Teaching with Facebook ? Are you mad?! This may be some of the questions sorting through an educator’s mind right now as they open up my education and technology article, but I am here to assure you – it is time to stop fighting against our students, and instead teach to their interests, such as social networking platforms like Facebook.
How to use Social Networking to Touch Lives
Education and technology can be used to touch as many lives as possible, such as through my various social networking platforms. I was curious to see if Facebook could be used to pass information on to my students and the community. I discovered how to create a Facebook fan page, and I could then post those updates to my various other social networking platforms.
Reach the students where they will most likely be – On Facebook!
A recent study on Facebook usage by Ken Burbary released in March 2011 featured some statistics and demographics of Facebook users, including:
Average user spends an average 15 hours and 33 minutes on Facebook per month Average user visits the site 40 times per month Average user spends an 23 minutes (23:20 to be precise) on each visit
I wanted to utilize a social networking platform that my students were always on, and create an education and technology environment to post artwork and stay connected with the community. But I was hesitant at first, since I didn’t want my students or parents to access my personal information, and vice versa.
Creating your Facebook Fan Page
The Facebook Fan Page allows Facebook users to easily create a page based on whatever you like. All someone has to do is “like” your page and the Facebook user will then receive updates from your Fan page on their Facebook wall. You get to maintain privacy, share only the info that you want and remove whatever fans that you like.
All you have to do is go to any Fan page on Facebook , and click on the button called “create page.” Afterwards, pick your category and adjust more specific settings for the site. In particular, I would recommend going under “manage permissions” and change the profanity blocklist to “strong,” as it will be one less thing you will have to moderate. After you finalize the initial settings, start to load your fan page with content such as photos, videos and/or even questions.
Promote your Facebook Fan Page and Keep it Loaded
I was also able to research a variety of Facebook apps such as Posterous and Twitter to keep my page easily loaded with content, and I utilized Facebook widgets and plug ins on my other social networking sites to promote my Fan Page, Mr G’s BWMS Art Class . Not to mention, including the information on my academic plan and initial parent letter home, which makes this an excellent education and technology tool.
I have had my Facebook fan site up for a few weeks now, and my fan numbers have been climbing. Everyday, I upload an album worth of pictures from my students working or their artwork over the years or a Picasa generated photo montage video from SchoolTube / YouTube as well. I would heavily recommend you use Facebook and social networking platforms as an education and technology tool in your classroom, so that you can inform your community about what you do and reach as many lives as possible.
References:
My Fan page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mr-Gs-BWMS-Art-class/156014377810612 101 Facebook apps – http://www.techdigest.tv/2007/07/the_101_best_fa.html
Facebook apps for education – http://www.interactyx.com/social-learning-community/facebook-apps-for-education
Facebook demographics 2011 – http://www.kenburbary.com/2011/03/facebook-demographics-revisited-2011-statistics-2/