Journal #1: Social Networking

Journal #1
Social Networking for the K-12 Set by Jim Klein

The article, Social Networking for the K-12 Set by Jim Klein, talks about the new web based document sharing and discussion forum called “learning landscapes” (or SUSD Teacher and Student Community sites.) This is basically a project that uses online tools and websites to make social networking tools (ie: blogs, podcast, document sharing, discussion boards, ect.) available to students and teacher so that they can better “communicate, collaborate, learn, share, and grow not only among themselves, but with the community at large.”
The article goes on to discuss some of the ways that this system has been used in schools across the country. The article also talks about the different benefits of this system. Not only is it a great way to improve communication on a number of different levels, but it also establishes a sense of community and has been shown to improve test scores and student achievement.
I found this interesting because I think that the internet and web based applications are the next step in education and they can be a great tool to extend the classroom. I also think that it is a great idea to make a place where everyone has equal access to the programs. While most people have things like Microsoft Word and PowerPoint (or similar programs) on their home computer; not everyone has access to video or podcasting software. You would also be able to communicate and interact with fellow students or teacher, not only in your own school district, but throughout the country and even the world.

Questions:
1.) Q: How do you see yourself using these “learning landscapes” in your classroom?
A: I think that this would be a great extension of the classroom discussion. From what I have seen in my observations, the pace of a regular classroom session seems so frantic (especially in a middle school setting) that there does not seem to be nearly enough time for the students to digest and really discuss what they are studying and learning. You could use this to set up something like a discussion board so that the students could share their ideas or to help expand on something that they really found interesting or that they just did not quite get.

2.) Q: What do you think would be your biggest challenge in using this social networking?
A: I think that my biggest challenge would be finding a way to really set up a community that would be truly beneficial to the students. I think that you need to find a way to make it an online community that is truly engaging and interesting for the students, not just another assignment that they had to do. One way that I think that you could do this would be to get some input from the student, ask them what they would be interested in setting up.