I believe schools should allow the use of social networking sites to help students learn how to use them properly. Students are going to use the sites on their phones and iPods anyways. Since they will be exposed to it they should be taught how to use the sites the correct way. Teachers can make the sites useful in education by posting reminders for tests and assignments. They can also have students publish their work online.
These days we have students of all ages using technology like iPads. Those iPads are useful in making learning fun for younger kids. So why can’t learning be made more fun for older students as well. I think social media scares adults. It makes them want to ban it to “protect” us. Little do they know that they could be hindering our learning.
I believe that teaches and parents do not want us to use those sites because they become addicting. But if we could use them, and learn how to use them, correctly then we would be better prepared for the next technology tidal wave. We would be better educated and know not to abuse the privilege of the social networking sites.
I also believe that if teachers use these sites for posting work (like Facebook) it challenges students to do their own, original work. If it is on a social site where many people will view it then the student has to make sure that the work is original or they could get in trouble. If one of my teachers had me publish something that way I would make it the best quality of work that I could possibly do because it is going to be able to be viewed by more people then just my teacher.
I believe Facebook and social networking sites are, in some ways, educational. I believe that students can learn more from teachers who use these sites then teachers who do not use the sites. The technology tidal wave we are on can help us if we learn how to use social media and social networking properly.