It has just come to my attention that Congress is considering a bill that would prohibit students from accessing MySpace or other social networking websites at schools and libraries.
The congressional debate over access to social networking sites in schools and libraries is being presented in a bill which is being called "The Deleting Online Predators Act" and the author's alleged aim is to protect students.
The bill extends beyond MySpace, Facebook and other such sites to include instant messengers and chat rooms as well.
While Rep.
Michael G.
Fitzpatrick (R-Pa), the author of the bill, may be concerned with keeping students away from potentially harmful situations, he and the 21 co authors of the bill must realize the other ramifications.
Banning student access to these sites can prevent them from ever having the kinds of positive educational experiences I described in the last post.
I admire Rep.
Fitzpatrick's desire to protect students; however, I don't feel that this bill is the appropriate way to do so.
What is it about this new and popular technology that has lawmakers - and many educators, for that matter - so frightened? Perhaps the notion of an internet realm created and controlled by millions of young people and largely uncharted by adults terrifies men and women who are used to being in charge of everything,or maybe it is the ease with which teens can share, swap and spread ideas often unpopular with parents that has them so scared.
Whatever the reason, MySpace has created enough controversy to arouse Congressional and Educational attention.
The problem here isn't with some new website or bit of software, it is the way that many politicians, administrators and even teachers view technology.
Instead of fighting to stamp out "the evil internet" we ought to search for ways to tap into this highly popular medium and help our students benefit from it.
Recently I took a course on integratingthe teaching of writing with technology.
At first I was skeptical - it seemed like computers were simply being forced into the curriculum just so that we could say we used them - but I became a staunch supporter of technologyrich curriculum after I saw how online discussion boards, class blogs,e-mail list servs and instant messaging enhanced our learning, helped us to build a pool of collective knowledge that was in turn used to adapt the course to us, and brought us closer together as a class.
It was truly remarkable.
The most interesting part of it all is that MySpace and the other social networking sites have nearly all of these same functions; thus, a forward-thinking educator could easily use the free and universally available (assuming that students have computer and internet access - at times a big assumption) social networking sites to build a semester or year of very rewarding experiential learning for her students.
Before we write off MySpace as the newest plague to education, let us consider its uses in the classroom.
It may not fit every techer or every student, but the possibilities for growth are too great not to take a closer look.