This document discusses using Facebook for educational purposes. It begins with an overview of Facebook's history and growth. It then explores how Facebook can be used to build relationships with students and engage them through individual feedback and attention outside of class. However, it also notes issues of professionalism when teachers and students are connected on Facebook. The document outlines various teaching applications of Facebook, such as creating groups and pages to share information. It identifies pros like student engagement and relationship building, but also cons such as a lack of accountability and student resistance. It concludes by providing references for further research on using Facebook in educational contexts.

1. Social Networking Sites:
Find Me on Facebook:
Karina Leonard
Office of Instructional Development
Dec.12th, 2008

2. Agenda:
• Facebook: Context & Mini Tour
• Relationship Building with Facebook
• Professionalism
• Applications & Teaching Possibilities
• Pros & Cons Overview
• Further Studies About Facebook

3. Facebook: Contextualization
• Created in 2004, by 2007 21 million
registered users and 1.6 billion page views
per day.
• Created for ivy league universities but
opened to everyone in 2006.
• A fact of life…
– Some might say, “You get what you get…”

6. Relationship Building with Facebook
• ‘Teaching: A Profession of Relationships’
– Study found that individual contact and
encouragement by teachers promotes student
learning and academic perseverance -2006
• Students look for:
– individualized feedback
– attention outside of the classroom
– Considering students’ experiences
http://dc11.dawsoncollege.qc.ca/dsweb/Get/Documen
t-8790/Chassé-Oct2006.pdf

7. Professionalism
• Reshaping of instructor-student
relationship: ‘friending’ = new boundaries
– Issues of ‘familiarity’
– Some students think it’s creepy
• Searchable – private life on display (yours
& theirs)

8. Teaching Possibilities &
Applications
• Groups can be made about anything and by anyone:
– share media, links, pictures, files together (you can
decide about privacy of group and limit content that
can be posted)
– send private messages to everyone in the group
(substitute for email).
• Mini feed:
– documents actions on facebook (located on
homepage & is automatically updated (can limit what
appears on newsfeed) Status: Karina is….grading
papers and tired!
• Wall to Wall Communication:
– Great participation in class today

9. Teaching Possibilities &
Applications
http://www.facebook.com/apps/index.php?c
http://www.softwaredeveloper.com/feature
s/develop-facebook-app-072607/ ategory=6

10. Pros & Cons Overview
• Facebook is already a part of students’ lives
(except 5-20%)
• Higher level of engagement?
• Peer-to-peer interaction
• Digital literacy
• Relationship building
• Intrinsic motivation

11. Pros & Cons Overview:
• Lack of accountability to the cegep
• Advertising
• 5-20%!!!
• New relationships
• Student Resistance

12. Further Studies About
Facebook:
The Benefits of Facebook quot;Friends:quot; Social
Capital and College Students' Use of Online
Social Network Sites:
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/ellison.
html
Course at Stanford: Facebook Applications
http://www.techcrunch.com/2007/11/19/stanf
ord-students-facebook-application-crosses-
1-million-installs/

13. The End:
Please feel free to contact Rafael or myself to set
up your Facebook account and/or to find out
more…
Thank you! ☺