Does Social Media Belong In The Classroom???

A parent called the lab this week and left a message explaining her displeasure with her student using Google+ in class to converse with her pen pal in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She felt that school was no place for students to be spending time on the internet video chatting with people and their time is better spend reading from a text book to gain knowledge. Ok, when I recovered from the laugh attacked that ensued, I invited her to the school to show her along with a few other parents how social media can be used in the classroom. The meeting is being held in a few weeks, but the list of interested parents has grown to 132. Guess how she got the word out to other parents to get them involved...FaceBook. Wow! So, as I was putting together my presentation, I began by asking myself if Social Media actually belongs in the classroom. People who know me understand that I'm always willing to try something new for learning especially if it fits my ed tech philosophy of meeting students where they are, but when considering implementation, one truly has to consider the why not and all the fears that are associated with students collaborating online. So, is it worth the risk?

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