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07-NEB-108 NEJHE Winter Back 12/26/07 4:16 PM Page 27 S O C I A L N E T W O R K I N G Social Technology as a New Medium in the Classroom JEFFREY YAN faculty, alumni, prospective students textbook publishing company, Davis New modes of everyday com- and prospective employers to browse Publications, and was featured in their munication—textual, visual, through student work. Giving students latest edition of School Artsmagazine. audio and video—are already part of almost every high school and the ability to share their work in this Connections and opportunities like this college student’s social life. But can way transforms them into authors arise often when the work of teachers such social networking principles be and publishers. Brian Hutcheson, and students is shared beyond the effective in an educational setting? who recently completed a master’s in classroom through social technology. At the Rhode Island School of teaching at RISD, created a program In addition, schools and colleges Sustainable building goals can Design (RISD) where I teach, students e-Portfolio as part of his degree increasingly employ new kinds of spend a lot of time on Facebook and requirement and an e-Portfolio show- communications such as blogs and wikis. be achieved in a cost effective other social networking sites. There is casing a specific lesson on toy design Blogs. Blogs are simple online also an emerging interest in sharing he created while student teaching. journals with entries organized approach. Gilbane’s LEED® academic achievements through social (http://risd.digication.com/curvin chronologically—a structure many sites. RISD students have populated mccabe6/Home/.) This e-Portfolio, people find intuitive and easy to professionals will guide your a rich repository of e-Portfolios in a which was shared publicly in RISD’s follow. New content is displayed directory (http://risd.digication.com/ e-Portfolio directory, caught the prominently at the top, while older project towards achieving “sensible portfolio/directory.digi) which allows attention of a highly regarded art information gets archived. continued on page 29 sustainability.” THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION WINTER 2008 27 Youthful Indiscretions Should Colleges Protect Social Network Users from Themselves and Others? DANA L. FLEMING purchased MySpace for a reported bership by requiring all users to have Counting members in the hundreds $327 million. Beyond its financial a “.edu” email account. In recent of millions, online social net- success, MySpace boasts an interna- years, Facebook has opened its site working communities such as tional audience with more users than to a wider audience in order to serve MySpace and Facebook may prove any other networking site in the world. the growing demand for online social nearly as transformative as the 1876 In New England, however, networking. Yet, Facebook remains invention of the telephone. Creating 800.GILBANE Facebook is a local favorite among the most popular site among New a MySpace or Facebook profile is www.gilbaneco.com free and making online “friends” is college students and recent graduates, England college students. easy—if you’re under 30. But students’ perhaps because it was founded in the Other sites such as Friendster, Building online identities and friendships come region, by then Harvard sophomore LiveJournal and YouTube offer addi- at a price, as job recruiters, school Mark Zuckerberg. The first month the tional means for users to “broadcast” More Than administrators, law enforcement site went “live” in 2004, half of Harvard’s their innermost thoughts and secrets officers and sexual predators sign undergraduates signed up. Its popularity across the World Wide Web. To Buildings® on and start searching. spread to other Boston-area campuses join, a user needs only an email MySpace is routinely ranked among including MIT, Boston University and address and a willingness to share Building Sustainability the top three most popular websites Boston College. By December 2004, his or her “profile” with other users. in America. The site was founded in the number of registered Facebook Profiles usually include pictures and 2003 by Tom Anderson, a graduate users surpassed one million. Facebook personal descriptions, music and our responsibility student at UCLA. Two years later, began by catering to undergraduates video clips, plus information about Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. and for many years restricted mem- the user’s relationship status, school continued on next page Boston, MA Glastonbury, CT Manchester, NH Providence, RI THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION WINTER 2008 27 07-NEB-108 NEJHE Winter Back 12/26/07 4:16 PM Page 29 S O C I A L N E T W O R K I N G There is no practical way for evidence in criminal proceedings, like MySpace and Facebook where colleges to monitor the content and college and university lawyers online advertisers can pay as much of these sites, as students’ profiles routinely check students’ online for online advertising space as and postings are changing constantly. profiles. It stands to reason then, they do for commercial slots on It would take a full-time staff working that schools are free to use content primetime TV. around the clock to scratch the surface from these sites in their own judiciary Under the Family Educational of a single network. An aggressive proceedings. Colleges that wish to Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), monitoring approach can also backfire. create a policy specially tailored to colleges have a responsibility not to When students find out that a network online social networking policies divulge students’ personal information, is being monitored by administrators, should review Cornell’s University’s sell their names, phone numbers and they frequently change networks, “Thoughts on Facebook,” which email addresses to advertisers or password-protect their profile or cautions students about the personal otherwise violate their privacy rights. group or post misleading information risks and legal ramifications of online But when students post their most to confuse and frustrate administrators, social networking, while at the same intimate secrets online, how can (e.g., one student advertised a frat party time acknowledging the benefits and at a specific dorm room, only to leave popular appeal of such sites. schools protect students’ privacy? a “gotcha” note for campus police). In this era of aggressive data-mining Though many students believe While a blanket monitoring and total information access, students’ that the information they post online approach is infeasible, if not counter- privacy is in peril. Advertisers are is “private,” it’s not—and the simplest productive, a targeted review of particularly interested in students’ way to address the liabilities posed online social networking sites can be personal information, as they try to by these sites is to treat them like a good thing. For example, when a tailor ads to individual users. For any other university activity, subject student exhibits signs of distress, a example, a restaurant may create an to the school’s code of conduct and review of his or her online profile or online advertisement based not only applicable state and federal laws. blog may be appropriate. A review of on the student’s geographic location, a student’s profile may also be appro- but also by noting that one of their Dana L. Flemingis a Boston- priate where that student is involved “friends” is a regular customer. This area attorney specializing in in a disciplinary proceeding. Courts type of targeted advertising helps to higher education law. treat people’s online postings as explain the financial success of sites Email: [email protected]. Social Technology continued Additionally, blogs offer RSS (real Blogger (www.blogger.com) and Students are very capable of separating simple syndication) feeds that allow EduBlogs (www.edublogs.org). academic and social contexts. Emerson anyone to “subscribe” to be notified Blogs can be networked and created students use the blogs to collaborate when new blog posts become avail- by teachers and students to form a academically, but Facebook to socialize. able. Comments connected to individ- community of blogs where students in Wikis.Teachers who want their ual postings on the blog give the a single class or even all students on a students to be able to work together author the opportunity to receive given campus can each present their in an online publishing environment feedback from visitors. own findings and discoveries. and need collaborative editing tools Blogs are great tools for class inter- A colleague of mine, David Bogen, for students look to the wiki. action. Teachers can choose created a rich, active community with Wikis are often used for group-based to have one blog to post teaching blogs at Emerson College (http://www. writing projects, collaborative note- materials, in forms of images, files digital-culture.com). Students are pub- taking or brainstorming. Teachers can and links. Comments can be posted lishing their work, thoughts and ideas set up wikis for groups of students, by teachers, classmates, parents or on a regular basis. For example,stu- allowing them to give feedback with anyone who has been given access. dents in the “Digital Culture” learning equal footing, make suggestions and Receiving feedback about coursework community post all their writing and changes and jot down ideas. Everyone from not just a teacher, but also peers multimedia work from several classes is an author of the wiki at the same or possibly the outside world can be within the blog/portfolio environment, time. Authors can start with very very empowering to students. and use the course blogs for organiz- informal ideas and gradually edit They are easy to set up and usually ing collaborative projects. and create drafts of their writing to be free of charge. Popular blogging Students are publishing their work, further edited and shaped by platforms used in classrooms include thoughts and ideas on a regular basis. other authors of the wiki. continued on next page THE NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF HIGHER EDUCATION FALL 2007 29 07-NEB-108 NEJHE Winter Back 12/26/07 4:17 PM Page 30 NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HE ALTH S O C I A L N E T W O R K I N G MORE THAN A SCHOLARSHIP, The best-known example is Online Learning Communities. documentation, faculty provide regu- Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com), Teachers looking for school-specific larly scheduled critiques throughout the online encyclopedia written collaboration tools may be interested the program. The student may then MORE THAN AN INTERNSHIP: collaboratively by users around in established, educationally based use the information to create a the world. Its global popularity is social networks and online learning ‘job search’ e-Portfolio. An example a testament to the strength that a communities that can address school- of such an e-Portfolio, also referred AN OUTSTANDING RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR OUTSTANDING STUDENTS collective has when united to or district-wide communications. An to as a Program Portfolio can be communicate, share and build example would be Elgg’s educational seen at http://risd.digication.com/ content together. At a much smaller social network (www.elgg.net) that mwall/Home. and more controlled level, the leverages blogs. Another example capabilities of a wiki in the class- is Digication’s learning community Collaboration Motivates UGSP Scholar Yvette Pittman Participation.The new generation room can broaden the learning (www.digication.com), which is based B.S., Delaware State University of Web 2.0 solutions are easier to experience, as student groups build on e-Portfolios. These educationally Ph.D. Candidate, Rutgers/Univ. of Medicine and use, more engaging and are making rich, deep content over time. A great based communities have safeguards Dentistry of New Jersey Joint Program a larger impact upon collaboration example can be found at Brown in place to eliminate the dangers and communication in the classroom University’s wiki site (https://wiki. found in open social networks,like than complex technologies of the past. brown.edu/confluence/dashboard. MySpace and Facebook. These net- Technologies adopted in schools action), topics from “Biomed” to works are administrated by schools today, including blogs, wikis, social “Men’s Club Soccer” can be found, giving them the ability to control the networking and online learning with students collaborating across level of openness, define permission communities, are keeping teachers campus. In an interesting wiki created settings and disallow outsiders who and students connected in and out of class. They are creating opportunities for a Chemistry Language course, do not have passwords keeping the for groups to share, collaborate, students are building a collaborative network safe and secure. showcase and grow together. In reference of chemistry language One unique feature that Elgg addition, they allow exchange of terminology (https://wiki.brown.edu/ offers allows schools to run and host information and ideas not only within confluence/display/CHEM/Chemistry their own social network locally on the confines of a classroom, but +Language). Scrolling down the page, their own servers. If a school has the across schools, districts, states and readers see a growing list of terms necessary expertise in supporting the world. Even 10th grade computer that students submitted with questions such a network, staff can download science classes are taking advantage as well as instructor prompts, audio the software free of charge and have of social technologies for cross- recordings of students using this complete control over the underlying cultural exchanges. NIH UNDERGRADUATE SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM terminology and chemistry equations. code. Having access to the underlying Teachers are amazed at how Commercially available Wiki soft- code enables schools that prefer to be simple tools for sharing work and ware such as PBWiki (www.pbwiki.com) able to customize and manage software ideas can positively transform the Launch your biomedical, behavioral, or social science The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is our nation’s premier and WikiSpaces (www.wikispaces.com) onsite using school owned hardware classroom. Students who may avoid health-related research career with the National Institutes biomedical research and research training institution, located are very popular in the classroom and IT resources to have that flexibility. live class participation are leveraging of Health Undergraduate Scholarship Program. minutes from Washington, D.C. today because of their ease of setup Digication’s e-Portfolio based new communication forms to become (usually 15 minutes or less) and their online learning communities give more active and “vocal” in a virtual inherent flexibility and collaborative teachers and students in K-12 and class. The freedom to publish and Visit our Web site, www.ugsp.nih.gov, for qualification editing features. In Brown’s Chemistry higher education institutions the share ideas creates a learning envi- • UP TO $20,000 per year in scholarship support requirements, details, and to apply online. Language wiki, the instructor creates ability to personalize and share ronment that empowers and motivates • RESEARCH TRAINING at the NIH during the summer the structure of the wiki, invites their content. At RISD’s Art + Design both teachers and students. Annual application deadline: February 28th students to join and then provides Education Department, the students • CONTINUED TRAINING AND EMPLOYMENT after the students with guidelines on what utilize e-Portfolio templates, which Jeffrey Yanis co-founder of graduation The NIH is dedicated to building a diverse community in its kind of content should be submitted provide areas for syllabi, assignments, Digication. He teaches a graduate training and employment programs. and how often (https://wiki.brown.edu/ completed assignments with reflec- course at Rhode Island School of Design • MENTORING by leading NIH researchers confluence/display/CHEM/About+Thi tions by students and then evaluation on integrating technology into the class- s+Site). Providing the students with comments by faculty. The e-Portfolio room. Email: [email protected]. • SKILL ENHANCEMENT activities for scientific writing, For more information, call 888-352-3001 or email [email protected]. information about the purpose and contains an archive of courses and speaking, and professional development format of the wiki leads to greater assignments for each student for the success within a course. entire degree program. From this • SCIENTIFIC SEMINARS • INVALUABLE EXPOSURE AND NETWORKING at the NIH and beyond 30 NEW ENGLAND BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION