USA Today, January 19, 2006: Teens hang out at MySpace
Learning is social and kids today have learned that being social doesn’t necessarily mean being face-to-face or in the same place. It can be a social connection across the city , state or across the entire world. All they need is some type of technology that will connect them virtually.
MySpace is providing a connection online, a place where teens can hang out and be together, even though physically they are not.
“For those who didn't grow up with the Internet, it might seem strange to think of a mere website as an actual place. But for people like Edstrom and Michael Edwards, a high school senior from San Diego who can't remember when there was no Internet, cyberspace is a real place, even if the entry gates come in the form of a PC.”
Curriculum Idea
Wouldn’t it be great if educators make a connection with this informal social learning environment? Teens need and thrive on socialization, learning from their peers, sharing and gaining information, and making sense of things with the help of their peers. Teachers could maximize student learning by providing collaborative assignments in which the students decide how-to collaborate and with whom to collaborate.
Assignments might include environmental and resource management in which the students project requires them plan out a city and to provide clean water and waste facilities for residents. The students might decide to meet online as a group and realize they need expert input, where they reach to others in the peripheral for assistance and advice in their project developement.
Providing students with real-world authentic tasks and providing them with opportunities for real-life research is key to engaging students in their learning. Students feel that by doing something worthwhile they are contributing to making the world a better place in which to live.
Online social networking provides an informal learning environment; why not take advantage of how & where students hang out?
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