SOCIAL NETWORKING AS AN EDUCATIONAL TOOL

According to Mason R. and Rennie F., ignoring social and technological trends is not the way forward for educators anymore (2008). They aim to show how to benefit from social software creatively and the tools that they aim to share are all a part of web 2.0. 

Mason and Rennie state that the theoretical benefits of user generated content in education is fairly obvious (2008). One is the users having the tools to engage rather than to observe. Another one is that the content is always refreshed by the users. Another one is that collaborative work is supported by these new tools and that helps users to be better at working in teams. Lastly, the community spaces that are shared excite young people and that results in their motivation to learn and contribute.

 When there is an appropriate course design, the students are taught to pursue their interest of passing the course yet also adding value to the learning of the others.The limitations are also apparent. There were concerns about trust, reliability, and believability. The web is a space which contains unfiltered, unauthenticated information and some do not have the critical skills to differentiate. Studies have shown that the Millennials have different learning characteristics. Studies done on pre-university students show that young people lack key skills in evaluating online content and cannot judge the reliability of online information and many admitted copying other works and present it as their own. However, the risks and the opportunities are somewhat equal. 

The information comes and goes so fast, and knowledge is becoming more fluid. Therefore, people are in need of deriving their competence from forming connections with others. This is where blogging and wikis come into play. These tools are examples of growing knowledge. What makes web 2.0 different and more improved is the interaction and peer commenting. The collaborative learning in online is achieved highly, more than individual learning. Social networking encourages this.

Communication in the learning environment is the key to constructivist design. It can be done through dialogue in chat rooms, comments on blogs, collaboration on wikis etc. This theory presents a model of learning where it is not an individual activity and people learn and function differently when new tools are introduced. The impact of new learning tools should be recognized. Mason and Rennie therefore state that many researchers consider that course design based on constructivist theories of leaning is highly compatible with the use of web 2.0 tools. 

Mason and Rennie conclude this chapter by saying that the web 2.0 is not just a set of tools but the ideas behind them and they have so much potential for education.