Is Facebook revolutionising education?

Please read this article on the potential of social networking to enhance learning amongst students.

http://educationaltech-med.blogspot.com/2011/10/reasons-why-facebook-is-revolutionizing.html

Please give us any insights that this article provides for you.

When you see the term facebook, please think of it as a generic term for "social networking site, just like classroom 2.0 is.

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Comment by Larry Blodgett on October 24, 2011 at 7:40am: The article provides some good general guidance, however, the particulars as to adjusting settings are out of date. I have been a sounding board for my wife's frustrations numberous times in the past couple of years as Facebook seems to keep changing default settings and the process for changing your settings.

I'm disappointed that the article offers no suggestions for using Facebook to dovetail with classroom activities. It provides guidance for teachers who may choose to join professional groups, and for a teacher who may want to socially network with students. But, what about the teacher who wants to use student interest in Facebook to stimulate student learning? There must be creative ways to do this that aren't discussed here.

I do work with one teacher who, going against adminstrative recommendations, has friended a number of students. She works with ESL students and homeboud students and finds it quite useful in working with them individually. She also finds that if she just hangs back and doesn't comment on things, students seem to forget she is their friend and she can learn a lot about them that she wouldn't otherwise know. She is very careful aboiut anything she puts on her wall.

Comment by Larry Blodgett on October 24, 2011 at 7:44am: To answer your question--Facebook is not revolutionizing education in our district. If it is revolutionizing education elsewhere you wouldn't know it from this article. I think that it represents a huge paradigm shift that is largely being ignored in the classroom.

Comment by Kevin Sharkey on October 24, 2011 at 4:42pm: thanks for your insights Larry.
When the pros of facebook are listed like this it provides compelling reasons for teachers to proactively use the medium to engage their students in both individual and collaborative learning. As more teachers use web 2 for this type of learning it will become much harder for others to ignore.
The advantage that sites like Classroom 2.0 have over Facebook is that they are focused on improving learning outcomes. Guidance is also there for teachers who are new to this approach.