Comments on: Social Networks (No) vs. Social Tools (Yes) in Schools

By: Higher Edison

Higher Edison — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 23:41:09 +0000

we live as we dream, alone?…

My new fave on the edublog uberscene is Dina Strasser’s The Line. Beautifully written, sharply observed, and smart as a whip. Dina, you had me with Annie Dillard; everything after that is cake. Dina’s recent post, For Whom the Bill…

By: The Edublogs Magazine : Who Are the Top Edubloggers?

The Edublogs Magazine : Who Are the Top Edubloggers? — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 20:34:54 +0000

[...] Social Networks (No) vs. Social Tools (Yes) in Schools [...]

By: Two Clarifying (hopefully) Assumptions | hot-infomartion.od12.info

Two Clarifying (hopefully) Assumptions | hot-infomartion.od12.info — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:37:07 +0000

[...] a few minutes away from my computer to scan my aggregator through my phone — and discovered Will Richardson’s reflections on Danah Boyd’s post about the debate. So many thoughts, ideas, reactions, and confusions [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 22:22:51 +0000

Great posts by you and danah. I love social networks, but I’m not seeing the classroom application yet, beyond “look how cool it is to communicate with people who are far away”. Wikis and boards make sense for collaboration and discussion. Some tools are helpful because they give you a space to store files in a very usable way. The network itself, doesn’t seem useful yet.

I’d argue that the idea can’t be used by public schools until there is some sort of “locked” K12 social network which schools must sign up for and where all participants are verified students or current educators. Otherwise, it’s just too indefensible if the worst should happen.

By: Weblogg-ed » Looking for Student “Blogging”

Weblogg-ed » Looking for Student “Blogging” — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:57:52 +0000

[...] the risk of riding into another semantic train wreck, I’m looking for a couple of good examples of student blogging. Blogging as in writing that [...]

By: John Connell » Blog Archive » Economist Debate: ‘compelling’ is in the eye of the beholder

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 15:59:18 +0000

[...] boyd and Will Richardson have weighed in in typically heavyweight and erudite fashion. danah is: “….frustrated [...]

By: Tales from the Net » A debate on social networks on the Economist’s site

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 01:37:16 +0000

[...] There’s lots of other good discussion going on in different places about this, for example Will Richardson on Weblogg-ed. Seems like a tale from the net in [...]

By: Making Sense Of New Technologies And Media: An Opinionated Digest by George Siemens - Jan.19 08 | Communication

Sat, 19 Jan 2008 09:21:10 +0000

[...] Will Richardson: “Often in my presentations I ask how many folks are teaching MySpace or Facebook in their schools. Not teaching with MySpace, but teaching the literacies of networking through the lens of a SNS. Rarely do more than a few hands go up.” (Source: Social Networks (No) vs. Social Tools (Yes) in Schools) [...]

By: » Social networking sites pose “dangers” for educators? Sustainably Digital

Fri, 18 Jan 2008 23:51:48 +0000

[...] horrible dangers of online environments. Will Richardson makes the point much better in his post, “Social Networks (No) vs. Social Tools (Yes) in Schools”: “Often in my presentations I ask how many folks are teaching MySpace or Facebook in their [...]

By: Dave Netz

Dave Netz — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:59:49 +0000

As a 63 year old educator/librarian I find the new technologies and social networks fascinating. They provide new tools in our toolkit for learning and infomration sharing. Having said that, I wonder if anyone else feels slightly overwhelmed with all the new products? Perhaps my age is showing a bit.

By: Ruminate » Blog Archive » Social Networks vs Tools

Ruminate » Blog Archive » Social Networks vs Tools — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 20:18:59 +0000

[...] Will Richardson and Stephen Downes have noted Danah Boyd’s interesting post about social networks and social tools in educational settings. The distinction is an important, but not a new one, stemming from the traditional nomenclature of YASNS (yet another social network) and socially enabled applications. The two come somewhat closer together with applications like Facebook (particularly given FB’s extensibility), but I the gap is fairly wide. [...]

By: Olli Answers: » Blog Archive » The Experts vs. The World

Olli Answers: » Blog Archive » The Experts vs. The World — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:25:03 +0000

[...] points to a couple of well-informed blog posts by Will Richardson and danah boyd as examples of better-informed opinions on the [...]

By: Tensegrities » Danah Boyd again

Tensegrities » Danah Boyd again — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 04:00:21 +0000

[...] Boyd post, this time on the differences between social networking and social tools (hat tip to Weblogg-ed for the [...]

By: Melissa Tredenick

Melissa Tredenick — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 18:09:59 +0000

I read through Danah’s post and many of the comments. I agree with the general concensus that SNS don’t have a place in the classroom. We have many other and more useful tools to put our energy into.

However, I think schools as a whole might benefit from using them more. We have created a Facebook group for our alumni and use it to get various messages to them and keep communication open. Though I haven’t tried this, I imagine if a school had a student government asking the officers to create a Facebook group and using it to send out school information would be beneficial as well.

By: Dave Waltman

Dave Waltman — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 16:12:16 +0000

We are talking about tools here. It’s really all about how we ask students to use these tools. I don’t think it’s about whether or not Facebook, Ning, or MySpace, have a place in school but how are we asking students to use these tools. I recently blogged about an editorial in our local newspaper about a University of Rochester graduate student collaborating on fusion energy research over Facebook. I recently used Ning as a place for students to collaborate on a project about the 1970′s. They shared content, wrote summaries, asked questions, participated in discussions before I opened up the network for others to join. Now, other adults are sharing their perspective on the 70′s (sometimes from other countries). The concept of social learning networks however is powerful. Yes, my students can socialize online but how can these use the same tools to enhance their learning. We might have to show them how it has happened for us…but it doesn’t mean these tools cannot work for them in a classroom setting. It’s like saying blogs have no place in the classroom because some blogs are nothing more than a personal diary and commentary.