The pros and cons of social networking sites

Two heads are better than one. This is what social networking offers. Web 2.0 tools break a lot of the rules of traditional education. Indoctrination left a long time ago and is no longer effective at all in education. Modern education supports a constant interaction between student and teacher, and it is Web 2.0 tools that made it easy.

I believe blogs are one of many best choices for teachers to use as educational tool for K-12. As we know the idea of "comment" in the blogs allows everyone to participate in an article (or lesson), and thus the supporting ideas will be increased. The professor can add a new lesson in his blog, and students will show their feedback on the lesson through comments. It is possible for students to add links as additional sources. So, students will feel that they are part of the education process.

Flickr is another web 2.0 tool. I have noticed that most people using it are photographers or Photoshop designers who want to show their works. I do not use it, but I love it because it gives me an opportunity to learn from others. I believe Flicker is a good tool to encourage students who want to share their works. But, they should beware that their works should have a copywrite.

The new generation is characterized by an independence and open-mindedness that leads to freedom of expression. In 2010, in the Middle East, there was a demonstration because of a young lady whose age was 19 got arrested because of her blog. She just wrote her opinions. She is one of many people who has gone to jail because of blogging. As a Middle Eastern teacher who likes blogs and hopes to use them with her students, I’m afraid that blogging will not work in some countries because students’ families warn them to not write their opinions on the internet or use blog things.

Social networking is a gift. But unfortunately it can cause harm. Some people using Facebook to show off what they have done or what they are doing right now is not a good way of using social networking. Sometimes, I wonder what the point of the Facebook is if the result is just updates of games that your friends have played or silly personality tests or pictures of their open mouths. It is not entirely useful. If students are treating social networking this way, can they respect it as an educational tool also?

In the end, social networking has more pros than cons. Facebook is good for publicizing things that used to be private. While that might get people in trouble, it can also lead to greater freedoms. Because of Facebook, there were demonstrations in the Middle East (Yemen, Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Morocco, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Libya). Before these demonstrations happened, I could not have imagined that they were possible. However, social network services make the impossible possible. It allows people to connect and inform each other, and this is the point of education.