Social Networking as An Educational Tool

Here’s a brief summary of Chapter 1 of the book E-Learning and Social Networking Handbook by Frank Rennie and Robin Mason.

“The popularity of a wide range of social software, particularly with young people, has led many educators to think that this practice and enthusiasm could be turned to educational use.” (Mason and Rennie, 2008). As social networking grew with Web 2.0 tools, education found itself a place within this limitless-content environment. These tools allow people to not only discover content, but create it and share it; resulting in an immensely collaborative and collective environment. There are two terms mentioned: People Power, meaning that Web 2.0 is people-focused and ‘gift culture’, meaning that people give content as well as taking. “The primary focus in social networking is participation rather than publishing.” (Mason and Rennie, 2008).

Users can generate content, interact with other users through them. They can also create collaborative works through these tools.

There are also limits all of the benefits. The reliability of the information, shortening of students’ attention spans, not being able to keep track of many platforms are some of these limits.

“The shelf life of information is now so short that knowing where to find information is more valuable than knowing any particular piece of information” (Mason and Rennie, 2008).

With student-centered course design, the learner became more active and took over more than just the role of learner. They can generate content rather than just finding them. They can also participate in creating the content of a course. Through these dynamic learning experiences, learners become more invested in learning.

REFERENCES

Frank. R - Mason R. (2008) E-Learning and Social Networking Handbook, by Frank Rennie and Robin Mason. Routledge

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