Social Networking as a Tool for Education

 

Social Networking as a Tool for Education

   Social networking stands for the use of internet-based social media sites in order to be in contact with other people such as colleagues, families, friends, customers, etc. With the rise of social softwares, social networking became a dominant topic. Social softwares is a part of Web 2.0. Web 2.0 technologies are used and created by various internet users to enlarge and spread the existing online content pool worldwide. Worldwide social softwares include wikipedias, blogs, podcasts, etc. which are used by educators to provide online materials to students. The contents generated by users open doors to new possibilites. Group or individual works can be done using the contents, this way, teamwork spirit is also injected to content users.   

  There are some problems with the system though, for example, the unauthenticated and unfiltered data that will be a drag for students who are not commanded or guided by an expert, they will struggle a lot when trying to find appropriate information that are necessary to them. Instant answers to specific questions also makes students lazy, because of the reliability of the internet, students become unreliable. The synthetic nature of the internet is also compared to offline education because of its boundaries to technology and internet. Some critics are also against the recent research method, which does not involve much effort to find necessary information contrary to hard copy sources which takes a lot of time to find specific book or encyclopedia and a lot of effort to find specific info in those books.

  Even though the existing problems, system proved its benefits. Having multiple ways of researching and presenting encourages students to be creative. Having different tools and information, students can design endless types of projects. Student-centered courses are empowered by these endless types because the system lets students be in charge of their education, this way, teacher role shifts from deliverer to facilitator.

  Web 2.0 is thought to be compatible with constructivist approach in which learning is the process of building. Teachers must provide the students with authentic learning environment to let students be able to build their learning structure. Constructivism infused Web 2.0 provides students lifelong learning by letting them see their mistakes and evaluate themselves.

   With the abundance of data swimming in the internet, students can form patterns between informations, which is the general principle of connectivism. Continuous learning requires maintaining bonds between the old and new information and the system provides the maintaining skill.

  The outcome based course design benefits from Web 2.0 because it focuses on process rather than the contents and Web 2.0 makes process even faster with its components and tools. Learning design also take advantage of Web 2.0 tools because they provide interaction with resources, people and ideas.

  To conclude, we can say that Web 2.0 tools are more than just mere tools, they help students learn and teachers teach. In the future, when people begin to use them more frequently, the ideas that utilizes the tools will surely change the educational behaviors entirely.

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