If You Can't Beat 'Em, Join 'Em: Educators Who Recognize How Much Social Networking Engages and Informs Kids Are Creating Their Own Sites as Learning Tools That Foster Collaboration among Students, Teachers, and Parents

ON THE BEDROOM DOOR of any teenager in America, and inside, chances are you'll find the teen sitting in front of a computer, logged on to a social networking website and chatting away with friends, both real and virtual, about anything from the new Spider-Man movie to the legal troubles of Lindsay Lohan, all the while uploading content to a personal page. Now imagine knocking on the bedroom door, but entering to find that same teen online discussing geometry or the fatal flaws of Prince Hamlet. Or perhaps producing a podcast on the political climate of Sudan. Seem too good to be true? Well, it's becoming more of a reality. Recognizing the value that social networks otter in disseminating information and encouraging communication in a format that students crave, school districts nationwide are taking an if-you-can't-beat-'em-join-'em attitude and launching their own school-oriented social networks. According to a January 2007 survey by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 55 percent of teens (ages 12 to 17) report having created a personal profile online, and an equal number regularly use social networking sites such as MySpace or Facebook. Of those, 91 percent use the sites to stay in touch with they see frequently. all that screen time, students are acutely attuned to--and sometimes more comfortable with--living in the digital world. Thus, it follows that their learning should become more digital, say proponents of social networking in education. Social networking has gotten a bad rap, and think that's wrong, says Jim Klein, director of information services and technology at Saugus Union School District in Santa Clarita Valley, CA. It offers lots of options and opportunities that school districts should be taking advantage of. Sometimes it's hard to convince teachers to use technology as a mechanism for learning, says Kirsten Jordan, online community partnerships coordinator for TakingITGlobal, an online community that features an education-themed social networking site called TIGed. Jordan says that just showing educators bow they can use social networking for educational purposes can be productive. Once you do that, they can see. Issues and Options Departing from the more commonly known sites such as MySpace. a number of school districts are opting for closed-network or secure web-based sites that are accessible only to teachers, students, administrators, and parents through a password-protected login. Such sites have the look and feel of the public social networking sites, but without the associated dangers of online predators, the posting of personal information, or writings that could come back to haunt users in later years. One of the roles of education is to help students learn to socialize, says Karen Greenwood Henke. chair of the Emerging Technologies Committee at the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), which recently published a study on collaboration tools in education. With collaboration tools, part of the role of the school would be to help the students understand how to use these tools effectively, with security in mind, to advance themselves instead of using them in negative ways. The secure sites enable students to make mistakes and learn what's acceptable online behavior before they venture out into the open internet. Susanna Messier, third-grade teacher at Meridian Elementary School in El Cajon, CA, says that initially her students were accepting online friends without knowing who they were. I had to tell them they could only accept people they knew and refuse anyone they didn't know, she says. That was a huge lesson. I'm able to teach etiquette--I'm teaching 8- and 9-year-olds how to be safer internet users. It's easier to do now than when they're 13. Messier and colleague Richard Coleman, who teaches fourth and fifth grades at Meridian, are testing a new social networking site by Imbee (see Site Seeing on this page) that is web-based but offers high security via login passwords and parental controls. …