Social Networking

Social networks can be a very useful tool professionally.  Social networks gives me the opportunity to communicate with educators in the same department and provides something like a team.  I am able to receive feedback from many professionals and their thoughts and opinions about a topic. 

Personally, social networks connects me to friends that I haven't spoken to in years.  The connections made and the tools that are provided by social networks, like a Facebook, syncs you with people the network thinks you may know.  That tools using the information that you input and relates it through the entire network to link you with friends and family.  I am able to talk about hobbies that I enjoy with people who have the same.

As a student, social networking is larger than life to them.  Constantly students are looking to communicate through various social networking sites.  It gives them a sense of ownership and responsibility.  They feel the need to keep themselves current and up to date to allow their friends of their status.  Whether its going out, watching TV, or just laying around the house, their network can see this and respond.   Giving them the opportunity to watch the same show and laugh about it via status updates or ask if they want to go somewhere together.

Social Networking is here and here to stay.  Each year there is a new mega social networking tool that takes the world by storm.  If we can stay afloat and use it to our advantages, educators will become that much closer to bridging the learning, teaching gap between students.