Second grade social media

As fun as some technology can be I am afraid that such sites as Myspace, Facebook or Twitter are not appropriate for a second grade room.  In our last module we quickly addressed that even if a profile was  dedicated to the class and was to only address educational subjects, unfortunately, someone will over step their "netiquette" and cause a problem.  These problems could include cyber bullying/cyber stalking, inappropriate language, videos, photos or comments.  I agree that because these sites are seen as more of a casual way to interact that parents may feel more inclined to address issues this way instead of sending an email, phone call or setting up a conference.  Which is also unfortunate because (this is almost always my argument when someone wants a complete computer based curriculum), technology is allowing for unnecessary short cuts and we loose a little bit of our social skills, communication skills and common, civil courtesies every single time.

However, I do realize that it would be nice and easy to post homework assignments, spelling words, upcoming events, and videos of school performance in a very quick and user friendly format. (Two sentences in the status line and you're done! :) Parents and students alike could comment on unclear directions or expectations and easily allow for the teacher to make adjustments accordingly to be better understood in the future. An open discussion on guidelines, ideas and past successes could go on and on in our comments section and we could all stay updated immediately. 

Yet, I am still inclined to lean toward a classroom website than a classroom profile.  Though the quick time factor and almost live communication feed seems very tempting, I would constantly be worrying about monitoring the site and thus would choose the safer of the choices, as of now anyhow.

As this video shows the love-hate relationship between social media sites and their relevance in the classroom is on-going and everywhere.

Bottom line, if parents and teachers set clear expectations and discuss what is appropriate and inappropriate then maybe everyone will play nice.  If we are consistent with our accountability then perhaps, someday, social media sites will be more welcomed in the classroom. However, until then, my vote is no.