Next year I will be venturing into my own classroom with an entire class of children that won't know me for a bar of soap and may or may not have had contact with each other in past classes. I will need to find a way to get my class connected and create a safe supportive community atmoshpere.. but how will I do this? Yes I will definately provide opportunities for children to get to know each other through games and group work within the classroom, but what about outside the classroom? how will I facilitate opportunities for my class to communicate with each other, when they are on holiday? or at home stuck on a homework task??
I know...I could create an online community where students can share ideas, learn from one another or simply conversate about their weekend!!!
I'l have to make sure the the social networker I use is child safe, meaningful to their age group, potentially educational and most of all fun!
The answer.... Bebo!
At the start of my year I could provide children with the opportunity to set up their own Bebo page in the computer suite, so that they can communicate outside of the classroom as well as in, I feel this will promote the children to get to know each other and tap into one anothers interests, ideas and understandings.
Of course there are issues with this, for example some children do not have the internet at home. Fortunately for those children a majority of libraries are equipped with the internet therefore children could spend quality time with their family by going to the library, surfing the net and even getting out a few books while they are there!
Another issue we face with this idea of incorperating Bebo into educating with communication is schools banning Bebo.
Studies show that over 200 schools in New Zealand alone have already banned social networker websites as they are viewed as time wasters and unsafe. http://mashable.com/2007/05/27/bebo-banned-new-zealand-schools/. This is why I feel that teachers need to be educating students on how to use Bebo safely and to their advantage both educationally and socially. Bebo can be unsafe and a time waster if it isn't used correctly, but if it is... the possiblities and development of skills such as communication, are phenominal!
Although these issues are present in society today, I think we as teachers need to encourage children to use social networkers, they are the way of the future whether we like it or not! And in many ways they are much safer than chat rooms where identities can be disclosed and stalking can occur. Children enjoy using Bebo so why not put an educational spin on it!
In my classroom next year I would use Bebo as a means of communication between home and school. Students could access my Bebo account where they can message me concerning homework tasks and upcoming events. I would even pose educational questions that children would have to find information on an upload onto their profile, my white board or create links to the corresponding websites. Parents could also send me messages regarding a child's school work or performance, via my private message setting or even via my whiteboard if they are wanting other parents to see their messages as well.
I would encourage children to use Bebo whiteboards to write recounts about their holidays or weekends and write their own blogs helping them in developing skills in autobiography writing.
I would monitor children's pages to ensure that no inappropriate messaging was occuring and ensure that I had previously educated each student on safe Beboing!
I believe that it is impecible that we set up our future generation with the required skills they need to survive in the future and become well informed, active citizens in society. Social networking and communication via the internet through websites like Bebo is a way that we can teach the necessary skills of communication in a medium that children love to use!
