Sunday, April 15, 2012

Social Websites in Class

Entry written by: Seth Taylor  Topic: Social Websites in Class



Social websites have dominated our culture in every way. They have kept friends in touch and have helped countries during times of crisis. Social websites have many advantages to them. However, social websites, such as twitter, Facebook, etc., should be kept outside of the classroom. Students are used to using these sites for the original purpose of their creation: socially. They aren’t looking for ways that they can improve their knowledge on these sites; they are looking at their best friend’s post.

Social websites shouldn’t be used for that reason. Students will have a hard time differentiating between academic and the social side of the sites. This should be an after class type of site. In the classroom, they will not focus on the task that is given to them. They don’t usually focus all of their attention on a task to start out with. How much harder will it be to get them to focus if they are trying to multitask by going on Facebook and twitter? Sure, for some classes, this might work. However, the vast majority of classes would find this more of a hindrance than a blessing.

Social websites is a luxury that students will abuse. They will use it for social means rather than academic means when given the opportunity. Their work will have half the amount of focus that it usually has. Social websites are social; they are far from being academic. School is for academic, not the social. The social can happen after hours. If the social side of these sites were removed, then they would be appropriate for a classroom setting. However, they are not, and they need to stay out of school. 

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