Thing #16: Facebook & Evaluation

Hard to believe this is the last blog  for this class!   The time has flown by and I have learned a ton!! But more reflection to come in a moment...

First, Facebook.  I have been on Facebook for a few years now.  My initial reaction to this site when I got on was to explore, see what the fuss was all about, and expected to not really use it at all.  Boy was I wrong! I have gotten in contact with past high school, college, and co-workers who I may have never seen or heard from again if it had not been for Facebook.  Without a doubt, personally, this site has put me touch with people I always valued in life, but just not kept up with...now I not only have easy access not only to contact them but seeing what is going on in their lives now. 


The following two sites gave suggestions for using Facebook in the classroom: 100 Ways You Should be Using Facebook in the Classroom and Using Facebook in the Classroom.  Both sites take into account being cautious when using this site with students and suggest setting up a separate teacher/class account, keeping personal pages separate from the student use.  And this site, The Facebook Classroom, offers suggestions of Facebook apps that can be helpful in a classroom.  And there is a group you can join on Facebook that discusses Classroom Instruction with Facebook.
However, I do have concerns with students on Facebook.  It is definitely a platform for cyberbullying to occur.  Cyberbully on Facebook jailed, Schools vs. Facebook, and Top 5 Technologies used to Cyberbully.

As with anything on the Internet, student safety must be considered...but Facebook is part of the world of the students these days so the possibility of utilizing it in a positive way seems advantageous.

Now, back to the reflecting part...about this experience. 

I enjoyed so many things about this blog experience.  First, the blog itself.  I had never taken the time to establish a blog and commit to posting.  Thanks to this class, I discovered not only how easy it was to do, but also how much I love it.  This may be the biggest surprise to me, as I did not anticipate loving the blog experience itself so much. 

When I think of some of my favorite experiences during the course of this blog, the exploration of Google Docs stands out.  We will be using this at school next year and I had no idea the extent to which this online platform could perform.  I was amazed with the forms and the ability of the presentations.  Another standout is the time I spent exploring Web 2.0 tools.  Such a plethora of options out there...I'll be exploring more with Web 2.0 tools to discover more to use at school.

This experience has only heightened my commitment as a life long learner.  At school, so many people come to me with "technology" questions and for advice.  This opportunity has helped me so much to know that much more....AND emphasized the need for me to keep learning and learning as technology is changing daily. 

I don't think I would change anything about this experience...it allowed for my discovery (student discovery) of so much the Internet has to offer.  Instead of just hearing about Internet resources or even just looking at them, this experience required us to utilize AND reflect upon our use of them.  Authentic learning! That is what this has been about and I am so thankful I have had this opportunity!