Social Networking and School Library Media Centers
Social Networks – we all have them in one form or another. In real life, you have your immediate and extended family, your high school friends, friends and acquaintances from work, friends that you go to church or organizations with, etc. The list could go on and on. I know I am about to “date” myself, but I grew up in a time when a personal home computer was unheard of. There were no cell phones, i-pods, video-cameras, or even VCR’s. The only social networks that we had consisted of people that we interacted with in “real life.” Who knew that there would one day be a world that could be so inter-connected that contact with other human beings would be at our fingertips?
Well, now we have online social networking. Social networks “represent the collective body of the people we know.” They are in the form of social networking websites which have some basic features that most of them share. These include user profiles, friending, groups, individual messaging, announcements, individual message boards, photos, blogs/journals, icebreakers, searching, and privacy controls. Wow – so many features compacted into one site. I will explain some of these features using Facebook as an example as I am a dedicated Facebook user. My user profile includes my employer, education, religious & political views, favorite quotations, and relationships. Amazingly enough, I have 360 Facebook friends. I didn’t even realize I knew that many people! I can post an announcement of my “status” and I can individually message someone if I only want to talk to that person. My photos include my profile pictures and 24 albums. You can search people and groups by typing in the specific name in the search bar. My privacy settings are set so that only friends can see my postings. While I do not use all of the features, I do use the majority of them and really enjoy using this social network. Some other examples of social networking sites are MySpace (similar to Facebook), Linkedln (business-oriented), and LiveJournal (blogging site).
The ALA website provided results to a media survey that stated that 50% of schools use the intranet, 29% use blogs, and 20% use social bookmarking. The findings stated that “Integrating social networking tools into instruction is widely accepted by public and private schools alike.” However, texting, chatting, and using sites such as MySpace were not used very often. Follett’s Destiny was the first automation system in school libraries to include social networking features. The interface contains colorful graphics and the ability for teachers and students to give ratings in the form of a text, audio, or video review.
While social networks are a great way to interact with people you know, they do have their downfalls. Online predators may find out information about you and target you as a victim. Identity theft, stalking, and cyber-bullying are other concerns. Some profiles are embedded with spyware and viruses which can infect your computer if you choose to select them as a “friend.” The safety guide website provided ways to prevent some of these things from happening. They provided step-by-step instructions on how to change privacy settings and ways to filter the internet. There was also a parent guide that teaches parents how to advise their children on proper internet usage. One other concern is addiction. I have to admit that when I first used Facebook I was addicted to it myself. My husband would say, “Are you on Facebook AGAIN.” Luckily, I overcame that addiction but there are many children out there that continue to be addicted to these sites.
On the flip side, social networks provide an exciting opportunity for librarians to interact with students. As technology advances, and as students expect to use websites for their learning, it is important for media specialists to use the technology as well so that they can stay on the “radar” with students. On social network sites, librarians can create a “page” which will offer links to movies, gaming sites, music, etc. They can also post informational videos with library tours and orientations on specific research topics.
So there you have it! As you can see there are both positives and negatives to using social networking sites. What do I think about it? I feel that as long as you teach students how to be responsible users of the internet, social networking sites can provide unlimited opportunities for teachers and librarians to interact with students in a fashion they love – the use of technology. If allowed the opportunity, I plan to use these sites to connect with students and provide awareness of the library and instructional tools that will benefit them as a 21st Century student.
Yes, the technology landscape has really changed in the past 10 years. I remember when Facebook was first started and I could not wait until my college was added so I could join. Now, everyone can be on Facebook.
ReplyDeleteI learned in another post about Destiny's features, but I did not realize they were the first ones to do this. I think this is a safe way to incorporate social media into the media center.
While Facebook is very popular, I am not sure about using it in the media center. First, most schools block it and it can be dangerous because it is not very secure. Anyone can post anything to your Facebook page or group. I would look into other forms of social media and make sure I know the features, limitations, and privacy settings of each.
I agree, that the last ten years have really been when technology has exploded (or at least it seems that way to me). For me, I left the public school system in 2000. At that time, my first graders had one desktop in the classroom that I hardly used with them due to lack of training and/or available software as well as computer lab time once a week in the enrichment rotation. So much has changed for them since them. I'm not sure what my old school in Cobb Co. has available for social networking these days for those elementary students, but I know their equipment is quite nice, as the county spent money on technology.
ReplyDeleteWith the private schools where I have worked since then (some were preschools), we simply had limited "media" offered, meaning our library was really just a collection of books, and no one to run a school library media program. So, my exposure was sort of limited too. Because of that, I didn't even have the interest to have a Facebook account until 2008, years after my friends had their accounts. I still don't have a Smartphone and I've only had a Blackberry for a year and a half. So, social networking at my fingertips is something that only recently has been "easily accessible" to me.
Relating all of this to the SLMC, especially an elementary school, I feel that some early experiences to social networking are appropriate if the M&M approach (Model & Monitor) is in place. I just created the use of that familiar trademark so that we, as educators, leaders, parents, and caregivers understand the gravity of opening up the internet (aka-the world) to our little ones.
Thinking back to my own FB account, I remember having to promise my significant other that our daughter's pictures wouldn't be put on there. Although all my friends had theirs, I had to respect the wishes of the other parent in the picture. Since he felt it might be unsafe (he incidentally is a foreigner who comes from a developing country where having photos of family members in public can lead to kidnapping and randsom scenarios, I had to honor his wishes. Individual parents might not allow their students to participate in social networks at school, so permission slips are almost certain to be needed to make sure families are aware and on the same page as the media specialist and/or teachers.
An example of Destiny's Follett interface sounds like it may have an appropriate M&M in place, as librarians would have to introduce (Model) the function to appropriate grade levels (perhaps 2nd-5th) and then watch (Monitor) how they use it by reveiwing their book reviews and sharing them with whole classes for an example of proper photographic, written, or oral responses. Frankly, a SLMC blog space might be appropriate for student dialogue as well, as events such as Book Fair, GA Book Award nomination week, Author visits, etc. could be discussed in an ongoing digital conversation.
Nevertheless, as digital as the world has become, thank goodness that we still love our "real books", "live storytime", and "media specialists". Let's not let e-books, digital book reviews, and OPAC systems take over our human interactions. Students should always have the opportunities to meet, share, and present to one another in the SLMC. With flexible scheduling in place at most schools, I hope that teachers work library time into their schedules as much as possible as it will allow the students to have time with the media specialist and all he or she has to contribute to the classroom lesson or information literacy that he or she will introduce or practice. I think recording these special moments would be ideal. A video link could be attached to a SLMC blog!
Christy,
ReplyDeleteI also can date myself by acknowledging that I too knew life before profiles, groups, status reports, friending, etc. Things are different than they used to be. But, with that said, social network sites have filled a need and definitely have become the norm. I agree with your post that states that networking sites do provide a need, and connect humans in a way not even thought of a decade ago. The idea of talking with my friends/relatives in another state or country is wonderful. But the idea of using social media at school can become frightening. As Andree mentioned in her response, parental permission slips are a necessity, as caretakers need to be aware of the activities taking place at school, and in harmony with the active learning. I love the idea of blogging and have seen it being used in a elementary classroom with great success. I do believe that the teacher must be willing to dedicate ample time and effort to its success. I believe that the idea of a media center blog, discussing books and other issues (book fairs, author, book awards, etc) could become a welcome addition to any media center, as long as it is kept current and relevant. I know many students who would love to participate in a media blog.
After reading several blogs on social networking, I gain new knowledge about social networking each time. All of the new social networking tools that are available today were not during my teenage days. I agree the only social network I had was talking to my friends on the phone are talking to my friend in person. Today society has too many social networks. People can selected from many different sources which have caused the social networks world be over flowing with too much information to share.
ReplyDeleteMost schools do allow social networking tools to be a part of the classrooms. They use them to have students to collaborate with each other. Students do learn from each other and they can help each other through a social networking tool.
I noticed that you are a face book fan. I do not have a facebook page but I do view my friend’s page. I am going to join later in the future. Facebook has grown and become very popular. Students use it very often to connect with their friends. Some of the information they share with each other have caused them to want to fight at school the next day. This is the only reason why I do not like facebook. I do believe it has more positive qualities than negative.
There are other social networks that have become popular also. People love to take pictures and share them. The free sites that allow people to share pictures are popular also .Because there are some many free social networks, people have decided to use several different sites at one time.
The world is all about connecting with each other. This is why I think social networking tools are going to continue to be popular and more of them are going to be created.