Journal #1

Social Networking for the K-12 Set
By Jim Klein

In this article Jim Klein discusses how technology aids can assist students and teachers in the classroom. The article talks about how the school district of Saugus wanted teachers and students to have access to an arena where they had the resources to make and share content easily. Thus, they had a team (made up of two IT staff members and a curriculum specialist) build the SUSD Student and Teacher Community Network. The network currently has over 350 teachers as members, with 450 student members as well. The article relays that the network allows students to interact and observe work from other students all over their district. It is also allowing teachers and students to use it for a variety of activities including Internet lessons, newsletters, file sharing, video podcasting, preparing and sharing lesson plans, student projects, announcements, collaborative research and a host of other things. The thing that is good is that the network gives it members a place to get together where they won’t run into any sort of trouble. A community is forming and the network is definitely changing for the better the amount of quality communication taking place.

Questions:

1. What may be a potential pitfall to a network like this?
I think the number one thing to keep at the forefront is that teachers and students need to be shown very thoroughly how to use network like this. The district and creators this type of network community need to verse the teachers in all the ins and outs of it. In turn, the teachers need to explain in more than on way to their students what the network is and how and when the students can use it. If this is not done, then both parties will be confused and the network will not flourish in the way it could.

2. How could using a network like this be beneficial?
I think a network like this would be great in that it could bring together ideas from students and teachers that may never have interacted otherwise. It would allow me as a teacher to get ideas from other teachers on everything I might have questions about. The nice thing is that students can also meet each other and see what someone at a different school is doing in a subject they like or whatever.