Thing 18

Facebook
Twitter

It is important for educators to know how social networking works because it is how to communicate and keep contact with students, parents, faculty and staff. Teachers can have a professional facebook account and a personal facebook account in order to keep their professional and personal lives separate. Teachers can use their professional facebook cite to post homework or lesson information. This also allows students to speak with their teacher if they missed class. Teachers can set up a time that he or she will be on facebook, or twitter, that students know they will be able to talk to the teacher if they have questions about homework or class. This also allows parents to pose a question about school that they can make public or message it to be private. This allows parents to see what is going on in class and what the students are doing the next week or to post links to helpful online tools they may have found for other parents as well as the teacher.

I feel that facebook is better than twitter academically in that if parents want their comments and conversation with a teacher to be private twitter does not offer that. Facebook has multiple uses and is less confusing. I am still trying to understand twitter but facebook is blunt and in your face.