I'm not sure how I missed this, but this post about Glenn Moses' ASCD presentation advocating for greater access to students is a winner. Moses' wiki outlines his argument for allowing students to use, among other things, social networking sites in education.
Why aren't we using more social networking in schools? The latest I've heard regarding my district's policy on social networking sites is that the powers-that-be won't even discuss a site that has social networking capabilities. That sounds like fear of the unknown.
I am a big fan of Glogster but my pleas to unblock the service are falling on deaf ears because if students sign up on their own they have the ability to communicate with strangers. However, Glogster/edu allows a teacher to set up closed environments so that students can only comment on other classmates' work.
Finally, here's something else to consider. I recently talked with my assistant principal about Glogster and Twitter, among other things, and pointed out that while the adults are fearful of students coming into contact with strangers NO ONE is teaching the students how to use social networking safely. Our introductory computer classes were eliminated a few years back because they don't satisfy the a-g requirements as college-prep electives.
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