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Ten Ideas for how adults can improve social networking sites for kids. I was recently interviewed by a local high school student named Julian for his research project about the impact of social network sites on society. I always enjoy being interviewed by teens and end up learning something in the process. Julian asked a question that I have been thinking about since we spoke: "What can adults do to improve social network sites for kids?"

To today's students, online social networking is almost second nature outside of the classroom. What about inside the classroom? Educational software and services are taking a cue from Facebook and MySpace, adding a twist of online collaboration and interaction that brings students, teachers and parents together.

University of Minnesota study uncovers the educational benefits of social networking sites. "What we found was that students using social networking sites are actually practicing the kinds of 21st century skills we want them to develop to be successful today," said Christine Greenhow, a learning technologies researcher in the university's College of Education and Human Development and principal investigator of the study.

Giving Students Ownership of Learning: Footprints in the Digital Age. In the Web 2.0 world, self-directed learners must be adept at building and sustaining networks.

A commericial solution to social networking in the classroom. ConnectYard enables schools to leverage popular social media for teaching students where they live and socialize, online. The platform offers K-12 schools their own private learning communities with controlled access that are integrated with popular social networks like Facebook, which serves to make course work more social and collaborative by keeping students involved and engaged both in and outside of the classroom. Only users approved by the school are permitted to join the community and interact with other users. This eliminates a primary concern of both parents and administrators.\n\nConnectYard also provides teachers with the ability to audit student groups, walls, etc. This serves to ensure that both the interactions and information being shared are appropriate, which helps to guard against cyber bullying or posting of copyrighted materials. Thus fostering safe and secure learning communities, or Yards, that improve the student educational experience and chances for success.

Cyberbullying, online predators, and other Internet-related dangers make headlines almost daily. Fear of what lies beyond that glowing screen at which our kids so love to stare dominates the current perception of what the Internet has become. In this climate of perceived threat, schools do what we all do with that of which we are afraid. We avoid the threat and try to forget it's out there.\n\n

District leaders want some evidence that social networking would fulfill their expectation of adding strong educational value and purpose. According to NSBA, before district leaders would buy into social networking for school use, there would need to be a strong emphasis on collaborative and planned activities, strong tools for students to express themselves, and an emphasis on bringing different kinds of students together, all with adult monitoring.

Many administrators, teachers, and parents simply associate MySpace and FaceBook with the term social networking, possibly adding Twitter to the mix and generally writing off the technology as an unsafe liability. However, we all need to expand our view of what social networking can be. Kid-friendly social media also doesn't need to mean Club Penguin and Webkins.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning examines the effect of digital media tools on how people learn, network, communicate, and play, and how growing up with these tools may affect a person's sense of self, how they express themselves, and their ability to learn, exercise judgment, and think systematically.

Six topics are available as free downloads online:
Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Current Volume
Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media
Digital Young, Innovation, and the Unexpected
The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning
Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility
Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth

How can we maximize the learning power of participatory Web sites while ensuring students are protected and behave responsibly? Creating and administering a private social network is an excellent method for establishing a safe social learning experience.

We need to stop talking cyberbullying and start talking cybercitizenship. Flip to the positive. Our focus in schools needs to shift towards responsible, positive use of social media. We need to stop ignoring and blocking and start embracing and amplifying. It is our duty to our students to start modeling responsible use of social media and encouraging them to follow our lead.

Enter social video games as a solution - immersive environments that simulate real-world problems. Today, technologically eager schools are replacing textbook learning with social video games, and improving learning outcomes in the process. Here's how they're doing it.

FACEBOOK, MySpace, YouTube and Wikipedia are considered valuable educational tools by some who embrace the learning potential of the internet; they are also seen as a massive distraction with no academic benefit by others. Research in Nottingham and Notts suggests split opinions over the internet in the classroom. Some 1,500 interviews with teachers, parents and students nationwide showed the 'net was an integral part of children's personal lives, with 57% of 13 to 18-year-olds in Notts using blogs in their spare time and 58% in Nottingham. More than 60% of Nottingham teens use social networking sites. They are a big feature of leisure time - but now the science version of You Tube, developed by academics at The University of Nottingham, has been honoured in the US this week. The showcase of science videos shares the work of engineers and students online. However just a quarter of teachers use social networking tools in the classroom and their teaching, preferring to leave children to investigate outside school.

This article offers new research results regarding the academic benefits of students use of social networking sites.

Privacy and security concerns are among the many barriers holding back the use of social networking tools in schools, new research suggests--but a number of child-friendly applications have emerged.

Anne - has anyone compiled a general list of CFSNT?

Anne - has anyone compiled a general list of CFSNT?

One of eight interactive case studies for kids (GR 4-8) from Cable In the Classroom: Power to Learn.
It's very popular for young people to meet and connect online at sites like MySpace.com. However, an awareness of the risks and steps for being safe can ensure a positive experience with social networking. Don't give yourself away! This unit explores the concepts of identity, at-risk behaviors and safety online. The graphics are Nickelodeon style. A short quiz assesses learning. For the entire series, check out: http://powertolearn.com/internet_smarts/interactive_case_studies/index.shtml

By now, you've heard the buzz about MySpace and Facebook, but you may still be wondering what all the fuss is about. Maybe you're a little mystified by the whole social networking craze, or you're a little wary about venturing into your students' territory. But what if we told you it can actually be good for your career?

Well-integrated technology opens social networks for students and allows children to develop key social skills, according to two recent studies conducted by researchers at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Teens who build and frequent social networking sites are learning 21st century skills (tech skills, creativity, diverse viewpoints and communication skills), according to a University of Minnesota study. This page takes you directly to video interviews with the researchers from U of M.

Today's teens are growing up in a world where social media is everywhere. Regardless of whether or not they have access to these technologies or how they engage with them, there is little doubt that social media is playing a significant role in the changing landscape of American youth.\n\nThere are many ways to respond to this shift. The most popular response is panic. Every time a new genre of social media emerges and is adopted en masse by teens, many folks run around screaming that the sky is falling, the sky is falling! Of course, like clockwork, everything calms down once the old fogies begin adopting the technologies that they feared back when they were adopted just by the youngins.