. Educators need to

develop the importance of free speech and the responsibilities that entails.

Students must be taught about their digital rights and responsibilities when using

social networks.

• The eighth step involves digital health, which makes sure that students are

informed about good practices when it comes to extend lengths of time on the

computer.

• The final step is digital security. In the online social network environment,

students should be taught the importance of backup copies and watching out for

viruses and other harmful applications.

With these steps in place, the students are ready to face the social networking word with the rules

and guidelines that are needed to make the discussions and interactions profitable for all

involved.

Healy (1998) discusses ways to make sure that technology is used to enhance the learning

experience and not to become just something else to teach. True technology use aids in the

learning process and becomes an integral part of the learning process. This means that as

teachers incorporate the use of social networks into classroom activities, the need for well

thought out plans and uses for the technology is vital.

Conclusions

Online social networks can provide students with real opportunities for collaboration and

a chance to develop the necessary skills to work effectively in an online environment. With the

many options available to schools that allow for highly secure information and access, schools

and educators need to begin the process of incorporating the online social network into the

classroom. Richardson (2007), , states that

“Schools and classrooms as they are structured today will be hard-pressed to

remain relevant in the future. When groups of learners coalesce around shared

passions online, they experience something that is difficult to replicate in physical

space” (p. 151).

One of the ways that schools and educators can begin the introduction process and ease

the tensions of many administrators and educators is to consider using an online social network

as part of the districts overall communication between staff and administration. Perhaps Soulé

(2008) is correct in her view that good communication within a school district between

administration, staff, parents and students begins by taking a close look at how Web 2.0 tools
and social networking create environments that are great for quality communication. As districts

have adopted these technologies along with good communication practices, community support

has grown.

Many schools that may have blocked access or restricted use of these sites might be well

served to consider the potential of allowing at least limited access to select Web 2.0 applications

like blogs or wikis for classrooms to experiment with in a limited fashion. At the same time it is

also important to be very careful with privacy and security issues. School districts need to make

sure that good digital citizenship is being taught to students to insure that they are prepared to

use the web and other tools as they engage in real world uses outside the school. Schools should

encourage software developers to create tools that are highly secure and can be used to help

students learn the importance of being a good digital citizen in an environment that is safe and

where mistakes can be corrected and learned from in a organized manner.

I think Richardson (2007) summed things up in his statement, “The biggest challenge in

all of this is ourselves” (p. 151). It is up to us, as educators to seek out uses of these networks in

our own lives and then to let those experiences guide us to find creative ways of introducing and

modeling good use of them to our students in the classroom.

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