Related+research+articles

The third article shows how we want to assign educational value to social media, but it is debatable.
1. **Educational Networking**

Hargadon, Steve. (2010, March/April). //Educational Networking//. MultiMedia & Internet@Schools, 17, 2, 10-15. ProQuest Journals. @http://login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/pqdweb?did=1981674861&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=12301&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Social networking sites have worried many educators (and parents) because they often bring with them outcomes that are not positive: narcissism, gossip, wasted time, "friending," hurt feelings, ruined reputations, and sometimes unsavory, even dangerous, activities. To help alleviate any confusion or negative preconception, in this article I use the term "educational networking" instead of social networking when I'm specifically calling out the educational value and use of Web 2.0 technology.

Web 2.0 has moved the internet from our traditional one-way information flow to a two-way "conversation" in which the Three R's have been supplanted by the Three Cs: Contributing, Collaborating, Creating, through mediums such as blogs, wikis, and Twittering.

The focus of this article is upon the use of educational networking for teachers as they build a Personal Learning Network.

Selwyn's article was focused on the use of social networking for university students who were using Facebook only 4% of the time for educational purposes.

//**2. SHE LOVES IT TOO!**// Gilroy, Marilyn. //(//2010, March)//. Higher Education Migrates to YouTube and Social Networks..// The Education Digest, 75, 7, 18-22. ProQuest Journals. @http://login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/login?url=http://proquest.umi.com.login.ezproxy.library.ualberta.ca/pqdweb?did=1980047041&sid=2&Fmt=3&clientId=12301&RQT=309&VName=PQD

Post-secondary institutions have realized that they need to capitalize on social media and connect with their students where they are already at. While this shift is a marketing strategy designed to strengthen and promote the school's "brand", it is also more than that. Facebook and Twitter are used to inform and welcome prospective students, connect current students to campus groups and activities, and to help alumni stay in touch.

Gilroy also examines how instructors use Facebook to create their class page for example, where students can get to know their prof and each other. As they check assignments and course updates or offer input to the course, students "meet" on Facebook where they can feel welcomed and personally connected in a setting that can often feel dehumanizing. This shift in communications through social networking sites is changing the public perception of post-secondary institutions.

Selwyn would agree with the social benefits of schools using class Facebook pages for connecting to the course. But he would argue that the "real" conversations and connections to each other would occur first offline to online and then on a Friends Only page rather than a classroom page. I

3. **Writing, Technology and Teens** Lenhart, A, Arafeh, S., Smith, A., & Macgill, A. (2008, April 24). //Writing, Technology and Teens//. Education, Teens, Email, New Media Ecology Report. The Pew Internet & American Life Project. Retrieved from []

Teens write a lot, but they do not think of their emails, instant and text messages as writing. This disconnect matters because teens believe good writing is an essential skill for success and that more writing instruction at school would help them.

When teens are active on Facebook, they update their activities, write captions for photos, and write messages on people's walls. In Selwyn's research, he saw little educational value in Facebook, rather it served primarily a social purpose. However, if teens are writing on their friends' walls, doesn't that practise improve their writing?