I found a blog where Tony Karrer's blog discusses eLearning and Facebook as a Learning Platform http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2007/10/facebook-as-learning-platform.html
On this blog, he creates an analogy between an old adage and Fb:
Q: "Willie, why do you rob banks?"
A: "Cause that's where the money is." ~ Willie Sutton - Bank Robber
Q: Why are we going to be adopting Facebook?
A: Cause that's where our users are.
However, I ask myself, do the bank tellers appreciate the robber stealing the money? Do students appreciate instructors "invading" their social space?
He mentions that Fb can be used as ...leverage it as a means of getting the word out, as a social networking layer, as a discussion tool, and adds that Fb has other potential possibilities since there is an ability to create applications. Here again leaving the possibility of its instructioanl implementation open-ended.
I believe that at the present time both students and instructors can go "either way" with their acceptance/rejection of Fb as an instructional tool. On the other hand, both groups seem to agree with Fb's power and dominance as a social networking instrument and there is no doubt in either group's mind the Fb continues to evolve/change/improve with new applications being periodically developed and the potential is there for the introduction of Fb in new settings.
I could best summarize my thoughts with the following passages from Sara Stewart's blog (My my, I am finding blogs amazing sources of information!) http://sarah-stewart.blogspot.com/2007/11/using-facebook-in-midwifery-education.html
Student perspective: Sara's daughter Ellen states that ...she was of a mind that Facebook was 'fun' and that she didn't want to mix school/university with fun, which is an interesting idea in itself-can we not have fun at school!? Having said that, she could see it had possibilities for example, it could encourage networking to solve assignment questions. Ellen did feel that if teachers were going to use it for education, the framework of the group should be kept basic and professional.
Teacher's perspective: This blog mentions that Sue Waters a teacher, uses Facebook for interacting with her students. She feels it allows her to get to know her students and visa versa. However she adds: I have mixed feelings about it...and so do many other instructors.
1 comment:
I think that any article about educational uses for Fb should present all perspectives, as you have been doing in your blog, along with your overall analysis and recommendations, based, in part, upon those multiple perspectives.
One way to anchor this discussion could be with notions of "affordances and constraints" of Fb for higher education specifically. (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affordance .), and contrast that way of looking at Fb's characteristics and uses with the patterns of perceptions that you've been noting about how students seem to want to use social networking tools for social networking, and not other types of educational uses.
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