Social Networking a Boon for Education

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The software developed in the present decade enables the 21st century learners to collaborate, interact and share ideas in a new way that also parallels the ethos of open access movement in academia. While the scholarly content is becoming more readily accessible in present times it is the openness of with regards to personal information that is still in question. The evolution of internet changed the life of a common man to a socially active being. There are many aspects of living that the internet changed. Social networking allowed the individuals to stay connected to his near and dear ones or the ones who are important in one way or the other. Not only did social networking made the life of the tech savvy generation easier but it also open new avenues for them to pursue.

Being tech savvy no longer entailed trained in specific technical know-how’s rather it gospels a new era of simple technologies that made individual addicted towards it. Technology made the life of individuals easier. Now they could access information they wish in a simple click. As the popularity of social Facebook and other social networking sites continue to grow, educators are also eyeing for the potential opportunities for the use of social networking for education purposes. Research reveals that students are socially more engaged and spending more time in building their own communities of shared interests. So if students are already actively engaged in social networking sites it presents a great opportunity for the educators to form educational communities of knowledge.

Enumerable ways to integrate the tenets of social networking are increasingly being researched by social media proponents. The idea is to actively call for student participation in the educational communities. Creating and designing a private group page for establishing discussion forums on various correlated topics. Building such group activities initiate active response from the students. They generally love to stay socially more active and respond proactively with respect to any interesting discussion forum.

Again teachers can also maintain their personal account in these social networking sites and to promote teacher student interaction. It often becomes difficult to interact individually with all the students the teacher is responsible for. Lack of communication can often lead to lack of interest. Teachers maintaining a social networking site to them and sharing their views and information can initiate teacher – student interaction along with allowing the student to participate in presenting their views in important issues.

Therefore, if the time engaged in social networking sites by the student is utilized wisely for different interesting topics and creating discussion forums, it can very well attribute to the knowledge base of the students.