Internet Safety and Social Networks Reflection

Our Facebook experiences were most enlightening to me. I now understand how our students can become so "hooked" on social networks. I always thought it was rather strange and unproductive behavior and could not understand why teens these days do not communicate via phone. After experimenting with Facebook and discovering how creative you can be, I now understand the allure. By combining graphics, links, messaging, networks, videos, and other applications, I can see why our students rarely use a phone. This should alert teachers to the fact that a lecture will typically not engage our students. Adding technology and constructivist activities to our lesson plans is a must! By the way, I was interested to discover that 5 of my classmates (out of about 400) from my Brookfield East graduating class of 1979 are on Facebook. That is 5 more than I would have expected 10 days ago. Now, I am surprised that more are not on Facebook.

Learning about social networks also has made my wife and I think about how we can use these in our professions. As a teacher and a preacher, how can Facebook and MySpace be utilized to better connect with teens and help them learn? We will be sharing ideas with other teachers and ministers in the near future.

Other elements of Week 3 in Cedu525 that caught my attention were the following:

• The usefulness of BrainPop . I will inquire if my district has considered this site. The Social Studies area had several interesting economics/personal finance sections that could be applied to my Financial Life Skills curriculum.
  
• The seriousness of cyberbullying. As a parent, softball coach, teacher, and mentor, I need to be aware of how vicious this can become and how it can dramatically affect a teen's emotional well-being and academic and social growth. I am now better prepared to appropriately respond to instances of cyberbullying.
• The importance of minimizing information given online. The videos last Tuesday drove home how easy it is for a teen to unknowingly give pieces of personal information that could lead them into serious trouble. I will share this with my 8th grade Computer Applications students!