Facebook is a leading social networking site.
There has been a lot of media interest in the fact that Facebook has been
banned by a number of organisations because employees are considered to
be "wasting time
on it". However, below you will find what some of the contributors to our Top 10 Toolsfeature think about
Facebook and particularly its use within learning.
The development of "serious" Facebook applications shows how it
is being used productively in education and business, see below:
"I
just like that there is so many things that you can do
with it and share things with friends around the world." Karen Ver
"When
training people around the globe, building social
connections between learners is critical. Facebook helps
learners put a face with a name and learn personal fact
about other learners ...
a fantastic way to find other people who are
interested in what you want to learn. Great places to
share ideas."
Janice
Petosky
"Still, by far, the
undisputed number one. Last year I wrote: “I’ve posted
about my love
of Facebook before. But look, we teach these
technology integration classes and we tell our students
to find out what their students have and work from
there. Well, where are my college undergrads? Facebook.
Since I’ve started requiring my undergrads to add me as
a friend, I’ve had more communication with my
undergrads. It’s been crazy, actually. Students who
NEVER would have gotten a hold of me before, are now
writing on my wall just to say, ‘Hey Dr. Curry! What’s
up?’ I love it.”
John Curry
Comments from those who selected it as one of their Top 10 Tools in 2007
"social networking with my students,
the secret killer app for education"
Terry Elliott
"I've only recently
started getting deeper into Facebook, but I've
tested just about every
other social network,
and social network
creator, around and
Facebook simply has the
right formula for what
makes for a GREAT social
networking experience.
I'm hooked."
Brent
Schlenker
"It's only been
a few weeks, but Facebook has given me a whole new
warm and fuzzy feeling. I got a cupcake for my
birthday! What could be better than that?"
Cammy Bean
"The thing I like about Facebook is the way it enables my friends and
I non-intrusively to monitor each other's
discoveries, group affiliations and connections --
and to follow up on those that seem most relevant.
More applications should incorporate this ambient
social awareness."
David
Jennings
"noone in education can
afford to ignore this, bearing in mind its explosion
in recent months. It brings to life the tensions
between private and public in Web 2.0."
Frances Bell
"I’ve recently
started exploring this and like the opportunity to
get to know more about the ‘person’ behind the blog
as well as linking to some shared interest groups."
Lynn Wernham
"an
excellent networking site, which I particularly like,
because many professional contacts of mine that I know
face2face are on Facebook and I enjoy
networking online with a mix of people who I know
face2face and those I have only 'met' online. There
are a lot of interesting and useful groups on
Facebook for professional development, and I also
use this tool for my courses"
Nicole Cargill-Kipar
"Great
way to keep up with e-learning pros, read about your
long lost friends, show off your new wife, learn about a
new city, etc. Now that
they’ve opened their API,
there are tons of useful third party apps. I’ve been
able to integrate my “recommended reading” from google
reader, my wordpress blog, and flickr photos.
Add me as a friend!"
Matt Lisle
