It's fall semester, so our blogging assignments are starting back up! One of our options was to blog about something related to technology in the classroom. I decided to write about Facebook and Fakebook, because two classmates and I will be giving a 75 minute presentation on the subject in a couple weeks.
I don't know about you, but I had never heard of Fakebook until I was assigned this presentation topic. And, to be honest, I'm still not really sure about it's usefulness, even after having done a lot of research on it. Basically, Fakebook looks similar to the Facebook layout we are all familiar with, but you don't actually create it about yourself. It's intended for students to create "Facebooks" for historical, fictional, or any other character or person. You can upload a profile picture, give them fake friends that they might have been friends with in their story or when they were alive, create statuses for them, etc. You can really do most of what Facebook does, but it's all fake. It seems strange, but I suppose it could be an interesting way for students to do a non-traditional book report or person-study on a character/person they've come across in class.
However, aside from elementary uses such as a book report, I wouldn't use Fakebook in my secondary classroom. I would, however, use Facebook in my class. The most important feature, I believe, that would be useful in a classroom is the "groups." In fact, the MAC program uses a group on Facebook to communicate, and it is a great way for us to stay connected and help each other out! In the group feature, you can add certain members and make it "closed" so no one can join without permission, which is what you would want for a classroom group. Then, group members can post in the group and add pictures. We usually post questions about homework assignments, places where we are studying so we can meet up with each other, etc. I think this would be extremely beneficial for high school students, because it would give them a place to discuss and collaborate about the different topics we have been covering in class.
However, there are also many scams and otherwise dangerous aspects so using an online social media platform in a classroom. This is going to be a big part of my group's presentation, so I won't go into it much right now, but I will make a blog after we present so that people can keep those hazards in mind if they decide to use Facebook in their schools.
