What did I learn this week?

This week's focus was on Facebook. We had a very lively discussion about Facebook privacy and ethics. I reviewed Schaffhauser's (2008) article.

The article by Schaffhauser (2008) may have stirred up a lot of controversy about privacy, but you have to ask yourself, “What on earth was she thinking?” Maybe I am a bit old fashioned, but my understanding of professional behavior does not include making crude statements about my students or the school where I work. Professionally and ethically she was in the wrong and she has made a very naïve mistake. I am sure the parents of her students are more than a little concerned about a teacher with this kind of attitude. The statement quoted in Schaffhauser’s (2008) article. “She probably thought what she was posting was private,” is irrelevant. (p. 1)

We also discussed Facebook applications. This was my big idea for the week:

• Finally, I did not notice a Learning Styles application on the above list. So, here is my big idea for the day, I think that Facebook would be a good way to poll students for a learning styles inventory. Just a thought.

I also learned from my fellow students about a number of other applications. These were Mary Jeff's contributions(p.1), I thought they were very well chosen.

1. Zoho Online Office – This application allows you to have all of your office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations online for free. Once this application is added to your profile, it can be used to create and edit documents, presentations, and spreadsheets. Then, you can share these documents with other Facebook users, which allows for a collaborative learning environment.
2. Ma.gnoolia – This application allows Facebook users to share links to websites on Facebook. This is great for collaborative research and sharing sources with others online. It is also helpful to share websites that offer more information about a topic being studied by other Facebook users.
3. JSTOR Search - JSTOR Search allows you to find full text research articles on Facebook. Facebook users can use this application for research or additional reading about a specific topic.
4. Study Groups - Study Groups makes collaborating on group projects easy. This application helps the development of a close-knit online community as well as encourages collaborative learning.

Finally, I learned how to set up a Ning account and subscribed to Classroom 2.0.

References

Jeff, Mary (2010), Facebook Applications, Retrieved, May, 2010. http://classroom.ecollege.com/re/DotNextLaunch.asp?courseid=4112491

Schaffhauser, D. (2008). Suspended Teacher in Facebook Incident Ignites Debate: Should Online Privacy for Educators Exist? The Journal. Retrieved May 2008. http://www.thejournal.com/articles/23611