In some respects, I agree with what Sarah had to say in her blog about Twitter. I had the same reservations as she did before obtaining a Twitter. I also found that we felt the same about the potential benefits of the site. I find myself indulging in my Twitter account more and more with each passing day. It's a great way to network with groups of people that share your particular interests.
I do have an answer for Sarah's question of "why?" for all of these social networking sites. In our class there seemed to be many complaints about kids using the internet for education. The general consensus was that kids are using the internet too much; we didn't have all of these avenues of communication when we were kids. My response to these statements is this: Our grandparents didn't all have televisions when they grew up, but that doesn't keep us from watching it today. Technology advances, and society advances with it. There was an argument that (in layman's terms) bad things can happen to kids on the internet. This is true, but bad things can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. There are precautions that can be taken.
Technology has provided us with new and enticing ways to communicate with students. We shouldn't be fighting these advancements, we should embrace them and use them to their full potential. I feel that using social media to involve students can have a great impact on how they view their education. I hope that my colleagues take a second look at how internet communication can make them more appealing to their students and, therefore, putting them a step ahead in their careers.
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