Social websites are here to stay. They are continually transforming the way we live and work. As a student, I keep in contact with my classmates through Facebook and Twitter. There’s nothing better than having those websites there on the days of panic when you realize that there might be an assignment or an exam due soon but you’re not sure. Even applications like Google Docs are essential to tackling the task of modern day education, as their cooperative capabilities can be utilized to allow teams to simultaneously develop a single document.
For the most part, I try to keep my social network self out of the reach of my professors and school. I value that element of privacy. There are some professors I would follow on Twitter if they used it, but only because they have a great sense of humor or are genuinely cool people. I’ve never tried searching for them on the service, but I imagine that even if they did have an account, it would be a bit awkward or inappropriate for me to follow them.
I actually don’t know if my school has a Facebook page. I imagine that they do, but I would never “like” it. There’s a big movement of teachers trying to get more involved in students lives, but I think most students are going to be found fighting this agenda. I’m a big advocate of there being more casual relation between faculty and student, but in most cases, the student vs. faculty mechanic is the tried and true formula and is here to stay. It’s the way education has always worked and I don’t see that changing anytime soon, as both bodies have very different viewpoints and agendas.
The only social media that is truly thriving in the classroom is the Blackboard/eCampus/WebCT environment. These are invaluable tools to modern students, as they bring instructors and students together online in a professional environment. I would never want to go back to an education where these services are not utilized. I really cannot imagine education without them now.
It’s important to keep the teacher/student online community contained in this type of professional bubble. We’ve all heard the many stories in the news of teachers and students becoming too friendly with each other. Even in my own experience I have seen classmates form crushes on their instructors and vice versa. I also have found myself admiring a professor or two a little too much. There is a strong attraction that can occur when age difference is involved. This is but one reason why the educational use of social media needs to be kept locked up in the professional realm-a burden we should entrust to Blackboard/eCampus/WebCT, and not to casual sites like Facebook and Twitter.