Email and Social Networking

These days, we can communicate non-verbally in an instant. People we have never met can read what we've written, and sometimes we can get to know them without ever seeing them or hearing their voice. Knowing how to use technology is vital today.

The emergence of email, social networking, blogs, and interactive websites has given teachers new examples of the importance of communication and communicating it properly. Without the benefit of body language, facial expression, or tone of voice, written communication must be done with utmost care. Writers must convey exactly what they are thinking with keystrokes. Punctuation, grammar usage, and spelling convey to the reader (and the world) just what you are thinking. One little email, Facebook update, or blog post can give the reader a good glimpse into what the writer is like, and it's important that the intentions are portrayed accurately.

As a teacher with a new blog, I've learned how important it is to impress upon students the importance of leaving accurate comments. I wish I would have seen Mrs. Yollis' class blog before I started my blog. I love how she's handled the comment section. Lessons learned!

I've tried having students submit book reviews to student sites like Spaghetti Book Club, but I've not had lasting success. It seems like the students didn't really want to write a review let alone look at any of the reviews that others have written. They weren't that inspired (I would like to try Story Tubes, however). Also, my school doesn't give out email addresses (at least not to elementary students), and email would be hard to monitor since it requires a password. Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are not accessible from any of our school computers. Finding a way to have students communicate in an email/social networking way might be difficult.

I have a new idea to try. Since motivation, socialization, and collaboration are all keys, I would like students to use Library Thing to communicate about books. Once students have entered their books (or even just search for a book), they can start to look at, read, and write some of the communications, called conversations, regarding that book. Students can see if others had the same thoughts as they did while reading the book. They can participate in reading response-type questions. All the while, proper punctuation, spelling, and content need to be understood for everyone's benefit. The downside to this is that you need to be a member of Library Thing (it's free), but it's another system where teachers don't have 100% control over and students will need a personal email.

These activities develop writing much in the way a blog does where writers have to be concise, accurate, and have something special to say.