Learner 2.0 The MySpace Generation Webinar

Wow! This webinar was full of useful knowledge. Not only was the information presented very interesting, but the way it was presented was fantastic. It was neat because we were listening to the speaker who was at the University of Virginia, but presenting his information in Iowa! Not only were we able to submit our questions to be answered during the webinar, but the speaker also asked questions and had each of the viewers submit their answers. Talk about interactive!

There were a few quotes that really struck my attention, such as, “Myspace and Facebook are technology recess and nobody is on duty.” Which after I thought about it, that is so true! A point that he emphasized was rather than not allowing them to use social networking in schools, teach them how to use them safely, and effectively. I think a great statement he said that got my attention on this subject is, “You can’t block recess because someone might get hurt, but instead we teach them how to play on the playground in a safe manner so they don’t get hurt.” By no means was Chris O’Neal advocating that Myspace or other networks such as be available in schools, but instead finding ways to incorporate the same ideas into the classroom. A couple examples would be wikis, blogging, and the use of intranet.

This webinar opened my eyes in a major way. As an elementary education major, this webinar got me to thinking about how I will be integrating these fascinating ideas into my classroom. Something that I had not thought of are the skills that children are learning through Myspace, Facebook, and other social networks are writing, creating, producing, collaborating, communicating, reading, decision making, and socializing. These are great skills that every child should possess so why not integrate social networking into school and allow them to become better at these skills? Like Chris O'Neal stated, we need to find a way to lasso this energy into the classroom. I plan on using wikis, podcasts, blogs, and others like these to incorporate the Myspace generation skills into my classroom.

At the age of 19, I am part of the Myspace generation, and thought I knew quite a bit about the technology that children are using these days, but boy was I wrong. Some people hear the words, social networking, panic, and automatically think, "We need to block it." But instead we need to realize that it can be a safe place fo students to do collaborative writing. I have learned a lot through this webinar and am positive that I will continue learning more about this generation, and how to incorporate it into my classroom effectively.