Social Networking and Media Centers:
A Good Fit or Not?

Web 2.0 is the use of internet technologies to enhance information sharing and the creative and collaborative development of projects. Web 2.0 has led to the development of web-based communities such as MySpace, tagging sites such as Delicious and LibraryThing, and innumerable wikis and blogs. Amazon.com users have been using these interactive features for some time since a search of Amazon reveals customer reviews and ratings and suggested lists. Many school library media specialists and other educators are well acquainted with Web 2.0 social networking applications.

Barbara Fiehn in her article Social Networking and Your Library OPAC believes that Web 2.0 integration into a media center OPAC with programs such as Auto-Graphics, Fish4Info, Follett Destiny, SirsiDynix’s Enterprise,  and Mandarin can enhance and engage students and teachers. These provide opportunities for communication beyond the school setting and term. The only drawback to the successful use of these in the SLMC is the hesitation of the media specialists based on lack of knowledge of how these programs will work for students and teachers and the amount of time it will take to monitor.

However, most of the media specialists that Ms. Fiehn talked with had a cautious but enthusiastic attitude which leads me to believe that most media specialists today are willing to face the unknown to bring the best to their library program and users. (Fiehn, 2008)

ALA Study on Social Networking Tool Integration

In 2008, The American Association of School Librarians (AASL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA), conducted a series of surveys designed to provide data on the health of the nation’s school library media programs.

The survey selected questions focused on the use of social networking tools by school library media specialists and their teacher collaborators in elementary and secondary schools. The questions asked specifically which social networking tools schools utilized in preparing their students for learning in the 21st century.

Findings from the study showed that elementary, middle and high schools were treating social networking tools as an essential part of preparing students for the 21st century.

Some key findings of the survey were:

• 53% of elementary, middle and high schools use some sort of collaborative tools to aid in instruction.
• 50% of schools use intranet within their school community and more than 41% use podcasts.
• 29% of schools use blogs as an instructional platform.
• Online instruction and social bookmarking are popular with almost 20% and more than 15% of schools using some form of these tools.

 

The results showed that texting, chatting, virtual worlds and popular social networking sites like MySpace are the tools least utilized in elementary, middle and high school curricula.

"The data is a powerful indicator that social networking tools are becoming more and more vital in a student's education," said AASL President Sara Kelly Johns. "Group collaboration and discussion are becoming more evident in the learning process. These processes create a community of learners where a student can help lead the educational process."

The results demonstrate that schools are continuing to accept social networking tools and technology as vital parts of the education of a 21st-Century student. The common beliefs within AASL's "Standards for the 21st-Century Learner" state that technology and social skills are essential to the development of 21st Century students in order for them to be viable members of the working community. Schools' adoption of these social networking tools moves the educational process towards a more collaborative environment where learning is a social process and a community of learners—teachers and students alike—shares information in wikis, discusses processes in blogs and uses online instruction and social bookmarking to make students more accountable for and active in their educational journey. (AASL, 2012)

Sites That Help Teens Stay Safe as They Join the Global Conversation

It is important for students to be taught how to connect safely to communication group through Web 2.0 technologies. Listed are some possible sites for students for students to peruse that offer tutorials and videos about becoming “smart socializers”.

1. www.connectsafely.org
This site the latest related news, with “commentaries” written by both staff and guest experts covering various legal, social, and safety issues concerning social networking.  
2. kids.getnetwise.org/safetyguide/technology/socialnetworking
This site on social networking is brief, to the point, and full of excellent information. Three online videos, for example, explain, step-by-step, how to change the privacy settings on Facebook, MySpace, and Xanga, three of the most popular networking sites.
3. www.nsteens.org/videos/social-networking
This cool animated online video created by The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children is an excellent way to teach teens about the complicated privacy issues related to social networking sites. The “Real Life Stories” and “Teaching Materials” are excellent resources.
4. www.ikeepsafe.org/PRC/videotutorials/myspace/index.html
This site, created by The Internet Keep Safe Coalition, provides teens or adults who are relatively new to social networking sites or are not highly savvy users, social networking videos in a  series of 11 online tutorials. Titles such as “Social Networking 101” provide a great overview of MySpace.
5. www.staysafe.org/teens/default.html
Teens can learn how to protect themselves while using social network sites, as well as how to protect their computer from hackers and spammers. Teens can investigate identity theft, cyber bullying, online fraud, and online predators. They can learn more about how to build their online network more safely, how to shop online more safely, how to handle online bullies, and most importantly talking to their parents about being online.
(Junion-Metz, 2008)


A Social Network for Librarians
There is an excellent FREE social networking site available to media specialists called TeacherLibrarianNing that can be accessed at http://teacherlibrarian.ning.com/. At this site media specialists can share photos and videos, access a discussion forum for media center ideas, find events to participate in, groups to join, and create and respond to blogs.

What better way to get comfortable using Web 2.0 tools than to use them yourself?

My Thoughts on Social Networking in Schools

I think there is definitely a place for social networking to be used in schools and the LMC. In the advanced technological world we live in, in order to prepare our students for the future workplace, we MUST use these types of technologies or our students are going to be left behind the rest of the world.  I think wikis and blogging have endless possibilities for use in the school setting for collaboration. At my school we do have access to wiki spaces, but all other social networking sites and blogs are blocked due to possible content and safety reasons. In the future, if these were to open up and become available, I think it would be EXTREMELY important to educate students first on the dangers that could await them at social networking sites. I don’t know the answer….. do the pros outweigh the cons? There are so many endless possibilities, and, yet, there are so many dangers in using these sites. I can’t see offering full blown access all at once, but working your way in a little at a time would be better than not using these sites at all for educational purposes.  

American Library Association (2008). AASL’s second longitudinal survey reveals schools’
            acceptance of social networking tools. Retrieved February 27, 2012, from
            http://www.ala.org/news/news/pressreleases2008/june2008/AASLsurvey.
Fiehn, B. (2008). Social networking and your library opac. Retrieved February 27, 2012,
            from http://www.mmischools.com/Articles/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=59618.
Junion-Metz, G. (2008). Secure social networking: These sites help teens stay safe as they join
            the global conversation. Retrieved February 27, 2012, from
            http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6574015.html?industryid=47060.