SOCIAL
NETWORKING
AND THE
K-12
CLASSROOM
By Belinha De Abreu
Media Literacy Educator
Drexel University
IT ALL BEGAN WITH…

IT ALL BEGAN WITH…
INSTANT MESSAGING (IM)
IT ALL BEGAN WITH…
AFAIK As Far As I Know
B4N Bye for now
BFz4evr Best friends forever
CU@ See you at __
FOMCL Fell out of my chair laughing
H&K Hugs and kisses
IMHO In my honest (or humble)
opinion
PRW Parents are watching
SETE Smiling ear to ear
TTYL Talk to you later
2d4 To die for
2g4u Too good for you
4gvn Forgiven
EMOTICONS & TEXT LANGUAGE
IT ALL BEGAN WITH…
Texting in All Sorts of Places
IT ALL BEGAN WITH…
Thank you for a great
year Mrs. D.
HAGS!
IT ALL BEGAN WITH…
IDK MY BFF ROSE
(AT&T Commercial)
IT ALL BEGAN WITH…
SOCIAL NETWORKING
HOW PREVALENT IS IT?
YouTube & South Park
HOW PREVALENT IS IT?
HOW PREVALENT IS IT?
HOW PREVALENT IS IT?
In Teen Fiction
By Author: Lauren Myracle
HOW PREVALENT IS IT?
HOW PREVALENT IS IT?
Text
messaging…
…Has become
the most
popular form of
communication
for young
adults.
Do we use it in the classroom?
HOW PREVALENT IS IT?
Advertisers are
beginning to
use the social
networking/text
language to
communicate
with teens and
young adults.
WHERE
ARE
THEY
ONLINE?
Creating and Connecting – National School Boards Association
TEENS ONLINE FACTS
• 85% of teens ages 12-17 engage at least
occasionally in some form of electronic personal
communication, which includes text messaging,
sending email or instant messages, or posting
comments on social networking sites;
• 55% of online teens ages 12-17 have created a
profile on a social networking site such as
Facebook or MySpace;
• 47% of online teens have uploaded photos where
others can see them, though many restrict access
to the photos in some way;
• 14% of online teens have posted videos online.
Pew Internet and American Life Project - 2007
TEENS ONLINE FACTS
TEENS ONLINE FACTS
• 57% of online teens say that they watch
videos on video sharing sites such as
YouTube;
• 49% of teens play games online;
Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2007
• Email usage is steadily decreasing for this
age group as a form of communication.
Kaiser Family Foundation, 2007
THINGS TO KNOW:
Content CreatorsOnline teenagers who have created or worked
on a blog or webpage, shared original creative
content, or remixed content they found online
into a new creation.
(Pew Internet and American Life Project)
Participatory CulturesA culture with relatively low barriers to artistic
expression and civic engagement, strong
support of creating and sharing one’s creations,
and some type of informal mentorship whereby
what is known by the most experienced is
passed along to novices.
(Prof. Henry Jenkins – MIT)
IN THE CLASSROOM…
• Does it exist?
– Yes, but not used by many teachers.
• Biggest Barriers?
– School Internet Policies.
– Educators do not see its value in the
classroom.
– Do not find it to be an effective
communications tool.
– Unknowledgeable.
IN THE CLASSROOM…
Based on the Partnership for 21st Century Skills…
Every student in this country must be:
• A critical thinker
• A problem solver
• An innovator
• An effective communicator
• A self-directed learner
– Information and media literate
• Globally aware
• Civically engaged
• Financially and economically literate.
IN THE CLASSROOM…
• What is being used?
– Blogging
-Moodle
– EduSpaces
-edu 2.0
– Flickr
-iGoogle
– Second Life
-SchoolTube
– TeacherTube
-Wikis
IS THERE A DISCONNET?
SOME PARTING THOUGHTS…
“There are two ways to think: ‘How do you
protect the kids from the technology?’ OR
‘How do you unlock the creativity
of the kids by engaging them
with technology?’
If you assume that students will get their
hands into the cooking jar, you’re thinking
about it the wrong way.”
-Adam Newman, Outsell
SOME PARTING THOUGHTS…
Zits by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman
SOME PARTING THOUGHTS…
“I look at the technology that kids bring
to school and try to harness that. You
can either ban iPods, (and cell phones,
Blackberries or MP3s), or fill them with
content. What do they have in
their bookbags that we’re
not letting them use?”
-Karl Schaefer, North Carolina’s Durham Academy,
The Journal
A FEW RESOURCES:
• Goodstein, A. (2007). Totally Wired: What Teens
and Tweens Are Really Doing Online. NY: St.
Martin's Griffin. ISBN-10: 0312360126
• Engdahl, S. (2007). Online Social Networking
(Current Controversies). NY: Greenhaven Press.
ISBN-10: 0737738006
• Kelsey, C.M. (2007). Generation MySpace:
Helping Your Teen Survive Online Adolescence.
NY: Da Capo Press. ISBN-10: 1600940110
CONTACT INFORMATION:
Belinha De Abreu
Media Literacy Educator
Auxiliary Assistant Professor
Drexel University
3141 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104
deabreu1@juno.com or
Belinha.deabreu@ischool.drexel.edu
203-668-7392 or 860-339-5151