I must admit, I checked my Facebook before I began doing my schoolwork today. I can only imagine how difficult it is for most students to stay off their social networking sites and phones while they are trying to do homework. When I was younger the only distraction we had from our homework was the tv. Now students have tv, cell phones, social networking, video games and ipods to distract them.
Teachers and parents must stress to their students and children that all of these distractions have a time and a place to be used. They also need to be used in moderation, just like most things.
There are so many pros and cons to social networking as a learning tool. It's a tough topic to get to the bottom of.
It really is, isnt' it Blair. I think I've posted more than 6 or 7 comments on social networking and have changed my mind and opinions on every comment. Networking and communicating is important, but many of the uses I have seen social networking used in have been for entertainment or enjoyment, when it has the potential to be so powerful. That is not saying that you cannot use networking solely for enjoyment and entertainment, but how often do any of us really say something? I think that is where I am leary about its use in schools on occasion, I think it could easily backslide from somehing with great merit and potential to something that ends up being used solely to chat. Again, that has its place, but it does take some concerted effort to make sure these sites are used in a way that exploits the powerful potential they store.
I must admit, I checked my Facebook before I began doing my schoolwork today. I can only imagine how difficult it is for most students to stay off their social networking sites and phones while they are trying to do homework. When I was younger the only distraction we had from our homework was the tv. Now students have tv, cell phones, social networking, video games and ipods to distract them.
ReplyDeleteTeachers and parents must stress to their students and children that all of these distractions have a time and a place to be used. They also need to be used in moderation, just like most things.
There are so many pros and cons to social networking as a learning tool. It's a tough topic to get to the bottom of.
It really is, isnt' it Blair. I think I've posted more than 6 or 7 comments on social networking and have changed my mind and opinions on every comment. Networking and communicating is important, but many of the uses I have seen social networking used in have been for entertainment or enjoyment, when it has the potential to be so powerful. That is not saying that you cannot use networking solely for enjoyment and entertainment, but how often do any of us really say something? I think that is where I am leary about its use in schools on occasion, I think it could easily backslide from somehing with great merit and potential to something that ends up being used solely to chat. Again, that has its place, but it does take some concerted effort to make sure these sites are used in a way that exploits the powerful potential they store.
ReplyDelete