The Shorthorn - Enhancing Instruction

Enhancing Instruction

Written by Dr. Peggy Semingson

Tuesday, 30 September 2008 08:48 PM

This column is in response to Rueben Gonzales’ perspective on why social networking sites can be a mask for the promise of real and authentic friendship.

Rueben feels there is a certain amount of hyper-connectivity and reliance on the internet to maintain friends who we would not normally associate with off-line. I would argue that this is just fine, and as emergent forms of communicating — these Web sites hold exciting and innovative ways to forge connections that are probably the future wave.

While keeping up with others via such sites is not ideal communication, it can still be a form of dialogue. I admit that I use Facebook and MySpace as a form of “time suck,” a distraction or procrastination.

I cannot justify doing “SuperPoke” on Facebook as a scholarly endeavor — however, it is fun.

I use Myspace more for personal contacts with high school and college classmates.

Like many undergrads, I like the surveys, posting bulletins and changing my status updates often.

Commenting on other’s photos and changing new wave songs often (I am a child of the ‘80s) are a fun way to express myself. Because it’s so personal, my page is private and protected.

Using new forms of media are what we call “new literacies” and “multiple literacies.”

As such, they have the potential to create a virtual space where we can write to be expressive and potentially forge new professional relationships.

I use Facebook as a true networking site. I add professional colleagues who I already know and some who I don’t know in my education field. Just as I might meet a colleague who lives across the country at a conference, I can also “meet” them via a social networking site and have access to their personal interests that also interface with their academic interests.

This creates a “cyberspace” where I can chat informally to other academic-types who have thoughts on particular and pressing issues.

Despite their faults, interactive technologies have promise to even become a tool to enhance academic instruction.

For example, I am currently using a Maverick blog in one of my courses to extend in-class instruction. I feel it offers an alternate for students to — as the scholar Janet Emig suggests — “write to learn” and say something that wasn’t said in class.

I recently learned about a social networking tool that other school’s professors are using that is entirely modeled after Ning. It might be appealing to students because it creates a community around a common topic, but it’s a familiar format like MySpace.

While I agree with Rueben that some people are using these sites to avoid truly living and nurturing friendships offline, I feel this is very minor in comparison to the potential these new literacies afford both students and faculty.

Perhaps we’re just not using these sites in the right way — for their true communication and dialogue.

— Dr. Peggy Semingson is a Literary Studies assistant professor and guest columnist for The Shorthorn
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 02 December 2008 03:23 PM )

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